• silicon.com
• Management
• CIO Insights

By Tony Hallett, 27 June 2003 15:04

NEWS Evidence that the worst of the downturn is now behind us has been born out by a survey of marketing executives in technology, 79 per cent of whom recently said they are now "cautiously optimistic" about the future. After the euphoria of the boom years, many companies have cut back on their marketing activity but, according to research by European Technology Forum (ETF) commissioned by Tidalwave Technology, 23 per cent of respondents reported an increase in overall spend over the past 12 months. But despite optimism now about the future, over half said their organisations had seen a decrease in marketing over the past year, with 30 per cent saying it had been significant. Instead of traditional ways of spending money on marketing, Tidalwave reckons tech companies are looking more towards events, PR activity and the use of guerrilla tactics. Tidalwave CEO Julian Sowerby said campaigns these days must show a measurable return on investment but the growing popularity of using events as well as business and trade press is posing a conundrum - organisations sense they are working but are finding their effectiveness hard to measure. The research, which polled 34 senior marketing executives in technology, also showed new marketing spend is focused on sales and lead generation. Sixty-three per cent of marketers are increasing their spend on email marketing, with eDM (electronic direct marketing) in general proving popular, mainly because its effectiveness is easier to work out.