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 y the latter half of 2008, it was becoming abundantly clear that belt-tightening would be the name of the game in 2009. But just how tight would those belts have to go? Were we talking entirely new notches, or simply a tiny tug here and there?
To find out, Corporate EVENT asked readers how their event-marketing ledgers had shaped up for 2009. The results were as expected: Budgets are down. Tough decisions about cuts are on almost everyone’s to-do list.
Still, the news isn’t all bad. Although budgets are taking a hit, a majority of survey respondents saw cuts of less than 25 percent — well below the 35-percent year-over-year drop the Dow Jones Industrial Average had seen by the end of 2008. Furthermore, according to survey respondents, companies still find sufficient value in events and are investing accordingly. Fifty percent of respondents retained budgets of $250,000 or more for the year, and almost one-third of respondents said their budgets have not changed at all for 2009.
The 55 percent of online-survey respondents who saw their budgets shrink since 2008 are trimming events from their schedules. Furthermore, cash-strapped event managers are seeking ways to produce their remaining events more cost-effectively, while striving to preserve their staff head counts.
But event marketers aren’t alone. For the first time since 2001, national advertising spending is projected to drop in 2009. The Television Bureau of Advertising pegged national spot-advertising sales to fall between 11.5 percent and 15.5 percent. And global advertising will slide in 2009, with media-planning giant ZenithOptimedia expecting a 5.7-percent decline in ad spending in North America next year.
If there is a recession-resistant group, it’s the search-marketing team. Investments in search marketing are expected to increase 8.9 percent in 2009, according to online-marketing research firm eMarketer.
In spite of everything, nearly one third — 31 percent — of respondents said their budgets are holding steady, while 14 percent are looking at a bigger budget for 2009. Perhaps these marketers are heeding the advice of Hewlett-Packard senior vice president and chief marketing officer Michael Mendenhall, who noted at the Association of National Advertisers’ Masters of Marketing conference in October 2008 that "it's incredibly important to be risk-takers in the economic climate we’re in. In times like these, you don’t hunker down and go in the bunker."
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ABOUT THE SURVEY
Corporate EVENT's 2009 budget survey was conducted by TriMax Direct, a research firm based in St. Paul, MN. More than 5,000 Corporate EVENT readers were invited via e-mail to complete the survey online. A total of 228 completed surveys were tabulated. With an overall response rate of 9 percent, results are reliable and statistically valid +/- 4.1 percent at the 95-percent confidence interval. Readers were offered a chance to win one of two $100 cash prizes as an incentive to complete the survey.
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