Marketers hopeful of a 2010 rebound

Shanghai - A survey of 100 senior marketing executives shows the industry is confident that China will shake off the effects of the economic downturn and return to a booming state by 2010.

The research, commissioned by market research company Millward Brown-ACSR and Hill & Knowlton, spoke to chief marketing officers and senior marketing directors to gauge their attitudes on how they were responding to the crisis in China.

The data collected showed that a mood of "cautious optimism" exists in marketing departments, with 75% of those interviewed believing the economy would turn around by 2010.

The respondents indicated that China would recover more quickly as it was experiencing the crisis in a different way to Western  markets, whose consumers had been affected on a more serious and fundamental level than Chinese consumers.

The findings also revealed that marketers were exploring alternative and cost effective media channels in 2009, with a marked interest in digital media and in-store advertising.

However, with pressure to cut costs mounting in boardrooms across the globe, marketing budgets are being tightened, with the survey showing that smaller, focused marketing channels were being cut.

Jason Spencer, managing director of Millward Brown-ACSR Shanghai, warned that this tactic could ultimately be self-defeating from a long-term perspective.

"The survey shows that marketers claim to be cutting down on lower reach channels such as sponsorship and events, which may be somewhat short-sighted especially if they are looking to connect more strongly with their current customer base, as only such targeted channels can," he said.  

"The key is to first align the communication objectives and then figure out which media touch point can deliver that most effectively. What may seem cost effective at first may not always be in the end."