How will the digital sector be affected by the credit crunch?
From December 2008 - February 2009 we asked you, 'How will the digital sector be affected by the credit crunch?' 1118 of you responded with the following results:
- Thrive as other sectors feel the pinch 190 votes (17%)
- Take a greater share of limited budgets 348 votes (31%)
- Suffer the same as other sectors 339 votes (30%)
- Suffer worse than other sectors 111 votes (10%)
- Have no effect 130 votes (12%)
Why you voted this way
A big thank you to all of you that took the time to tell us why you voted how you did. Some of our favourite comments from you, divided up by how you voted, are:
Thrive as other sectors feel the pinch
Simple economics. It costs less to promote a product on a web site than it does to promote same product on television and radio.
Jules Manson, Los Angeles, USA
The digital sector will thrive because web technologies are a competitive advantage if used appropriately. It will however require that we more than ever are able to communicate this effectively to potential clients.
Thoran, Melbourne, Australia
More people will be using the Internet for purchasing products and services, which offers more opportunity.
Nigel, Surrey, UK
Take a greater share of limited budgets
All sectors will feel the effects of the credit crunch in some way or another but as online retailing is still a growth area I believe that they will take a greater share of limited budgets.
Hazel, Oxford, UK
One of my clients told me they were going to cut back on newspaper and other traditional types of advertising and invest some of the money they saved in their website.
Eric, Iowa, USA
Marketers want to have quick, measurable results. Digital channels are often used in relatively low budget, short campaigns.
Jasper, Netherlands
It's proven to be more transparent as a revenue driver and process cost cruncher than most of the classical stuff. You know what you get from your investment and can improve or adopt rather quickly.
Anon
Suffer the same as other sectors
All sectors risk suffering from lack of credit leading to lack of investment, though some sectors seem likely to pick up more quickly than others.
Simon, Aubervilliers, France
The issues relating to the economy are not focused in any area, they are diffused equally throughout all regions making it impossible to predict where increased advantage or conversely increased disadvantage may appear.
Anon
It seems inconceivable that a downturn of this scale won't have a negative affect on the digital sector.
Steve, Hampshire, UK
Suffer the worse than other sectors
Unless your company focuses on providing a vital technology service over the web, strategic management is going to cut costs. IT and HR are the first departments to get hit. Unless you can prove without a doubt your solution can save money.
Tim, San Diego, USA
Have no effect
While larger companies will want to reduce budgets on additional services building on existing infrastructures, there will be a large number of smaller businesses looking long term to implement strategies to reduce costs in the medium to long term.
Tim, Edinburgh, UK
What next?
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