The Q1 2015 IPA Bellwether Report has reported growth of 5.7% for event budgets, extending the sector's growth period to a year and a half.
Marketing budgets overall experienced an excelerated increase during Q1 2015, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of growth. This latest increase makes overall growth for the 2014/15 budget year the best recorded since 2004/05.
According to the report, a net balance of +28% of panellists are forecasting an increase in their marketing budgets relative to 2014/15. This is the most upbeat assessment signalled by the panel for eight years. While all categories within the report are forecast to benefit from this expected upward revision in marketing budgets, events and main media advertising are predicted to be the largest beneficiaries.
Paul Bainsfair, IPA Director General, commented on the findings: “With over 10 successive quarters of growth in marketing budgets and the best budget year for marketing spend in a decade, this latest Bellwether provides welcome evidence of the extent to which clients recognise and value the significant contribution marketing communications makes to their business success. This stands us in good stead for what is set to be an unsettled few months politically.”
Paul Simonet, Creative Strategy Director at Imagination, commented on the increase in event budgets: “The increasing demand for Events and Experiences really only bears out what we have been seeing commercially for some time... You cannot be a modern brand without a digitally enabled experience strategy... Welcome to the Experience Economy!”
