Where marketers are putting their dough By Betsy Spethman

Chicago--Retailers continue to hold marketers' purse strings, but marketers are tightening them with a shift in spending to consumer promotions, especially

With spending on consumer promotions up 3.1% to reach the level of 28.2% of 1992 marketing budgets, promotion has surpassed media adertising for the second time in 10 years, according to donnelley Marketing’s 15th Annual Survey of Promotional Practices.
Media may fare better this year, with 55% of marketing execs expecting spending to rise.
Trade promotion is likely to keep falling, though, with 47% prodicting spending drops.
“Where trade spending is unprofitable, marketers are pulling it, and moving it to consumer promotion to maintain sales volume,” said Kevin Price, senior partner with consultancy Marketing Corp. of America.
With trade promotion still accounting for almost half of marketing budgets, marketers are pushing more brandbuilding efforts–especially retailer-specific programs, used by 98% of respondents, up from 87% last year.
More marketers are using in-store couponing, sampling of established products, couponing in retailers’ ads and contests than in the past two years, Donnelley reports. Cents-off promotions, sweepstakes and FSIs are losing favor. Even though all 51 execs surveyed said they use FSIs, Donnelley reports inserts are losing favor as marketers target consumers more tightly.
But FSIs are still strong, constituting 86% of the 322 billion coupons distributed last year, according to processor CMS.
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