Survey projects APAC with signs of recovery in next six months

One in three APAC marketers expect to increase their regional media budgets in the next six months, according to the first survey of the 25 multinational companies, which are members of the newly-formed World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) APAC Media & Marketing Network. Results from the survey, conducted in May this year, show signs that multi-national marketer investment may be recovering. However, 45% said they still anticipated having to make further cuts in the next six months.

In the same survey, 69% of respondents admitted to having decreased their budgets over the first half of this year. The media experiencing reductions from the most members were TV (67%), out of home (28%) and print (26%). A notable exception however was online, where 84% of members said they had increased their investment.

Respondents’ primary focus in response to the downturn was to ‘increase understanding of returns from their marketing investment’. This was followed by ‘challenging agencies to identify cost reductions’. ‘Reduction of media budgets’ however was a relatively low priority, suggesting that WFA marketers still view this as a last resort.

The Media & Marketing APAC Network was launched in February and now incorporates 25 of the biggest multinationals in the region. It is chaired by Rahul Welde, vice president – media, Unilever - Asia, Africa, Middle East and Turkey. The group’s agenda is based on members’ priorities and will focus on topics including improving integrated marketing, media cost control and enhancing digital marketing.

Said Rahul Welde (pictured): “This new network has already started to generate some unique regional insights for participating members. Now more than ever, it helps to understand how other regional marketers respond to the economic downturn. We look forward to welcoming new companies into the membership and to expanding our learning through shared experiences as we progress to tackle the issues of greatest importance to marketers in Asia-Pacific.”