CMO Council

In the past few weeks a couple of research reports have been released which have some interesting findings.  The first one is from the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA).  It is entitled, Exhibit Management Survey. A free copy of the entire research can be found at www.tsea.org.

There are some statistics which I would like to discuss.  Let’s start with these:

Respondents indicated that they had exhibited in an average of 30 trade shows in 2008, but anticipated exhibiting in only 25 trade shows in 2009 (down 17%).

Respondents from the medical/healthcare/pharmaceutical industry indicated that they exhibited in an average of 43 events in 2008 and anticipate exhibiting in an average of 40 events in 2009 (down 7%).

Along with fewer trade shows, budgets for exhibiting will decrease from an average $459,100 in 2008 to $381,000 in 2009. This is a 17% decline.

However, there are some industry differences. In fact, reported spending for medical/healthcare/pharmaceutical industry events will increase from an average $797,400 in 2008 to $840,300 in 2009 (a 5% increase). On the other hand, spending in technology shows is decreasing by 46% from an average $615,400 in 2008 to only $332,000 in 2009.

The 17% decline in both of these catergories is better than I expected in this recession.  It means businesses are being prudent in their spending but still utilizing the trade show function to generate the much needed leads for the sales pipeline.

Now I am curious, are the 2009 trade show leads actually going to be followed up and moved along the sales funnel?  This is something I would like to monitor through out this year.

If your company is actually following up trade show leads, please let me know about the effort.

The second research report is from the CMO Council.  This report is part of an on going series and is called the 2009 Marketing Outlook.  A free Executive Summary can be found at www.cmocouncil.org.

The following description is from their website:

The 2009 Marketing Outlook Survey, the largest independent assessment of senior marketing executives today, is an annual global benchmarking initiative undertaken by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council. Given the economic challenges and market pressures worldwide, this year’s review of ‘08 performance and ‘09 challenges and intentions is far deeper and wider than before. The results of this study will be extremely valuable to all participants seeking peer-level input and consensus on critical issues and priorities in the year ahead.

The audit of over 650 marketers across all regions of the world revealed that, despite a restrained economy, marketers see budgets holding up fairly well, with dollars being stringently controlled and directed against growing and retaining market share.

Nearly one third plan at least a small budget increase, with eight percent planning a bump of more than 10 percent.

Almost half will decrease spending somewhat, with 19 percent anticipating cuts of more than 15 percent.

Marketers remain committed to their personnel, which represent 42 percent of budgets, and plan to invest in retraining employees for the digital age rather than replacing them with new talent.

Both of these reports show what the marketing landscape looks like today.  Please share with me what is going on in your world with marketing, especially the trade show function.

Until Later…

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