Budgets shift

 
Study II Swiss marketing managers were surveyed by the University of Basel and the agency Uniplan about communication trends and strategies. There is good news and bad news for advertising agencies. The good news is that Swiss companies still spend the most money on traditional advertising. On average, almost a third of a company's marketing budget is spent on traditional channels. The bad news: as a study by Uniplan and the University of Basel concludes, Swiss marketing managers are re-evaluating their measures. The trend: direct and efficient communication is becoming more important. In concrete terms, this means that companies want to spend more on Internet and event activities in future. Budgets are being shifted in favor of these measures.
There are many reasons for the shift. As can be read in the study, marketing managers would describe the classic channel as tending to decline. Although it will remain the leading medium in the future, it is losing its dominant position in favor of direct and personal activities. This means that live communication tools such as events, roadshows and promotions are gaining in importance. According to the managers, brands that use "live communication" gain a distinctive brand profile and differentiate themselves from the competition. In addition to direct customer contact, the Internet is also gaining in importance. In 2006, web activities accounted for an average of 14 percent of the communication budget of Swiss companies. According to the study, instruments that either promise cost-effective reach or help companies to build trust and customer loyalty will gain in importance in the future.
Unused opportunities Trade fairs remain one of the most important instruments in the marketing mix for companies in view of the high number of visitors. According to the study, trade fairs are often the leading strategic medium, especially for SMEs and B2B companies. Although most marketing managers value trade fairs as an "all-round instrument", their opportunities all too often remain untapped. According to the study, Swiss managers primarily see potential for improvement in the preparation and follow-up of trade fair participation. For example, there is a lack of targeted invitations to visitors in advance, opportunities for dialog during the trade fair and documentation of trade fair discussions for follow-up after the trade fair.
Need for integrated communicationAs the authors of the study write, marketing and communication measures are not coordinated enough. Above all, a lack of know-how, historically evolved structures and departmental egotisms would prevent the networking of instruments in many companies. Yet the need for integration is undisputed. Just under half of Swiss marketing decision-makers stated that they had already been coordinating instruments for two to five years. A good third of companies have been pursuing the goal of integrated communication for more than five years. The majority of the managers surveyed stated that the impact of traditional communication continues to decline as the flood of advertising increases. Marketing managers are increasingly faced with the question of which instrument will prevail as the leading medium in the integration process of the future.
Too little monitoring of successCompanies invest huge sums in marketing activities. However, when it comes to monitoring the success of the money spent, managers tend to exercise restraint. According to the researchers, around a third of the Swiss companies surveyed would allocate a fixed budget for monitoring success as early as the planning phase. Not enough for the authors of the study. For them, performance reviews still have the image of a superfluous cost factor.
Christian Lüscher
 
 
About the study295 companies and their responsible managers
were asked about their strategies by researchers from the University of Basel and Uniplan. In the fall of 2006, the market research institute Konso conducted 30-minute interviews for the study. Large companies are disproportionately represented in the study. A third of all companies surveyed have more than 1000 employees. Around half of all companies have a turnover of up to CHF 50 million. The results of the study
can be requested at [email protected]. (cl)