With the deepening economic crisis, a straw poll was quickly conducted in collaboration with DesignSingapore Council in the first quarter of this year to understand how 4As members are coping with the downturn and what steps could be taken by the government to help the industry.

The findings were presented to Mr. Chan Yeng Kit, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA) last month.

While only 7.5% and 8.6% of respondents indicated no impact on businesses for ad spend and creative services output respectively, the rest of those polled indicated negative growth. More than 60% of those polled indicated negative growth of over 20% for both ad spend and creative services output.

The most critical factor affecting agencies are high overheads and rental, followed by reduction in demand and cancelled projects.

When asked what steps agencies will take if businesses are adversely affected, most said they would adopt pay cuts and no pay leave, followed by hiring more freelancers and contract workers, and refocusing on training.

Financial assistance tops the list of government assistance required to plug the gaps and provide organizational training programmes or funding support. Also, the top training programmes that would be relevant to companies in grooming existing talent pool are in the areas of digital / interactive / software upgrading.

When asked for suggestions on how the government should stimulate growth to the media and advertising sector, the top 3 responses given were to encourage spending both in public and private sectors, boosting consumer demand, followed by increased government ad spend and to defer tax or banks to lend more and to also re-think government tenders.

More than 50% of 4As member agencies participated in this straw poll.

In seeking ways to help 4As members and their businesses, the 4As will continue to engage the government through DesignSingapore Council on the issues mentioned.