Singapore – Around 70% of marketing decision-makers worldwide are investing more than half of their budgets in long-term initiatives, with 78% remaining optimistic in the future regardless of ongoing crises, a study from GfK revealed.
The results showed that 61 percent of marketing decision-makers worldwide believe that their industry has been hit harder than others by the ongoing turbulence of recent years.
Among these numbers, there are regional disparities, with 66% of marketing decision-makers in Europe and 65% in North America feeling particularly affected by the economic situation. Meanwhile, only 52% in Africa and the Middle East and 55% in the Asia-Pacific region agree with this statement.
However, despite ongoing crises, over two-thirds (70%) of marketing decision-makers worldwide are investing more than half of their budgets in long-term initiatives like campaigns focused on strengthening the brand. The proportion further rises to 78% among CMOs.
Industry-wise, consumer tech (76%), automotive (76%), and retail (74%) are among the areas marketing leaders are zeroing in on for long-term brand-building strategies. Additionally, B2B brands are more willing to make long-term investments, with longer conversion cycles and smaller customer bases probably playing a role in their decision.
The results of the study further showed that optimism and confidence are still present among CMOs, as almost three-quarters state that their company has grown in the last three years and 78% state that they are optimistic about the future.
These optimistic marketing leaders are more focused on long-term brand building (77%), suggesting a link between optimism and long-term investment. Most marketing leaders also show impressive confidence in their budgets, with nearly two-thirds overall saying they find it easy to justify their financial needs and fund their marketing expenditures, particularly in North America and Europe.
In terms of the speed at which they receive real-time insights, 61% of global marketing leaders state that they receive actionable insights either immediately after data gathering or in the short term, but still quickly. Only 3% claim that generating insights takes too long to be useful for their marketing campaigns at all.
On the other hand, larger companies seem to have an advantage. The data revealed that the bigger the company, the higher the proportion of insights generated in real-time.
Among the frontrunners, Europe leads the way, with 33% of marketers saying they receive insights in real-time. This shows a huge gap versus the global average of 26%.
The score, meanwhile, is lowest in Africa and the Middle East, where only 19% claim to have access to real-time insights. One-third of global marketers state that data integration is the main obstacle to achieving real-time insights.
Overall, 44% of the survey’s respondents want to improve their capabilities in generating actionable insights, while 42% aim at improving data integration in their companies.
Next to real-time insights, AI is also transforming the way marketers work. Almost half of marketing leaders worldwide (45%) said they are already using AI, while 40% are familiar with or using machine learning models.
Additionally, the uptake of ChatGPT has been rapid, with 36% of respondents stating they were already using it by March 2023, despite it being on the market for less than a year. Marketers in big enterprises are seen to be early adopters of such technology, showing more familiarity than those in smaller firms.
Another thing worth noting, however, is that the data from the report also raises the question of whether marketers are failing their audience in terms of sustainability.
After some extreme weather events, CMOs worldwide are placing more emphasis on sustainability and environmental protection, with 42% stating this is an important part of their brand. The number is especially high in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific (46%).
Still, there seems to be a huge gap in how marketers perceive their audience in relation to demands for sustainability. The report revealed that only 30 percent of the respondents feel that their customers expect them to address sustainability.
On the flipside, the report finds that almost 73% of consumers actually expect companies to take environmentally responsible actions. One factor might be that companies tend to see sustainability as a corporate initiative rather than a marketing one, to which at least 24% of global marketers agree, especially among North American companies.
Overall, marketers need to keep in mind that any engagement with the environment and the climate must be authentic and long-term to be credible for consumers.
Gonzalo Garcia Villanueva, CMO at NielsenIQ/GfK, shared, “In recent years, market disruptions have shown us just how quickly buyer behaviour can pivot, highlighting the need for real-time predictive data. The businesses that thrive in this environment will be those that can anticipate what’s coming next.”
He added, “It is notable that marketing leaders across regions who say that their company has grown in the last three years and are optimistic get their insights faster than others. This indicates that successful companies are more digitalized and prioritise real-time insights for marketing.”
