South West marketers gloomiest in UK

The latest Marketing Trends Survey from The CIM has found that marketers in the South West are more cautious about the prospects for the UK economy than their counterparts elsewhere.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI, found that marketers based in the South West are generally pessimistic about the performance of the UK economy over the coming year.

Only 9 per cent think the economy will improve (compared with 12 per cent for the UK as a whole), while 67 per cent expressed the view that conditions will worsen over in the year ahead - significantly more than the UK average of 57 per cent.

However, as with marketers elsewhere, the South West's marketers are more positive about their own organisation's prospects.

More than a third (37 per cent) believe business for their organisation will improve over the next 12 months, with 18 per cent anticipating that conditions will worsen; both in line with the national average.

Although many marketers in the South West remain upbeat about their own organisation's outlook, the economic downturn is already impacting on their recruitment plans.

A worrying 17 per cent expect to be reducing staff by the end of the current sales year, significantly up on the 10 per cent average seen across all UK marketers.

Anticipated sales performance figures have also fallen sharply among marketers based in the South West.

The average figure of 4.9 per cent is slightly lower than the UK average of 6.2 per cent, and well below the 9.2 per cent marketers in the region expected this time last year.

Commenting on the survey's findings, Christine Boswell-Munday, South West regional director at The Chartered Institute of Marketing, said: "Although marketers in the South West appear to be more pessimistic about the economy than the rest of the nation, they could well look to the opportunities an economic downturn can bring.

"By focusing on changing customer needs more precisely, they can help their organisations to not only survive but thrive in these challenging times".

The Institute's marketing trends survey also looked at attitudes towards sustainability and the 2012 London Olympics: more than half of marketers in the South West believe that a company's sustainability practices affect customers' buying decisions (56 per cent), slightly lower than the UK average (66 per cent).

Forty per cent of South West based marketers believe the 2012 London Olympics will only benefit marketers in London and the South East, with an even split (40 and 39 per cent respectively) between those who believe that all UK marketers will benefit from knock-on effects of increased visitor numbers and the 'feel good factor' and those who disagree.

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