LONDON: Global marketing activity continues to grow, albeit at a slowing pace, and the generally optimistic headline figure for September's Global Marketing Index (GMI) disguises some very different regional and media outlooks.
At 55.0, last month's headline Index was only marginally down on August's 55.1 – where a reading of 50 indicates no change and 60+ suggests rapid growth.
Compiled by World Economics, the GMI provides a unique monthly indicator of the state of the global marketing industry because it tracks current conditions for marketers as well as their expectations for budgets and staffing levels.
All regions experienced growth, with Europe continuing to perform most strongly: its headline Index was up from 56.4 to 57.5. Asia-Pacific dipped from 54.3 to 54.1 while the Americas fell dropped from 54.5 to 52.8.
The aggregated America's GMI value, however, hid a rising trend in marketing activity in North America, balanced by falling marketing spending in South America, caused primarily by falling economic activity in Brazil.
Europe also led the way in the marketing budgets index, which was up 0.5 percentage points to 55.0, while that of Asia-Pacific was down marginally to 51.4.
Once again the Americas brought up the rear with an Index of 48.3 and once again the experiences of North and South America were very different.
Looking at particular media, digital and mobile recorded global Index values of 74.0 and 71.3 respectively, indicating high growth. Both were up on their August values and both grew strongly across all regions.
Television, in contrast, registered an Index of 46.4, indicating a fall in the value of resources spent on the medium. Europe bucked the trend, however, with a slight increase to 51.7, a figure that stood in stark contrast to the 39.0 recorded in the Americas.
"Traditional media continue to suffer as a result of the expansion of digital and mobile, but TV in the Americas hit its lowest recorded level," noted Ed Jones, World Economics Chief Executive.
"This does not augur well for the future of the medium in other regions," he added.
At 55.0, last month's headline Index was only marginally down on August's 55.1 – where a reading of 50 indicates no change and 60+ suggests rapid growth.
Compiled by World Economics, the GMI provides a unique monthly indicator of the state of the global marketing industry because it tracks current conditions for marketers as well as their expectations for budgets and staffing levels.
All regions experienced growth, with Europe continuing to perform most strongly: its headline Index was up from 56.4 to 57.5. Asia-Pacific dipped from 54.3 to 54.1 while the Americas fell dropped from 54.5 to 52.8.
The aggregated America's GMI value, however, hid a rising trend in marketing activity in North America, balanced by falling marketing spending in South America, caused primarily by falling economic activity in Brazil.
Europe also led the way in the marketing budgets index, which was up 0.5 percentage points to 55.0, while that of Asia-Pacific was down marginally to 51.4.
Once again the Americas brought up the rear with an Index of 48.3 and once again the experiences of North and South America were very different.
Looking at particular media, digital and mobile recorded global Index values of 74.0 and 71.3 respectively, indicating high growth. Both were up on their August values and both grew strongly across all regions.
Television, in contrast, registered an Index of 46.4, indicating a fall in the value of resources spent on the medium. Europe bucked the trend, however, with a slight increase to 51.7, a figure that stood in stark contrast to the 39.0 recorded in the Americas.
"Traditional media continue to suffer as a result of the expansion of digital and mobile, but TV in the Americas hit its lowest recorded level," noted Ed Jones, World Economics Chief Executive.
"This does not augur well for the future of the medium in other regions," he added.
Data sourced from World Economics; additional content by Warc staff
