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It’s no surprise that marketing budgets will continue to shift towards better ways to engage and reach consumers as the recession begins to subside.

This is also why marketers are planning on increasing their social networking/word-of-mouth and innovation and testing/learning budgets once the recession ends and the recovery begins.

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) recently released a study showing the way brands are shifting their budgeted spend 

Marketing activities getting MORE budget

• Pricing Deals (47%)
• Social networking and word of mouth activities (26 percent)
• Public relations (23%)

Marketing Activities getting CUT

• Media budgets (56 percent)
• Production budgets (50 percent)
• Sponsorship/events activities (41 percent)

These increased activities reflect the real need and understanding from marketers that brand equity comes from emphasis on consumer to consumer conversation, driven by the relationship a brand has with its consumers.

Of course the actual product is the main item for brand equity (89 percent) but customer service (86 percent) and employee advocacy (81 percent) are just as critical.   Customer WoM accounts for a huge impct on the markets perception, and so is somehting that you need to track and manage.