Large companies in Spain expect market ‘stability’ until the end of this year

Large businesses in Spain expect market stability to persist until at least the end of this year, and have positive expectations for market performance and sales in the second half of the year.

That’s according to the latest edition of the IEDM (Marketing Directors’ Expectations Index) survey, conducted by the Spanish Marketing Association (AMKT) and consultancy firm GfK. The survey of 200 companies focused on market performance, sales, and advertising investment for the next six months.

According to the study, all business sectors closed the first half of the year better than expected, except for the energy, retail, tourism and transport sectors, which fell short of their forecasts.

Respondents have a positive outlook for market performance (+2.2 points) and sales (+3.5 points) for the second half of 2024, which is a slight improvement on the previous survey, the data showed.

‘Better-than-expected’ results

Around 39% of companies reported better-than-expected results in the first half, while 29% were worse and 32% aligned with forecasts.

When asked how they believed the market in which they operate would evolved over the remainder of the year, 51% of respondents believe it will remain stable, 23% expect improvement, and 26% anticipate worsening conditions.

The banking, health, and technology sectors are projected to experience the most growth, the data showed.

Marketing budgets and activity

The study also sought to assess the level to which marketing budgets have evolved, and found that the marketing budget of a typical firm increased from 6.7% of total turnover to 7.5% of total turnover between 2023 and 2024.

As regards marketing activity over the remainder of the year, companies expect their budget to focus on digital media advertising (25%), traditional media (23%), events (17%), and other activities (16%). Key trends include artificial intelligence (92%), omnichannel experiences (61%), personalisation (51%), and advanced analytics (41%).

Advertising investment in online media also continues to grow, with more than half of companies investing over 40% in digital advertising.

The IEDM survey was conducted from June 11 to July 1, 2024, through online interviews with marketing directors from leading companies in various sectors. The survey has been taken every year since 2007.