The economy might be retrenching and consumers souring, but consumer marketers are feeling more confident, according to a survey by Cegedim Dendrite which found that four in 10 expect DTC spend to increase in 2010.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said spending would hold steady or increase, a big jump over last year’s 43%, with 41% anticipating increased spending.
Of that 41% nearly half said the increase will come from more funds allocated to direct-to-patient (DTP) programs.

Among those anticipating decreased spending, half said funds would be shifted to different programs, 19% cited a shift to targeted DTP, 16% predicted a shift to professional promotion, 10% said funds would shift to more persistence and adherence programs and 9% anticipated a shift to more integrated non-personal promotion.

Respondents said TV, direct mail and radio budgets should be cut and the savings shifted into other areas. Asked where they’d like to see more spent, 72% said relationship marketing, while only 58% said they expected to see that happen, while 73% said loyalty card and persistence programming, with only 55% expecting increased spending in those areas.

Spending was expected to stay the same for awareness and trial, while leaping 48% on usage, indicating a shift away from spending to generate new customers and towards low-cost customer retention, said Cegedim Dendrite.