Asia Pacific sees three months of falling marketing budget expectations: Warc index 

Global marketing budgets rise, led by Europe and Americas, but dampened by Asia Pacific, according to September Global Marketing Index

BestMediaInfo Bureau| Delhi | 19 September, 2013

In September, the business outlook for marketers around the world held positive, according to Warc's Global Marketing Index. Improved conditions in Europe and steady optimism in the Americas offset a decline in every reading for Asia Pacific.

The global index for marketing budgets rose 0.5 points to 52.0, suggesting an increase in spending overall. In Europe, the index for budgets rose 2.8 points to 52.8, the region's highest reading since the index began in October 2011. Asia Pacific, on the other hand, saw a third month of declining spending, falling 0.4 points to 47.8. The Americas reading once again suggested strong growth for expected budgets, on 55.2, though this was a 0.6 point decline from August.

The GMI is a unique indicator of the state of the global marketing industry. Every month it tracks conditions among marketers within their organisation and region. It tracks marketing budgets, trading conditions and staffing levels. A reading of 50 indicators no change, and above 60 indicates rapid growth.

The global headline GMI, a metric combining all three components – budgets, trading conditions and staffing levels – remained positive, despite falling back slightly to 54.7 in September 2013. The sharpest monthly drop came in Asia Pacific, which fell 2.1 points to 51.7. Europe and the America saw very little change, rising 0.1 point to 54.9 and falling 0.5 points to 57.8 respectively.

The global index of trading conditions, the second component of the headline GMI, was positive this month on 55.6, a fall of 1.5 points from August. Asia Pacific's index fell to its lowest recorded level, on 55.2, down 2.8 points. Conditions in Europe improved, with the index rising by 0.4 points to 55.6, while the index for the Americas fell by 0.8 points to 60.4.

Lastly, the global index of staffing levels continued to indicate increased hiring in every region, despite falling 1.7 points to 56.5. The index stayed stable in the Americas, on 57.8, fell 3.0 points in Asia Pacific, to 55.2 and also fell in Europe, by 3.1 points, to 56.2.

Tom Bristow, Assistant Data Editor at Warc, said: “Europe's sudden jump in its marketing budget index is a good sign for the region's marketing industry, if it is sustained in future months. Asia Pacific, on the other hand, has now seen three months of stagnant or falling marketing budget expectations.”

Info@bestmediainfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com