NEW YORK: DoubleClick, which claims to be the leading provider of marketing tools for advertisers, direct marketers and web publishers has released the results of its Fall 2002 Marketing Spending Index study, which is designed to track trends and the adoption of both offline and online marketing tools. The study, a follow up to the 2002 Spring study, is based on nearly 200 marketing professionals in the US from companies with gross revenues of more than $50 million and with marketing budgets exceeding $1 million.

Marketers expect budgets to increase in 2003 - The study found that 51 per cent of marketers expect budgets to be higher in 2003 compared to 2002. 43 per cent of marketers expect budgets to remain the same and only 6 per cent expect budgets to decrease. Those marketers who anticipate budget increases expect an average increase of 11 per cent. Furthermore, 57 per cent of marketers expect to increase their spending on email marketing in 2003.

The web is a substantial revenue channel - Marketers agree that the web remains a substantial revenue channel comprising 13 per cent of marketer's revenue. Furthermore, 63 per cent of marketers expect the website to be the most likely revenue channel to increase. The study also found that 19 per cent of marketers believe that telemarketing is the most likely channel to decrease in revenue, compared to 14 per cent of marketers who think catalog revenue will decrease, and 13 per cent who believe reseller revenue will decrease.

Marketers' use of online advertising for branding has increased - Results show that marketers using online for brand awareness increased from 75 per cent to 82 per cent in this Fall study, compared to those using it for direct response which were 43 per cent compared to 52 per cent in this Fall study. Additionally, the study reveals that when branding awareness is the primary objective, online advertising is perceived as nearly as effective as print, with 4.1 out of 5 compared to 4.2 out of 5, and slightly more effective than radio, with 3.9 out of 5.

Effectiveness and measurability still a concern for marketers - On a less positive note just 44 per cent of marketers reported having measurement tools in place, with the majority of marketers claiming that "clicks" and hits" are their measurement tools for online advertising. 33 per cent of marketers cited that they are unsure about the effectiveness of online advertising, followed by inconsistent reporting cited by 0029% of marketers. Furthermore, marketers showed growing concern about the expense of online advertising, from 13 per cent to 19 per cent in this Fall study.

Furthermore, the effectiveness of email ranks high as an impediment to increasing spend on email marketing. 26 per cent of marketers reported this as a concern, compared with 31 per cent of marketers in this Fall study. Specifically, marketers cited concern about increased volume impacting response rates, with privacy and SPAM the top concerns for 35 per cent of marketers in this study.