UK advertising survey shows corporate confidence levels down amid Brexit uncertainty

Corporate confidence in the UK's financial prospects was down to its lowest level since early 2013, amid uncertainty over the possibility of Brexit and concerns about global growth, a survey of marketing executives found.

However, according to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's (IPA) Bellwether survey published today companies increased their marketing budgets marginally in the first quarter, with 23.3 per cent of respondents forecasting a higher spend in the next 12 months.

During the first three months of the year, when the 300 marketing professionals of the UK were polled, Prime Minister David Cameron agreed a new deal with EU leaders and set 23 June as the date for the EU vote.

The report's author, Paul Smith, said uncertainty about the referendum, plus concerns about a weaker rate of global growth, dented executives' views of prospects for their sectors.

In a dramatic reversal of sentiment, the number of executives who were pessimistic in the first quarter exceeded those who were optimistic by 6.5 per cent, as against the 7 per cent lead the optimists held in the previous period.

The report now projects adspend growth of 3.3 per cent for 2016, as against the 3.9 per cent projected in Q4 2015.

''The latest Bellwether survey leaves the impression that marketing executives are currently living in a period of flux,'' said Smith.

''On the one hand, economic and financial prospects have taken somewhat of a nosedive – probably not helped by uncertainty around EU membership – and that's led to those holding company purse strings to adopt ongoing prudence and caution when committing funds to areas such as marketing.

''While this inevitably has led to downward pressure on budgets, steady sales flows are encouraging new product development and enabling marketing executives to eke out some modest growth in funds.''

According to Paul Bainsfair, director general of the IPA, the next quarterly survey would probably present a clearer picture.

"Following the referendum in June, the summer Bellwether should hopefully provide better clarity on where we are headed," he said in a statement.