Marketers, in search of inspiration
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 2
Who participated to our survey?
The respondents’ job profiles are mainly marketing managers and general managers
N= 436
What is your current job title?
28%
18%
14%
11%
10%
8%
5% 3% 2% 1%
Marketing Manager
Other
General Manager/CEO
Marketing consultant
Sales & Marketing Manager
Product/brand/category Manager
Communications Manager
Sales Manager
Online marketer:
Trade marketer
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 3
Who participated to our survey?
Respondents are mainly active in professional services and consumer goods
N= 436
In what type of industry is your company active?
19%
19%
16% 10%
9%
9%
8%
6% 3%
Professional Services
Other
Consumer Goods
Finance & Insurance
Distribution (wholesale & retail)
ICT
Manufacturing
Healthcare
Utilities & Resources
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 4
Who participated to our survey?
B2C companies are underweight
N= 436
43%
35%
20%
1%
B2B
B2B and B2C
B2C
Other
In what type of business environment do you work?
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 5
The Marketing Confidence Index
The recession ghost is back
Marketing Confidence Index Marketing Confidence Index- reflecting marketers’ expectations in regard to marketing budgets and marketing team size - fell
down to an almost historical lowness. Marketers have already lost their regained confidence observed in 2011.
4
13 15
12
2 -1
15
-6 -3 -2
1 -3
-24
-15
1
-20
-30,0
-20,0
-10,0
0,0
10,0
20,0
30,0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Ind
ex V
alu
e
MCI CI (data from feb/12) N= 436
Comparing the MCI with the Consumer Confidence Index, we notice that marketers seem to project the current situation to the next year. What could be the reason behind this?
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 6
The Marketing Confidence Index
Marketers must be more insightful
Very optimistic, marketer’s expectations for 2011 were overrated: Expected budget increase was not realized and even a further
decrease is expected. Teams didn’t expand, but are expected to stay at the same level. Number of projects keep growing, sometimes
more, sometimes less than expected. Are marketers bad predictors, often too optimistic?
N= 436
By being more insightful, marketers will gain the right to be in the driver’s seat when determining budgets:
anticipating long term consumer trends instead of following Board guidelines derived from short term sales
figures?
23%
17%
-1% -3%
18%
-11%
10%
-23% -23%
0%
-9%
-30%
-20%
-10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Budget evolution: Expected vs. Actual
Expected change in budget Actual change in budget
8% 8%
4%
1%
11%
0%
7%
-5% -6%
3%
0%
-8%
-6%
-4%
-2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Team evolution: Expected vs. Actual
Expected change in team size Actual change in team size
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 7
Major Marketing Challenges
Challenges for marketers are strongly customers oriented… BUT “Doing more with less” is the new watchword for 2012
Being relevant and creating a dialogue with consumers were the 2 major challenges for marketers in 2011, and stay in 2012. This might
signify marketers haven’t found the right strategies yet to truly connect with consumers and focus on the real customer needs.
Striking is the low importance of ROI although the newest challenge is to do more with less.
N 2012 = 436
N 2011 = 577
12%
28%
28%
29%
37%
38%
38%
41%
45%
21%
36%
30%
39%
35%
48%
53%
0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00%
Tightening the collaboration with the channel partners
Improve your customer insights through the use of data
Better integrating online and offline communication
Proving the added value of the marketing efforts
Differentiating from competition
Do more with less due to budget constraints
Innovating to create new markets and get the attention of customers
Creating a dialogue with customers
Making products and services more relevant for customers
2011 2012
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 8
Major Marketing Threats
Decrease in customers’ loyalty and increase of price-sensitivity are the main threats
The evolving customers’ behavior is still considered the main threat for marketers; with a higher increase in price-sensitiveness of customers
and a higher decrease in customer’s loyalty, compared to last year. Difficult and unsecure economic situation, abundance of choice, overload
of information overload is certainly causing these changes in customer’s behavior.
Making life easier and simpler might become a huge challenge for the marketer. Guiding the customer,
and limit the options based on true advice and honest criteria.
N 2012 = 436
N 2011 = 577
6%
18%
29%
30%
31%
32%
35%
49%
59%
21%
36%
30%
39%
35%
48%
53%
0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00%
Group buying
Lack of trust in marketing department
Commoditization of products
More empowered customers that are out of control of marketing
Marketing tiredness and overkill
Lack of competences of new media
Increasing competition
Decreasing loyalty of customers
Increasingly price-sensitive customers
2011 2012
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 9
Budget Evolution for Marketing Tactics
Short terms actions with direct contact with customers and quick results seem to be the focus for 2012
Due to decreasing budget in 2012, major marketing tactics remain: Brand activation, direct marketing and trade
marketing.
Will marketers pay the price in the future for their lack of long term thinking?
N 2012 = 436
N 2011 = 577
-37%
-28%
-13%
-12%
-6%
2%
3%
18%
18%
-14%
6%
19%
6%
11%
25%
16%
37%
38%
-50,00% -40,00% -30,00% -20,00% -10,00% 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00%
Sponsoring
Advertising
Events and trade fairs
Sampling
Guerilla marketing
Public Relations
Point of sales materials
Direct Marketing
Brand Activation
Expected budget evolution for marketing tactics
2011 net difference (%increase-%decrease) 2012 net difference (%increase-%decrease)
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 10
Budget Evolution in media
Online and owned media on the rise
Less use of paid media and a stronger focus on owned & earned media in a search of more impact!
Is mass media dying?
N 2012 = 436
N 2011 = 577
Expected budget evolution in media
-17%
-16%
-13%
-10%
-10%
-6%
-2%
19%
29%
56%
3%
-4%
-5%
-1%
-3%
1%
9%
33%
31%
64%
-30,00% -20,00% -10,00% 0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00%
Magazines
Newspapers
Cinema
Television
Door to door
Radio
Outdoor
Own brochures and magazines
Mobile
Online
2011 net difference (%increase-%decrease) 2012 net difference (%increase -%decrease)
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 11
Buzzwords
Lack of originality
Last year our survey indicated that 2011 would be the year of mobile marketing. It appeared all of a
sudden in the top 5 of buzzwords. This year however the importance remains stable.
ROMI is increasing but shouldn’t it be more than just a buzzword?
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 12
Social Media
Marketers are still insecure towards social media
Even though not using social media in your marketing mix became unthinkable, the use of social media can be a risk in a
context of growing importance of ROMI.
Marketers are less satisfied with the obtained results. So what went wrong? And why do marketers insist
so strongly on using social media?
N 2012 = 436
N 2011 = 577
Level of agreement by marketers with the statement
-25%
-45%
-21%
-7%
-21%
-31%
2012 Net difference (%agree-%disagree) 2011 Net difference (%agree-%disagree)
We are satisfied about the results of our social media activities
We know the ROI of our social media activities
We have enough knowledge about the possibilities of social media
YEARLY MARKETING SURVEY 2012 13
Main skills of Marketers
Create relevant and quantifiable campaigns that connect emotionally with consumers will be crucial skills to develop in 2012
There is a big difference vs. 2011, where managing conversations with customers was in the top 3
of skills to build up
N 2012 = 436
N 2011 = 577
21%
26%
19%
45%
34%
49%
39%
67%
18%
27%
28%
30%
34%
46%
52%
64%
Communicating functional benefits
Expert marketing skills to work on specific and complicated tasks
General marketing skills to work on diverse tasks
Managing conversations with customers
Making creative marketing campaigns
Creating an emotional connection with customers
Analyzing and quantifying the results of marketing campaigns
Creating relevant content for customers
2012 2011
Marketers, in search of inspiration