Global marketing budgets on the rise: Warc

To calculate the index, Warc takes the percentage of respondents that report that the activity has risen and adds that number to one-half the percentage that report the activity has not changed. Using half of the 'unchanged' percentage effectively measures the bias toward a positive (over 50 points) or negative index. For this round, data was collected between 5-16 March 2012. 

 

The global headline GMI index (based on a combination of data for trading conditions, marketing budgets and staffing) currently stands at 57.4, up from February’s 56.2. Region by region, Asia-Pacific has shown regular and strong growth and stands at 57.9, up from 56 in February.

 

The Americas has shown the strongest growth, although its present score of 59.7 is a drop from February's score of 62.9. 

 

Media-wise, digital (78.9) and mobile (71.2) marketing channels continue to attract marketing spend at the expense of other media. TV and out of home are still just below the 'no change' level of 50.0, at 48.8 and 48.1 respectively, while press (36.1) and radio (42.3) continue to suffer more severe reductions in expenditure.

 

The global trading conditions GMI component index rose marginally from 59.7 in February to 60.8 in March. Both Europe and Asia-Pacific have witnessed further improvement, rising to 59.2 and 61.8, respectively.

 

The index for trading conditions in the Americas has fallen from February, and currently stands slightly below Asia Pacific at 59.9.

 

The GMI worldwide staffing component index shows that recruitment rates among marketers remain strong: Europe (57.9) and the Asia-Pacific (60.5) recorded their strongest index scores to date in March. The Americas remains the most optimistic region, despite dropping back from 65.8 last month to a score of 63.1 this month.