1. Global Marketing Index, September 2012
March 2012
Monthly report for contributors
Monthly report for contributors
Headline GMI results by region
Global Marketing Index improves 65.0
Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12
in September 59.6
60.0
57.7
• Global Marketing Index rises for second 56.2
month in a row 55.0 53.8 53.8
52.9 53.4 53.0
52.4 52.4 52.6
• Trading conditions improve significantly in the 51.3
Americas 50.0 50.2
50.0
• Marketing budgets continue to fall in Europe 48.9
48.1
45.0
Global The Americas Asia Pacific Europe
Warc’s latest Global Marketing Index (GMI) has
registered an increase in all regions for September Combines data for trading conditions, marketing budgets and staffing.
Above 50.0 = generally improving
2012. Below 50.0 = generally declining
Headline GMI, a metric combining panellists’
70.0
responses on current trends in marketing budgets, Trading conditions by region
trading conditions and staffing levels, extended its Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12
gains this month, reaching 52.9 (+0.5 points from 65.0 63.0
August). All three of the regions measured for the 60.2
report signalled a positive result: the Americas rose 60.0
to 59.6 in September– its highest headline GMI 55.9 55.9
54.9 54.5 54.8
result since April. Meanwhile, Asia Pacific recorded 55.0 54.1 54.4 54.7 54.0
53.8 points, while Europe reached 50.2. This 51.9 51.5 51.3
50.6
represents the region’s first net positive headline 50.0
GMI value – defined as an index reading of above
50.0 – since May. 47.9
45.0
The global index of trading conditions, one Global The Americas Asia Pacific Europe
component of headline GMI, also remained in
Above 50.0 = generally improving
positive territory, reaching 54.7 for September (+0.3 Below 50.0 = generally declining
points from August).
All regions registered improved readings, with the Marketing budgets by region
Americas up an impressive 2.8 points to 63.0 in May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12
September. This was the best result for the region 60.0
on this metric since April’s 63.6. Elsewhere, Asia-
Pacific rose to 54.8 (+0.8 points), while European 55.0
marketers recorded a reading of 51.3 (+0.7 points).
Regional variations could be seen in this month’s 50.0
results for marketing budgets, another component
of headline GMI. The Americas signalled an 45.0
expansion of budgets this month, registering a
value of 53.5, unchanged from August.
40.0
Meanwhile, Asia Pacific recorded 49.1 (up +3.1 Global The Americas Asia Pacific Europe
points), while the European index rose to 44.8 Above 50.0 = generally improving
(+3.9). Below 50.0 = generally declining
© Warc In association with

2. Global Marketing Index, September 2012
March 2012
Monthly report for contributors
Monthly report for contributors
Global marketing budgets by medium
In terms of the proportion of marketing budgets 90.0 May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12
allocated to individual media channels, trends for
September remained broadly consistent with those of 80.0
previous months: continued declines in traditional 70.0
media budgets were counterbalanced by positive
60.0
results for digital and mobile.
50.0
The global reading for TV improved slightly for
September, rising from 46.2 the month before to 47.2. 40.0
The last time TV returned a value above 50.0 was 30.0
April’s 51.6. Press continued to struggle relative to the
20.0
other media channels, recording a reading of 35.3 TV Press Digital (ex. Radio OOH Mobile
this month. This latest result represents an mobile)
improvement on the low of 33.0 recorded in June, but
press remains deep in negative territory. Above 50.0 = generally improving
Below 50.0 = generally declining
By contrast, online ad media continued to show very
high rates of monthly growth, signalling rapidly Global marketing budgets
increased budget allocations. Digital ads excluding 54.0
53.7
mobile recorded an index reading of 74.0 globally in
51.5
September, while the mobile channel returned 67.2 52.0
50.3
this month. 50.0
Across all regions and media channels, budgets 48.0
49.3
recorded a global reading of 48.0 in September (+1.9 47.5
48.0
47.3 47.3
points from last month). This means that marketers’ 46.0
46.1
planned expenditures have been in net negative 44.0
45.3 45.2
territory since June. 43.9
42.0
Continuing global economic uncertainty has led to
marketers adopting a generally conservative outlook
over recent months. It remains to be seen if the
recent announcements of bond-buying schemes from Above 50.0 = generally improving
Below 50.0 = generally declining
central banks in Europe and the US, which have
resulted in sharp gains on global stock markets, will
Staffing levels by region
lead to an improvement in the broader economy and
increased marketing budgets in the months ahead. 65.0 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12
Staffing levels, the final contributor to headline GMI, 62.2
recorded mixed results in September, albeit 60.5
remaining in positive territory across all regions. 60.0 59.4
58.1
Globally, the metric registered a net decline for the 57.7 57.5
56.6
month, falling from 56.6 to 56.1. Region by region, the 55.7
56.1
55.5
55.1
Americas continued at a very high level, up 2.8 points 55.0
54.6 54.4
54.0
54.4
53.7
to 62.2, while Asia Pacific (–0.2 points to 57.5) and
Europe (–0.7 to 54.4) both registered small declines.
Warc is recruiting for the Global Marketing Index 50.0
panel. Please refer colleagues and contacts to: Global The Americas Asia Pacific Europe
http://w w w .w arc.com/gmi Above 50.0 = generally improving
Below 50.0 = generally declining
© Warc In association with

3. Global Marketing Index, September 2012
March 2012
Monthly report for contributors
Monthly report for contributors
About the Index About Warc
The Global Marketing Index provides a unique Warc is the global provider of ideas and evidence
monthly indicator of the state of the global marketing to marketing people. It has produced trusted and
industry, by tracking current conditions among independent data on advertising expenditure and
marketers. media costs for more than 25 years, and has
partnerships with leading advertising
Our global panel (1,225 members) consists of organisations in more than 80 countries. Warc’s
experienced executives working for brand owners, premium online service, www.warc.com, is the
media owners, creative and media agencies and largest single source of intelligence for the
other organisations serving the marketing industry. marketing, advertising and media communities
The panel has been carefully selected to reflect worldwide. With subscribers in over 100 countries,
trends in the three main global regions: Americas, warc.com is a unique resource relied upon by
Asia Pacific and Europe. major creative and media agency networks,
market research companies, media owners,
Methodology multinational advertisers and business schools, to
Data collection period: 3–14 September 2012 help tackle any marketing challenge. In addition
to the online service, Warc publishes five
The Global Marketing Index results are calculated magazines, provides industry data and runs
by taking the percentage of respondents that report events.
that the activity has risen (“Increasing") and adding it
to one-half of the percentage that report the activity To find out more about Warc, take a free trial at
has not changed (“Unchanged"). Using half of the www.warc.com/trial
“Unchanged" percentage effectively measures the
bias toward a positive (above 50 points) or negative
(below 50 points) index. As an example of calculating
a diffusion index, if the response is 40% “Increasing,"
40% “Unchanged," and 20% “Reducing," the Diffusion
Index would be 60 points (40% + [0.50 x 40%]). A
value of 50 indicates "no change" from the previous
month.
About World Economics
The more distant the index is from the amount that
World Economics is an organisation dedicated to
would indicate "no change" (50 points), the greater
producing analysis, insight and data relating to
the rate of change indicated. Therefore, an index
questions of importance in understanding the
value of 58 indicates a faster rate of increase than an
world economy. The primary research objective is
index value of 53, and an index value of 40 indicates
to encourage and assist the development of better
a faster rate of decrease than an index value of 45. A
and faster measures of economic activity. In cases
value of 100 indicates all respondents are reporting
where we believe we can contribute directly, as
increased activity while 0 indicates that all
opposed to through highlighting the work of
respondents report decreased activity.
others, World Economics produces our own
measures of economic activity. The work of World
For more information about the Economics is mainly of interest to investors,
Global Marketing Index: organisations and individuals in the financial
Suzy Young, Warc Data Editor sector and to significant corporations with global
gmi@warc.com operations, as well as governments and academic
economists.
Please visit the Global Marketing Index for Find out more at www.worldeconomics.com
further information or to register for the panel
www.warc.com/gmi
© Warc