Marketing budgets seem to be blowing hot and cold at the same rate as Boris Johnson’s policy commitments.
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s latest Bellwether Report shows that growth in the first quarter (8.7 per cent) was only temporary, and in the second quarter it has slowed to zero, with financial prospects now at their most negative since the end of 2011.
Improvement is forecast for next year, but that doesn’t seem to be based on anything much. It’s a difficult time for UK business as they hold tight for the new prime minister and the next Brexit deadline on October 31st. Global trade wars and weaker economy in China aren’t helping either.
This “wait and see” approach by British business has been dragging on for years now, although internet marketing is still growing at 11.5 per cent (down from 17.2 per cent in Q1), probably because it’s one area where marketers can’t afford to hang around and risk new developments passing them by – technology is waiting for no one, not Boris, not Brexit, and not even Trump.
Paul Bainsfair, IPA director general, said: “Between Boris, Jeremy and Brexit, coupled with a dip in consumer confidence, it is perhaps no wonder that this quarter’s Bellwether shows zero growth to overall UK marketing budgets. Until a clearer political and economic path is outlined, the vast majority of companies are locked in stasis.”
