Warc figures point to a more buoyant global marketing outlook in early 2013, helped by Asia Pacific’s turnaround in sentiment
LONDON – Global marketing sentiment improved for two straight months this year, according to Warc, noting that January’s uptick was the first growth in its Global Marketing Index (GMI) since May 2012.
The GMI hit 55 points in January and rose to 56.2 in February. The index combines trends tracked in marketing budgets, trading conditions and staffing levels gathered from a panel of 1,225 executives from marketing, media and agencies.
Any value above 50 points indicates a positive outlook.
Asia Pacific registered the biggest month-on-month GMI uptick from 53.8 points in January to 56.2 points as marketing budgets in the region started rising for the first time since October 2012. The region’s turnaround and continued confidence in the Americas boosted the overall index of global marketing budgets, which climbed 1.3 points to 51.7 in February.
“The outlook for global marketing budgets has improved since the start of the year, with both the Americas and Asia Pacific recording positive growth,” said Suzy Young, Warc’s data and journals director.
Warc also noted rapid improvements in the index for global trading conditions, which reached 59.4 points, up 1.5 points from January, the highest reading since April 2012. The outlook for trading conditions remained most positive in the Americas on 60.9 points, followed by Asia Pacific on 59.7 and Europe on 57.4.
The global index of staffing levels – the third component of headline GMI – also registered further improvement in February to reach 57.6. Staffing levels continued to climb in all global regions, with the Americas on 62.1, Asia Pacific on 58.5 and Europe on 53.2.
This article originally appeared in adobo magazine issue #44 (March – April 2013)
