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Marketing budgets fall – but do jobs necessarily go?
With an economic crisis looming that is touted by some as the worst since the 1930s, companies are responding by tightening their belts and cutting marketing budgets according to the latest Bellwether Report.
The report published by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) indicates that marketing budgets are being cut for the third consecutive quarter, with the only sector that is bucking this trend being online marketing.
Naturally, traditional media such as TV and press have suffered the worst, yet the author of the report, Chris Williamson, hints that whilst these disciplines are in recession, sales promotion is expanding, with ‘further growth expected for the coming year, and 2008 may see even stronger growth than 2008.’ This viewpoint is backed up by figures issued by promotional solutions company Valassis, based in Northamptonshire. The Valassis Coupon report published on July 9th noted that the growth of coupon distribution has been healthy at 29%, and redemption has grown from a value of £400 million in 2006 to £479 million in 2007. Similarly, other forms of below-the-line activity have increased in effectiveness and exposure, with research by the IGD finding that 25% of people named ‘buy one get one free’ promotions as the most common factor in trying a new product or brand – the same percentage as TV advertising.
In this environment, it is clear that whilst budgets are being cut, this does not necessarily mean a headcount cull in marketing departments – certain disciplines may experience a decline, yet others will become more prominent. This is a trend reflected by the views of consultants at Brand Recruitment, who deal with marketing jobs across every discipline and sector in the East of England. Steve Mann, Managing Director at Brand notes that there has been a natural drift towards e-commerce over the last few years, but claims that the agency has also seen a noticeable increase in direct marketing and insight roles, and is confident that the sector as a whole is not going to suffer massive job cuts. ‘For the last two years companies have been asking us to work on more and more jobs involving these disciplines and I imagine the pending recession will propogate this trend. There is a common perception held by the man on the street that marketing is advertising and advertising is marketing, but this is not the case; whilst the spend on TV ads and such like is being cut, this does not mean marketing jobs are going.. they are simply being transferred to disciplines which are more focussed and accountable.’
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