Marketers up traditional media budgets amid increased competition

Marketers are increasing their budgets for ‘main media advertising’, even as overall marketing budget growth stalls, as companies look to build brand recognition and expand customer bases despite political and economic uncertainty. Following a surprise return to growth in the opening quarter of the year, the IPA Bellwether report for the second quarter shows overall growth has stalled, with the net balance of marketers increasing spend falling from 8.7% to 0.0%. While 20% of panel members reported greater marketing spend, this was offset by those cutting expenditure. The remaining 60% made no change at all.