Planned Budget Increases Drive Marketers’ Optimism to New High

November 22, 2013

This article is included in these additional categories:

Europe & Middle East | Global & Regional | Marketing Budgets | Staffing

Warc-Global-Mktg-Budgets-Nov-2013Global marketers are bullish regarding their budgets, finds Warc in its latest Global Marketing Index (GMI). This month, the budget component of the index recorded a value of 56.2, its highest value on record, and a significant 4.4-point increase from last month. (A score above 50 indicates a generally improving environment, while a score below 50 indicates a generally declining environment.) The big jump fueled the overall headline GMI to a reading of 57.8, also the highest result since the index’s inception in October 2011.

The headline GMI reflects optimism surrounding three components: budgets; trading conditions; and staffing. Each of the components rose this month from the last, with the 4.4-point climb in sentiment concerning budgets the largest absolute increase.

Europe’s budget sentiment rose this month to 56.7, also a 4.4-point increase, and the highest value recorded for the region since the start of the index. Budgets in the Asia-Pacific region continued to rebound after a soft Summer, up 3.8 points to 55.4. But it was the Americas with the biggest gain, sporting a 6.3-point jump to 57.2.

Other Findings:

  • The global index for staffing levels increased from 54.9 to 56.4, led by Europe (58.3) and followed by the Americas (57.2) and Europe (56.3).
  • The index for trading conditions rose 3.1 points to 60.9, indicating rapid expansion. Europe again led the way, with its highest level (62) on record, with Asia-Pacific also rapidly expanding (up 2.6 points to 62) and the Americas (+3.7 points to 58.1) not far behind.
  • The headline global marketing index (GMI), comprised of the budget, staffing, and trading components, increased in each region, up 3.9 points to 59 in Europe, and up 3.1 points in Asia-Pacific (to 57.8) and the Americas (to 57.5).

About the Data: Warc’s global panel (1,225 members) consists of experienced executives working for brand owners, media owners, creative and media agencies and other organisations serving the marketing industry. The panel has been carefully selected to reflect trends in the three main global regions: Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe.

Data collection period: 4-15 November 2013. The Global Marketing Index results are calculated by taking the percentage of respondents that report that the activity has risen (“Increasing”) and adding it to one-half of the percentage that report the activity has not changed (“Unchanged”). Using half of the “Unchanged” percentage effectively measures the bias toward a positive (above 50 points) or negative (below 50 points) index. As an example of calculating a diffusion index, if the response is 40% “Increasing,” 40% “Unchanged,” and 20% “Reducing,” the Diffusion Index would be 60 points (40% + [0.50 x 40%]). A value of 50 indicates “no change” from the previous month.

The more distant the index is from the amount that would indicate “no change” (50 points), the greater the rate of change indicated. Therefore, an index value of 58 indicates a faster rate of increase than an index value of 53, and an index value of 40 indicates a faster rate of decrease than an index value of 45. A value of 100 indicates all respondents are reporting increased activity while 0 indicates that all respondents report decreased activity.

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