A Survey of 102 Senior Business Executives on their Feelings Towards Marketing Budgets.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c34268) has announced the addition of Marketing 2006: 2006's Timid Start to their offering.

This 20-page report containing 20 figures and tables analyzes the results of the author's February 2006 survey of 102 senior business executives regarding marketing budgets, attitudes, and spending. It presents breakdowns of the dollars actually spent in Q4 2005, averages and breakdowns of Q1 2006 budgets, executive quotes and gauges of marketing attitudes, and data about how measurement continues to affect corporate spending and attitudes. It also analyzes differences in marketing spending between business to business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations and provides projections of overall 2006 marketing budgets.

Topics Covered

--Executive Summary

--2005 In Review

--Advertising Fell To A New Low In The Fourth Quarter

--Marketing Optimism Isn't What It Was in 2005

--Firms Plan Shifts To Non-traditional And Online Marketing

--2006 Budget Details Show Strategy Changes

--Executives Plan Timid Spending in The First Quarter

--B2C Firms Will Lead Ad Spending In The First Quarter

--Marketing Measurement Remains Key To Garnering Larger Budgets

Index Starts The Year At 106

What This Data Means

Table Of Sample Figures

(Report contains 20 figures and tables of data)

--Figure 1-2. Marketing Index slides back to 101 for Q4.

--Figure 1-3. Actual marketing spending for 2005 was the same as it was in 2003.

--Figure 2-1. Advertising, direct marketing, and other comprised 55% of fourth quarter spending

--Figure 2-2. Public relations and analyst relations showed surprising strength in the Q4 Marketing Category Indices.

--Figure 3. Marketing optimism for Q1 remained about what it was in Q4, but fewer think that marketing really represents their corporate strategy.

--Figure 5-3. New online and non-traditional categories provide more insight into 2006 budgets.

--Figure 6-1. Executives plan lower allocations for Q1 2006 than in the past two years.

--Figure 6-3. Non-traditional marketing will consume ten percent of Q1 budgets on average.

--Figure 7-1. B2C firms spent the most in Q4, but B2B firms are allocating the most for 2006.

--Figure 8-3. Measuring companies are more satisfied with their marketing efforts.

--Figure 9-2. Consultants and Web site/Internet media spending lead the new first quarter Marketing Category Indices.

Summary

After record spending in the third quarter of 2005, marketing took a dive, leaving actual marketing spending in 2005 the same as it was two years ago. In its ninth quarterly survey of senior executives, the author analyzes and contrasts marketing budgets, attitudes, and spending by US companies. These findings include that actual fourth quarter marketing spending was only 73% of budget while advertising spending continued its weakening trend.

It also found that executives have turned more pessimistic about marketing since last year and that companies are shifting more dollars to non-traditional and online marketing. The result: the Marketing Index starts 2006 at 106.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c34268