US Marketing Budgets Tumble In 2007
First Quarter Budgets Languish At 57% Of 2005 Levels
MAYNARD, Mass., April 4, 2007— Blackfriars Communications, Inc. (Blackfriars) announced today that US companies plan to spend only about half what they did on marketing a year earlier. This data collected from Blackfriars’ survey of US senior executives drove the first quarter Blackfriars’ Marketing Index down to 57. Meanwhile, Blackfriars’ fourth quarter 2006 index of actual spending fell to 61, the lowest value since Q1 2004. A graph of the last three years of budgeted and actual Blackfriars Marketing Indexes can be found at: http://www.blackfriarsinc.com/m07q1-index-graph.jpg.
Blackfriars also released its Marketing Category Indices for twelve types of marketing spending. Those indices showed that the bulk of fourth quarter spending went to offline advertising, which held at 31 percent of marketing budgets. Meanwhile, the percentage of marketing budgets being spent on online advertising rose one point to nine percent. A graphic showing Q4 marketing spending by category can be seen at: http://www.blackfriarsinc.com/m06q4-spending.jpg.
"The slowing economy is making businesses skittish about allocating dollars to marketing,” said Carl Howe, a principal of Blackfriars. “We’re seeing real dollar spending on marketing running 50 to 60 percent of what it was two years ago. If actual spending parallels the budgets we’re seeing, 2007 is going to be a tough year for marketers."
Blackfriars has published a 20-page research report titled Marketing 2007: Fourth Quarter Budgets Tumble that provides detailed analysis of data collected from its February survey of 100 senior business executives. Included in this report are details about actual fourth quarter 2006 spending, budgets for the first quarter of 2007, detailed analysis of executive attitudes toward marketing, and analysis of annual 2007 marketing budgets. This report is available for $495 directly from Blackfriars and from research affiliates such as MarketResearch.com,ResearchandMarkets.com, SourceMedia.com, and others.
About Blackfriars Communications, Inc.
Blackfriars Communications, Inc., headquartered in Maynard, Mass., improves how organizations communicate through consulting, executive training, and research services. With more than 25 years of experience in technology and marketing, Blackfriars' objective methodologies help companies distill, communicate, and deliver their value. On the Net: Blackfriars Communications, Inc. site: http://www.blackfriarsinc.com.
