DMA Releases Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for Q1 2011
May 31, 2011 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today released its Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for the first quarter of 2011. On this report, DMA partnered with Winterberry Group, a leading strategic management consulting firm that helps advertising and marketing companies build shareholder value.
In Q1 2011, the marketing and advertising community continued to see steady improvement in all key economic performance measures. Revenues, investment, staffing levels, and bottom-line profitability all rose from the previous quarter. The pace of improvement, however, slowed compared with previous quarters.
“Marketers are worrying less about general economic conditions and more about operational challenges,” said Yory Wurmser, DMA’s director of media & marketing insights. “For the first time since the recession began in 2008-2009, the leading inhibitor to marketing performance was no longer general economic conditions, but rather concerns such as lack of customer analytics and targeting capabilities and rising campaign execution costs.”
"After three long and challenging years, it would appear that marketers are once again being motivated by priorities and considerations that are not grounded primarily to economic upheaval," said Jonathan Margulies, a vice president at Winterberry Group. "Nonetheless, it’s important to acknowledge that anxiety has been replaced by caution. Many marketers and suppliers simply don’t have a firm handle on what they can expect when it comes to future demand, available budgets, and channel strategies."
Key findings include:
· A large majority of marketers (83.7%) report that their investment in direct/digital marketing activity grew or remained steady compared with the previous quarter (Q4 2010).
· In contrast to previous quarters, when marketers reported Better and more focused analytics tools and processes as their top priority, the leading priorities in Q1 were General demand for digital marketing investment/activity and Better understanding of the needs of multichannel integration.
· Nearly half of marketers (41%) report higher revenues in Q1 than they had in Q4 2010.
· Over a third of marketers (37%) and nearly half of suppliers (43%) noted improved profitability of the same quarter last year (Q1 2010).
· The majority of marketers and suppliers — 67% and 52% respectively — indicate unchanged staffing levels in Q1.
· Marketers continue to emphasize digital channels in their media investments.
About DMA’s Quarterly Business Review
DMA’s Quarterly Business Review (QBR) for the first quarter of 2011 is based on an online survey conducted by DMA’s Research and Market Intelligence department in April 2011. Altogether DMA received 216 usable survey responses.
The report is free for DMA members. Non-members can purchase a copy for $49.95 from DMA’s Bookstore by clicking here.
About Winterberry Group
Winterberry Group is a unique, global strategic consulting firm that helps advertising and marketing companies grow shareholder value. Based in
Get Social with DMA
Join us on Facebook
About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents companies from dozens of vertical industries in the
In 2010, marketers — commercial and nonprofit — spent $153.3 billion on direct marketing, which accounted for 54.2 percent of all ad expenditures in the United States. Measured against total
The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.
# # #
RSS Subscription
© Direct Marketing Association | Privacy Statement | Share