There is no denying that marketing departments have been victims of the ongoing economic crisis, with firms concentrating on surviving rather than battling it out for new business.

However, the new year could herald a fresh start for the sector with various reports suggesting that budgets for email, mobile and online marketing will be much healthier in 2010.

The latest Bellwether survey from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising highlighted that while 2009 ended with marketing budgets at their lowest level in two years, decline in marketing spend in the final quarter was much slower than in previous months.

In addition, two-thirds of the industry professionals questioned said that budgets for 2010 are at this stage already higher than last year's.

And it seems that this cash will be well spent, with new research suggesting consumers are becoming increasingly keen to be on the receiving end of marketing campaigns.

The 2009 Marketing-GAP Tracking Study from online market research company fast.MAP and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) highlights that consumers are more receptive than ever before to the direct marketing of products and services which interest them.

A massive 95 per cent of consumers are "happy to receive" information from their favoured supermarkets and stores through one or more marketing channels and 73 per cent are happy to receive information on local restaurants.

However, it seems that many marketers underestimate consumers' willingness to receive marketing messages, with experts in the sector predicting that just 28 per cent of people would be happy to receive emails about companies they know, when in reality over half of consumers would be interested in such communications.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Robert Keitch, chief of membership & brand for the DMA, said: "In spite of ever-improving tools, practices and research, it's clear that marketing practitioners are failing to keep up to date with what consumers really think about direct marketing. Consumers are largely receptive to direct marketing, but only under the right circumstances."

He added that if marketing is going to be a strong revenue driver for companies and help them out of the recession, it is vital that people in marketing jobs have the capabilities to produce effective campaigns.

This suggests that while the upturn is paving the way for a surge in marketing recruitment, it will only be those at the top of their game who are taken on.
Media Contact: Tessa Buckman 020 8336 4042