FRANCE - ANAé survey about the event industry in France: mid-september 2011 market trends.

This fifth Flash Barometer enables to feel the market and its general trends and to explore specific issues such as employment, the typology of events organized or sustainable development, as perceived by the Members of the Association. This Barometer also meant to highlight the issue of the relationship between clients and agencies, with a particular emphasis on competitions.

As far as the general trend is concerned, despite the repeated announcements during Summer 2011 of a global stock market crisis, almost 75% of the ANAé agencies consider that the market situation is rather good at the moment. Almost 50% expect an increase in business in the coming months, with an increase of the gross margin of 3,9% compared to 2010.

It is likely that the crisis which has affected the event communication market since the end of August 2008 had a pedagogical effect on the companies’ communication strategies. They have probably understood the need to keep on communicating with their employees and clients as soon as a crisis is announced.

On the general issue of the relationship between client and agency, the question on consulting reveals that more than 40% of the agencies responded to a larger number of offers (an increase of 5,6% since 2010). In terms of average time to prepare for a competition, 65% of the agencies note, since the beginning of the year, a significant shortening of the time available to respond to briefs. In addition, almost 40% have an average of 4,3 agencies competing. Moreover, nearly 75% of the agencies find their relationship with the client and their negotiations more difficult than in March.

The understanding of the method(s) of payment of the agencies is rated 6/10. ANAé therefore notes that its efforts to communicate through the "Guide to the relationship between the advertiser and the event communication consulting agency", co-signed by UDA, must continue. 75% of the agencies hired new employees, against 66% in March. In numbers, this corresponds to 3,6 employees hired in September, against 3,1 in March. 80% of the agencies are considering hiring again within six months.

As far as the typology of events is concerned, since the beginning of September, the internal communication events (conventions, seminars, etc.) confirmed their leading position, before external events and especially before motivation trips and incentives, which hardly vary.

For 60% of the agencies, the requests which take into consideration sustainable development are equivalent to what was observed in early 2011. Finally, on average, the ANAé agencies offer an environmentally responsible approach for nearly 24% of their projects.