ONE-THIRD OF RETAILERS CUT HOLIDAY ADVERTISING AND MARKETING BUDGETS THIS YEAR ACCORDING TO BDO SEIDMAN, LLP
ONE-THIRD OF RETAILERS CUT HOLIDAY ADVERTISING AND MARKETING BUDGETS THIS YEAR ACCORDING TO BDO SEIDMAN, LLP
Chicago, IL – According to a new study conducted after the financial market meltdown by BDO Seidman, LLP, one of the nation’s leading accounting and consulting organizations, one-third (32%) of chief marketing officers (CMOs) at leading U.S. retailers state that their holiday marketing and advertising budgets have been reduced this season. Further, nearly half (43%) of the retailers say their budget will remain flat and only a quarter (25%) cite an increase in advertising and marketing spending this holiday season. Most of the retailers (57%) will spend the majority of their advertising and marketing budget on print advertising, while 21 percent will focus on broadcast outlets and 19 percent will focus spending on internet advertising, including social networking sites. Indicative of an increased interest in going green, a sizable 43 percent of retailers will be increasing their advertising and marketing focus on green products this holiday season, which is up from 37 percent in 2007.
The recessionary climate has caused retailers to cut back in many ways, and advertising budgets are among the first items retailers consider when reducing spending,” said Catherine Fox-Simpson, a Partner in the Retail and Consumer Product Practice of BDO Seidman. “This holiday season, we can expect that advertising buys will be very targeted, and in some cases more conservative. Historically, in tough times, campaigns become less flashy, more sentimental and heavily focused on value-added items, such as sustainable products.”
These findings are from the most recent edition of The BDO Seidman Retail Compass Survey which examined the opinions of 100 chief marketing officers at leading retailers located throughout the country regarding their expectations of the 2008 holiday shopping season. The retailers in the study were among the largest in the country, excluding automotive dealers and restaurants, with revenues of more than $100 million, including 13 percent of the top 100 based on annual sales revenue. The survey was conducted in October of 2008.
BDO Seidman, LLP has been a valued business advisor to retail and consumer products companies for almost 100 years. The firm works with a wide variety of retail clients, ranging from multinational Fortune 500 corporations to more entrepreneurial businesses, on a myriad of accounting, tax and other financial issues.
The BDO Seidman Retail Compass Survey is a national telephone survey conducted by Market Measurement, Inc., an independent market research consulting firm, whose executive interviewers spoke directly to chief marketing officers, using a telephone survey conducted within a scientifically-developed, pure random sample of the nation's largest retailers (with revenues ranging from over $100 million to billions of dollars).
BDO Seidman, LLP is a national professional services firm providing assurance, tax, financial advisory and consulting range of publicly traded and privately held companies. Guided by core values including, competence, honesty and integrity, professionalism, dedication, responsibility and accountability for almost 100 years, we have provided quality service and leadership through the active involvement of our most experienced and committed professionals.
BDO Seidman serves clients through 37 offices and more than 400 independent alliance firm locations nationwide. As a Member Firm of BDO International, BDO Seidman, LLP serves multi-national clients by leveraging a global network of resources comprised of 626 Member Firm offices in 110 countries. BDO International is a worldwide network of public accounting firms, called BDO Member Firms, serving international clients. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country.
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