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IPA Bellwether

IPA Bellwether: 20% of companies see marketing budgets rise in 2013/14

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By Ishbel Macleod, PR and social media consultant

July 16, 2014 | 2 min read

Marketing budgets have increased for the seventh consecutive quarter, according to the Q2 2014 IPA Bellwether Report.

A total 15.2 per cent of companies registered an increase in their marketing budgets during Q2, while the end-of-year financial results for 2013 to 2014 revealed that 20 per cent of companies had increased their budgets, resulting in the IPA deeming it “the longest period of continuous growth in the survey’s 14-year history”.

As the economy itself is set to expand, the Bellwether report predicts a real-term increase in ad spend of 6.1 per cent for the year as a whole.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit and author of the Bellwether Report, said: “Marketing spend is surging higher as companies remain upbeat about the future. The extent to which business confidence has shown continual improvements over the past year is remarkable, generating a major inflow of investment in marketing.

“Companies reported that spending on marketing and advertising activities showed the strongest rise for a decade last year. This year’s budgeted spend, which was already set higher than last year, has been revised up again in the second quarter, setting the scene for a bumper year.

“The survey also adds to a growing body of data which points to the UK economy sustaining strong growth as we move into the second half of the year.”

Internet marketing saw big increases in investment, with budgets up 14.7 per cent, while search budgets also surged a further 12.9 per cent. However, market research budgets dropped 2.4 per cent.

Bellwether further predicts a slower increase in ad spend of 3.8 per cent in 2015.

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