For the fourth quarter in a row, direct marketing budgets were revised up on average with 35% of the companies surveyed, although this revision was somewhat smaller than previous quarters.
This slight drop can be attributed to a shift in spend by companies, which previously shifted from main media towards direct marketing, returning back to main media.
Overall, there was good news for the marketing industry, with the Bellwether Report showing the steepest rise in marketing spend since the survey began, along with improved confidence among top marketing executives.
Carolyn Carter, president and CEO of Grey Global Group EMEA, said: "The rebound of traditional media powerhouses -- television and press -- may be benefiting from transient drivers -- events like the Euro 2004 football championships -- and a surge in previously deferred new product launches. For the longer term, we see these media continue to be challenged by direct marketing and more personal and engaging media like online."
The report is compiled by NTC Research on behalf of the IPA, based on information from 1,000 top companies in all key business sectors.
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