Marketers Tell Us What's Hot and What's Not in 2009

The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) and Anderson Analytics issued the results of its second annual survey of Top Marketing Trends for 2009. More than 630 senior marketers from a wide variety of industries across the nation (MENG members must make $160,000 plus per year) responded to the email poll.

Here’s what they said about budgets:

34% said they expect their budgets will remain flat
25% say they will not fill open positions
19% say their budgets will be reduced
11% said their budgets would go up

Which are the most important target markets?

78% said baby boomers – up from 6%
64% said women – up 9%
53% said generation X – up 13%
52% said Gen Y – up 11%

What’s Hot in Marketing
Marketers were asked which strategies they would concentrate on for 2009. Here are some highlights:
79% said customer satisfaction
76% said customer retention
65% said marketing ROI
61% said market segmentation
51% said innovation and R&D with 51% believing their budgets will stay the same and 21% saying it will increase.
#1 New Business Opportunity - China with India a distant second

What to Read?

The winner is still Good to Great but up and comers include: Groundswell, Hot Flat and Crowded, The Black Swan, Predictably Irrational and Mavericks at Work.
Hot Marketers (We mean popular not that kind of hot) – Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, Warren Buffet


What’s Not So Hot

In these tough economic times marketers’ priorities are changing.

Global warming shrank in importance dropped 14 spots on the list

Green marketing moved down 5

And dead last: Game theory, anti-Americanism and immigration.

Who’s Not So Hot – Al Ries, Jack Welch, Jim Stengel

Large numbers of marketers said they are sick of hearing about new media. What areas did they say enough already about? Web 2.0 19.4% Social Networking 12.2% Social Media 11.3% Blogging 7.9% Viral Marketing 6.2% Synergy 5.8%.
BUT in a recent survey by the same research firm, 67% of senior marketers admitted they didn’t know much about social media. So go figure.

I talked to Tom Anderson,author of the survey, and he gave us some insight into what all of this means. He told me:

MENG are experienced marketers who have been through other recessions. They know cutting back isn’t going to help long-term.

Generation Y is gaining in importance because they are the customers of tomorrow and they are influencing purchasing by their parents

Marketing research focus didn’t change as much as he thought – they’re still focused on it just trying to do what’s most important

Green is expensive and so is global warning – and in these economic times people are more worried about survival.