Seventy per cent of chief executives have lost trust in marketers’ ability to deliver growth after becoming frustrated by what they see as an inability to prove return on investment for campaigns, according to a Fournaise Marketing Group report.
The forecast for 2013 looks challenging. The IPA Bellwether report, which surveys marketing expenditure on a quarterly basis, joins the CIM Confidence Monitor in predicting a difficult time ahead for budgets. Its most recent results, released in October 2012, predict “weakened” confidence from marketers, with the likelihood that marketing spend in 2012 will have fallen for a fifth successive year.
Stewart Pedler, director of operations, global creative services at Thomson Reuters, gives his views on the research into marketer confidence for 2013.
He’d been extra-cautious for months, regularly scanning the coastline for anything suspicious. So on that Friday evening he was quick to spot the coastguard vessel emerging through the darkness from the mainland. He could see its cargo of black-suited, armed guards onboard. He watched in silence through binoculars as those deadly troops fanned out across the white sand and disappeared into the dense tropical undergrowth. They were coming for him.
The recent news stories regarding how the “freedom of speech” laws operate in the new social media world, particularly about Lord McAlpine’s pursuit of defamatory Tweeters, have intrigued but also perturbed me.
The Government’s plans to ensure all households are on the cheapest gas and electricity tariffs available have been given a cautious welcome by energy companies. Others in the industry, however, have expressed concerns that restricting tariffs could limit brand building opportunities.
Luxury online men’s retailer Mr Porter is looking to ramp up its use of social media in a bid to drive sales and boost customer advocacy with the brand.
The Telegraph has partnered with Halifax to create the first UK ad campaign on social news aggregator app Flipboard.
Nintendo has appointed former GlaxoSmithKline marketer Simon Kemp to lead its UK division at a pivotal moment for the gaming company.
The government’s Midata initiative, which encourages companies to release customers’ data back to them, has yet again tried to prod brands into action. But without ideas for apps that can make use of the data, the sense of inertia will only increase. A marriage of convenience with Tech City could save both from irrelevance.
ISBA is planning to form a cross-industry initiative to improve the standing of marketing within companies after identifying that CMOs are becoming under-represented in the boardroom.
Save the Children has created Christmas Jumper Day encouraging people to wear novelty sweaters to raise funds.
The Tour of Britain’s organisers are readying a sponsorship drive for international commercial partners in a bid to exploit the event’s growing TV audience.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is to overhaul the way it communicates its work in a bid to convince marketers of its “relevance”.
Procter & Gamble is plotting to triple new product development over the next five years and is planning the launch of a raft of “breakthrough” products and brands that redefine categories