Warc, wich combines trends observed in marketing budgets, trading conditions and staffing levels, the index has risen to a 56.2 in February, where 50 represents a positive trend. That is 1.2 point increase compared to January.
The biggest rise can be found in Asia Pacific. The headline GMI in this region stood stood on 53.8 in January, and has climbed to 56.2 in February.
The Americas are the most optimistic. It’s headline GMI went up from 58 to a firm 59.5 points.
Europe is lacking behind in this all. Although the trend is positive and the index went up 1.2 points, it stills keeps a low score at 53.1 points in February.
(graphic by marketingprofs.com)
These positive numbers are encouraging, according to Suzy Young, Data and Journals Director at Warc. The outlook for global marketing budgets has improved since the start of the year, with both the Americas and Asia Pacific recording positive growth, she says.
The overall index of global marketing budgets was up 1.3 points to 51.7 in February, helped by the turnaround in Asia Pacific and continued confidence in the Americas, which recorded a figure of 55.5.
While marketing budgets continued to be cut across Europe, the regional index recorded a value of 48.8 in February, an increase of 2.6 points compared with January.
The Index for global trading conditions indicated rapid improvement for February, standing at 59.4, up 1.5 points from January and the highest reading since April 2012. The outlook for trading conditions remained most positive in the Americas on 60.9, followed by Asia Pacific on 59.7 and Europe on 57.4.
The global index of staffing levels – the third component of headline GMI – also registered further improvement in February to reach 57.6. Staffing levels continued to rise in all global regions, with the Americas on 62.1, Asia Pacific on 58.5 and Europe on 53.2.
