Is Digital Marketing Recession Proof?

Media and Online Initiatives to Increase in the Next Year

NEW YORK–(EMWNews)–It is clear that digital marketing is becoming more and more prevalent

and popular in the marketing industry, but is it also possible that the

discipline is recession proof? A recent survey conducted on behalf of

PRWeek and Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L) by Millward Brown indicates that

just may be the case: Despite weakened economic conditions, over 75% of

senior marketers say they expect spending for new media and online

initiatives to increase in the next year. The survey, which polled 252

U.S. chief marketing officers, VPs of marketing and marketing directors

and managers, focused on digital and consumer generated media, marketing

ethics and the role of public relations in the marketing mix.

When asked, by discipline, if they expected spending to increase,

decrease, or remain the same in the coming year, 75% of marketers say

they expect spending for digital programs to increase, 21% say budgets

will remain the same, and only 4% expect digital spending to decrease.

But marketers appear less bullish about other major marketing

disciplines: far fewer (33%) expect advertising budgets to increase,

while 48% say they will remain the same, and 20% expect a decrease.

Public relations spending may be slightly more stable, with 37%

anticipating spending more, a majority (52%) expecting to spend the

same, and just 11% expecting a decrease.

Marketers also overwhelmingly agree that they would be “most

likely” to cut from many other disciplines

before turning to digital if forced to scale back budgets as a result of

poor economic conditions. Advertising is cited as the most likely to be

cut (35%), followed by point-of-sale marketing (29%), public relations

(16%) and direct marketing (16%). Digital, on the other hand, is at the

bottom of the list, with only 4% of respondents indicating they would be

most likely to cut from this area.

“These results show us that not only is

digital marketing a global capability that marketers must truly embrace

for its effectiveness and ROI, it is also a discipline that fares very

well in tougher economic conditions,” said

Mark Hass, chief executive officer of MS&L Worldwide. “Digital

is an advisable investment because of the strong, measurable results it

can produce and targeted audiences it can reach, and it’s

also one of the more economical options. On the other hand, advertising

is more expensive and PR more vulnerable because marketers feel it isn’t

measurable.”

According to the sixth annual PRWeek/Manning Selvage & Lee Marketing

Management Survey, consumer generated media (CGM) continues to make

inroads among marketers. When asked which marketing discipline they

anticipate being their top priority over the next 6-12 months, nearly

three in ten (28%) mention CGM despite its relative newness as an

application. And marketers view CGM as a tool for supporting brand and

reputation: More than six in 10 say CGM is important for creating brand

awareness (68%), building brands (64%), and being perceived as an

innovator (60%). A sizeable proportion of marketers even tie CGM

directly to ROI, with 43% saying it is important to sales.

Just last year, most marketers were unwilling to invest in consumer

generated media. Only 12% of respondents from the 2007 Marketing

Management Survey said that CGM was very important to their marketing

platforms, and just 22 percent said they were “very

willing” to let consumers play a significant

role in shaping their marketing programs. This year, if marketers stated

they are unwilling to invest in this area it is mostly because the

efforts are arduous to measure. Of those who would cut digital from a

marketing budget, 46% of those respondents said there is a lack of ROI

with digital/WOM and CGM, they are not as effective as other disciplines

or they are difficult to measure.

“The PR industry has a remarkable opportunity

to prove the value of what we do in the digital space,”

notes Hass. “Whether it is producing social

networks, creating traditional web sites, or managing consumer message

boards for a new product, we must take ownership of this area and do

better in measuring the immense impact these techniques can have on our

clients’ businesses.”

The 2008 PRWeek/MS&L Marketing Management survey was conducted in

partnership with PRWeek by Millward Brown. Survey results were

collected between May 1 and May 19, 2008. Results are not weighted.

About PRWeek Magazine

Launched in November 1998, PRWeek is the first weekly magazine to

offer nationwide coverage of the public relations business. Over the

years, PRWeek has established itself as a vital part of the PR

and communications industries in the US, providing timely news,

profiles, features, techniques, reviews of campaigns, and groundbreaking

research in print, as well as on its companion Web site, prweek.com.

This research includes annual salary, CEO, and cause surveys, as well as

key industry sector rankings and forums. The magazine also launched the PRWeek

Awards to showcase and recognize the best practices in the PR industry.

Its aim is to provide essential daily reading for every US public

relations professional and to champion the cause of public relations as

an essential management discipline in the business community at large.

Visit www.prweek.com for more

information.

About Manning Selvage & Lee

MS&L (mslpr.com) is one of the world’s leading global communications

firms. Headquartered in New York, MS&L has 54 offices throughout North

America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, as well as an extensive

global affiliate network. The agency meets the needs of global and local

clients by providing best-in-class services in consumer marketing PR,

healthcare PR, corporate communications and technology communications,

as well as industry-leading work in digital communications. In 2008,

MS&L was named CRO’s #1 PR firm in

Corporate Responsibility, won PRWeek’s

Promotional Event of the Year award and the Holmes Report’s

PR Product of the Year award for Innovation in Influencer Marketing.

MS&L is a member of the Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris:

FR0000130577), the world’s fourth largest

communications group, and a global leader in digital and online

advertising, media consulting, and healthcare communications. With some

44,000 professionals in 104 countries, the Groupe’s activities cover

advertising through three global advertising networks: Leo Burnett,

Publicis, Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as through its two multi-hub

networks Fallon Worldwide and 49%-owned Bartle Bogle Hegarty; media

agencies with two worldwide networks ZenithOptimedia and Starcom

MediaVest Group; and marketing services, including digital and

interactive communications through Digitas, relationship and direct

marketing, public and media relations, corporate and financial

communications, multicultural communications, and event communications.

The Groupe is also the world leader in healthcare communications. Web

site: www.publicisgroupe.com.

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