According to Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business July 2009 “CMO Survey”, CMOs believe that the economy is turning the corner.

How long it will take to get around the corner, though, is still anyone’s guess. Not surprisingly, low price still rules, with 34% of the 511 CMOs surveyed citing it as their #1  priority over the next 12 months.

Also a sign of the times: online marketing, at +9.5%, leads the way in terms of planned spending growth. Traditional ad spending is forecast down approximately 8%.

“These results indicate that marketers believe the tide had begun to turn,” said Christine Moorman, professor at the Fuqua School of Business. “However, they are clearly aware that the recession has caused customers to become more price sensitive and companies are wisely keeping that in mind as they make product and marketing decisions.”

Other key findings of the CMO Survey include:

• Russia and Eastern Europe are the regions where marketers expect the most future growth to occur, with significant decreases in opportunities in Canada, Mexico and Western Europe.
• CMOs expect the majority of firm growth to occur internally, with 70 percent of growth spending allocated to internal growth strategies, 13 percent to partnerships, 10 percent to acquisitions and 7 percent to licensing.
• Despite economic pressures, there has been little turnover in CMO positions this year; top marketers report having been in their positions for an average of 4.3 years — unchanged from February.

Presentation of the findings:

[Source: Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, CMO Survey: Marketers Prepare for Better Times Ahead; Increase Focus on Social Media Strategies]

Clinton Stark
Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, Fan of Napa (and Diet Coke)

Clint co-founded StarkSilverCreek and writes about social media, arts, wine, indie film, and his trusty Droid. An aging ice hockey player, he tries in vain to direct Loni in SSC videos. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Clint is a Silicon Valley and new media entrepreneur. From the early PC clone days in the 80’s, to the explosion of telecom and networking in the 90’s, and now to social networking, Web 2.0 and software-as-a-service, Clint has successfully built businesses and start-ups into multi-million dollar operations. Recently as VP marketing he spearheaded the launch of a $110M company. But that was then.

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