Marketing hits the bright lights

Marketing budgets will be up this year, bucking the doom and gloom surrounding the economy. Michael Millar looks at the situation in today’s climate to find out why the sector is so hot

 

It is said that the key to a successful marketing campaign is to make the customer feel happy. But what about the marketers themselves? It's nigh on impossible to turn anywhere without hearing economic doom and gloom as the words 'slowdown' and even 'recession' are thrown about with reckless abandon.

Once upon a time this would have made marketers very unhappy indeed. A traditional complaint was that their budget was among the first things to be sacrificed in the bad times. This in turn would mean slim pickings for the recruiters who served the industry.

But that was then and this is now; despite any wider downturn, the industry and the UK recruiters who serve it are, as a marketer might say, "hot".

Rather than slashing budgets, a survey of almost 900 marketers by specialist software provider Alterian, found that two thirds intend to up their spending this year. Less than one in 10 (7%) said they had no plans to increase resources. The Marketing Week/Ball & Hoolahan Salary Survey 2008 found 46% of marketing departments increased the size of their teams over the last 12 months, the highest figure for three years.

It seems there is a new approach to the hard times: rather than entrench your position, go out and fight even harder for market share.

Stefan Ciecierski, European managing director at recruitment firm Aquent, says he hopes to increase headcount in the UK by 25% this year, from 120 to 150, to cope with the demand for marketing staff.

"Our economy is dominated by what the consumer is doing and the consumer is driven to a large extent by marketing," he says. "Marketing is becoming an increasingly important part of the way we look at economies and how they work — if the market slows then marketing has to get better."

Justin Cotton, regional manager for Hays Marketing, said the health of the sector was illustrated by the amount of mergers going on, as well as the number of independent marketing recruiters emerging.

"There's a huge amount of M&A activity going on. There's also a lot of people going off on their own setting up boutique agencies, which suggests it's a positive market," he says. "Access to information is much greater now; online job boards are making it a lot easier to be successful and making it more competitive."

This brave new online world is one that marketers are desperate to master as they bid to convert customers to their brands and products. Alterian's research found almost half (45%) of respondents currently spend more than $500,000 (£257,346) on online promotion activities, compared with 37% in 2006.

Marketing recruiters have to work hard to take advantage of this, because skills shortages are particularly acute in the digital arena.

Anita Baglee, director of Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment, says briefs for digital experts are coming thick and fast.

"Digital marketing is still relatively new — it's very candidate-driven because there just aren't enough," she says. "Digital candidates are being paid so much compared to marketing disciplines at the same level."

Baglee says it is common for a candidate to receive counter-offers of £5,000 to £15,000 when they try to change jobs.

This demand is reflected in the salaries marketers command. According to Marketing Week figures, marketers received an average 6.7% pay rise last year, taking their average income to £48,627 — twice the average UK income.

One great advantage of increasingly sophisticated online marketing is companies see more bang for their buck (once they've actually found the people to design and implement their strategy, of course).

Tim Gilbert, managing director of marketing recruiter the EMR Group, says marketing has become a cheaper and more effective discipline since coming online.

"It's no longer necessary to have 'X' million for a budget when you have online and targeted database marketing," he says. "Marketing has undergone a renaissance — it has proved itself as a discipline and is much more accountable.

"Marketers can justify their spend much more readily than they used to. For example, they can track on the web the number of customers who click through and then go on to buy services. This is all about accountability and marketers being able to go back to their superiors and say 'we spent this and we got this in return'."

The dynamism of the UK market is reflected by global recruiter Greythorn Group's swoop on the EMR Group in January.

Oliver Hone, head of marketing, EMEA at Greythorn, says the company already covered the accounting, finance, IT and legal sectors, and marketing made it a "full house".

"It made sense as it's a very dynamic marketplace and EMR is one of the strongest in it," he explains. "Marketing is a very strong industry with a lot of activity going on and a lot of options for candidates."

The changing nature of marketing gives UK recruiters servicing the industry many reasons to smile. But they also have one inherent advantage over anywhere else simply by virtue of being in the UK.

Being a UK recruiter in the marketing sector is a bit like being born with a silver spoon in your mouth as the UK is currently a hub of marketing excellence, attracting the best of the best.

Ciecierski says UK marketing departments are staffed by people from all over the world.

"It's incredibly cosmopolitan in the UK," he says. "A lot of people come to the UK to look for jobs in marketing because it's extremely well developed and there are a lot of big brands and headquarters in the UK.

"The UK has a higher proportion of its economy in the creative industry than any other country in Western Europe — the total GDP that is down to marketing is about 8% and it's growing," Ciecierski says.

Greg Orme, chief executive officer of MajorPlayers, says London in particular was seen as a centre of excellence.

"In social studies speak you tend to get clusters and around the world you tend to have half a dozen international creative clusters," he says. "London, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney are globally well-known; we have talent flocking here."

But the increasingly global nature of the client base also means recruiters can't afford to sit on their laurels, according to Ciecierski.

"I don't see how you can run a successful recruitment business in marketing if you are focused on the UK only," he says. "Brand integrity is very important and is usually a global message. Companies want consistency across the world."

Gilbert says this is why EMR went willingly into the arms of Greythorn.

"One of the key reasons for the acquisition was to globalise the business," he says. "We will soon be opening a Dubai office, one in Sydney by the middle of the year and Hong Kong by the end of the year. There is a definite need to bring over marketers from the UK to companies out there."

But a final word of caution for marketing recruiters who see nothing but sweetness and light in the future: with the revolution in marketing, as with any revolution, those who don't keep up will get the chop.

For example, one traditional mainstay of marketing, direct mail, could well plummet in the immediate future. The US market suffered a 14% fall in volume in the last quarter of 2007 and the UK is predicted to follow. If your candidates are experts in mail hits and not web page hits, then you could be in trouble.

As for those marketing recruiters who do keep up, it seems that like any well-marketed product, they will continue to reach places others cannot.


Marketing: the numbers:
When looking for a new job:

24% of marketers would look at the trade press
21% would look at the internet
21% would go direct to a recruitment agency

Source: Precision Marketing

Where are the vacancies?

* England: 7,000 permanent vacancies, up 500 on this time last year
* Wales: 65, up from 40 this time last year
* Scotland: 60 down from 65 a year ago

Source: reed.co.uk market index

What's the money like?

* 6.7%: the average salary increase for marketers in 2007
* £48,627: the average income for marketers
* £5,000: the average amount extra male marketing managers earn than their female colleagues

Source: Marketing Week/Ball & Hoolahan Salary Survey 2008

Top reasons to change job?

1 - Opportunity to advance
2 - High financial rewards
3 - Challenging work

Source: Marketing Week/Ball & Hoolahan Salary Survey 2008

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