What Do Leading B2B Marketers See in 2009 That You Don’t?
Posted on | April 1, 2009 | joshua lyall
Twice a year, the Duke University Fuqua School of Business conducts a survey commissioned by the American Marketing Association. They sample marketing leaders at Fortune 1000 and Forbes Top 200 companies; nearly three-quarters of participants are at the VP, CMO or higher level. The February 2009 results were recently released and there was a clear contrast between the perceptions and plans of the B2B marketers and the B2C marketers.
The B2B CMOs had a more positive outlook on the economy overall and their companies specifically. Granted, even their outlook wasn’t particularly sunny, but it did show more significant gains from 2008 than the B2C results. B2B marketers moved from 81% who felt less optimistic about the future in 2008 to 50% who felt less optimistic in 2009, while B2C marketers only moved from 71% to 67% on the same measure.
B2B marketers also reported plans to increase overall marketing spending by 3% in the next twelve months, with the largest percentage increases in Internet marketing activities and new product introductions. B2C marketers plan to cut overall spending by as much as 4%, but do plan shifts of resources into the same focus areas as B2B marketers.
B2B marketers also seem to recognize the value of good market intelligence at a time when each marketing dollar has to achieve the maximum possible ROI. B2B firms reported increasing spending on market research and intelligence by nearly 4% this year, compared to B2C product marketers who are cutting their budgets by approximately that amount.
Across all segments there seems to be a stronger focus on developing and using consumer insights. The professionals surveyed rated their firms’ performance in this area 35% higher than last year and have set goals even 20% higher for the next twelve months. Clearly, top marketers are not discontinuing their efforts during the downturn; instead, they are channeling more of their resources towards making highly targeted appeals based on current research. How does that compare to your strategy for 2009?
To review the complete study results, check out the CMO Survey site that the Fuqua School of Business has developed.
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Welcome to The Cure for Common Marketing, a Jackson Marketing Group blog dedicated to sharing insightful thinking, new ideas, technologies, what-if concepts, success stories, and book/article reviews about light speed changes in the B2B marketing universe. We encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions.
June 14th, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
Hi, your post was really interesting. I’m using John Beck’s program and my friend and I have been practicing it for a while now. We’re still looking around for potential properties. Our hard work will pay off.