Why not just roll it up and...

Over 75 percent of senior marketers expect spend for new media and online initiatives to increase in the next year despite the poor economy, according to the sixth annual PRWeek/Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L) Marketing Management Survey, MarketingCharts writes.

Only 21 percent of the 252 US chief marketing officers, VPs of marketing and marketing directors and managers say budgets will remain the same, and 4 percent expect a decrease:

Marketers appear less bullish about other major marketing disciplines:

• Some 33 percent of those surveyed expect advertising budgets to increase; 48 percent say they will remain the same, and 20 percent expect a decline.
• Public relations spending appears slightly more stable, with 37 percent anticipating spending more, a majority (52 percent) expecting to spend the same, and 11 percent expecting a decrease.

Survey participants also overwhelmingly agree that they would be "most likely" to cut from many other disciplines before turning to digital if forced to scale back budgets as a result of poor economic conditions:

• Advertising is cited as the most likely to be cut (35 percent), followed by point-of-sale marketing (29 percent), public relations (16 percent) and direct marketing (16 percent).
• Digital, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the list, with only 4 percent of respondents indicating they would be most likely to cut from this area.

The Rise of CGM

Consumer-generated media (CGM) and new media continue to make inroads among marketers:

Asked which marketing discipline they anticipate being their top priority over the next 6-12 months, nearly three in ten (28 percent) mention CGM.

Marketers also view CGM as a tool for supporting brand and reputation. More than six in 10 say CGM is important for creating brand awareness (68 percent), building brands (64 percent), and being perceived as an innovator (60 percent). A sizeable proportion of marketers even tie CGM directly to ROI, with 43 percent saying it is important to sales.

In contrast, most marketers were unwilling to invest in CGM in 2007. Only 12 percent of respondents from last year's survey said that CGM was very important to their marketing platforms, and just 22 percent said they were "very willing" to let consumers play a significant role in shaping their marketing programs:

"These results show us that not only is digital marketing a global capability that marketers must truly embrace for its effectiveness and ROI, it is also a discipline that fares very well in tougher economic conditions," said Mark Hass, CEO of MS&L Worldwide.

"Digital is an advisable investment because of the strong, measurable results it can produce and targeted audiences it can reach, and it's also one of the more economical options. On the other hand, advertising is more expensive and PR more vulnerable because marketers feel it isn't measurable."

About the survey: Data was collected between May 1-19, 2008. Results are not weighted.