Ahead of our next Sales & Marketing Forum – this session will be on Supplier Marketing in Times of Transformation - we thought it would be useful to highlight a few of the pressures/opportunities driving transformation in major UK industries. From a marketing perspective, the stresses of such changes may mean that the end-user audience has less time to engage. But it’s also a golden opportunity to reach decision-makers with messages that set a brand apart from the crowd.

Retail: Pessimistic for 2012
This article in The Telegraph also highlights expected woes for the retail industry, particularly for electrical goods, furniture and fashion chains http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8961976/Retail-predictions-for-2012.html

Manufacturing: Automotive set to shine if the Eurozone holds out
Global car manufacturers have committed to significant UK activity in 2012 and the recent defence cuts could be transformed by a potential deal for BAE to build a new fighter jet for India. This article summarises what else we could be seeing on the UK production lines in 2012: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/8969193/Manufacturing-predictions-for-2012.html

Technology/IT: It’s all about BYO in 2012
This extensive report by Gartner tells you everything you need to know about where the IT sector is headed in 2012: http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/predicts/

Construction: Stuck in the mud until 2014
The private sector needs to improve before the construction industry can follow in its footsteps according to many of the UK associations. This review gives an overview of the expected changes this year and a breakdown of which sectors will see the biggest impact: http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/construction-news/5-fall-predicted-for-construction-output-this-year

As for the financial and public sector, we are sure our speakers at the The Marketing Practice S&M Forum (John Crane, acting CIO, Nationwide and John Suffolk, former CIO, UK government) will be filling us in with all of the insider tips so we’ll be back after the 24th to enlighten you all then.