Pressure on parents, burnout, reputation: 5 interesting stats to start the week

Parents in creative and marketing industries feel pressure to prioritise work

More than four in five (83%) working parents in the creative, marketing and related industries feel pressure to prioritise work over parenting duties, according to research carried out by Ketchum on behalf of Philips.

While over three-quarters (78%) of working parents do feel their employers offer enough support; a still greater proportion (81%) feel they have to sacrifice family life to achieve their career goals.

The vast majority of working parents report getting little time to themselves, with 78% reporting they get less than one hour per day for themselves. However, there is a gulf between working mothers and fathers, with 86% of women reporting less than one hour a day to look after themselves, compared with 52% of men surveyed.

Nearly half (44%) of working parents say they face difficulty attending work events like Cannes because they don’t want to, or can’t, leave their children. Almost half of women (46%) have to be selective in attending work events, compared to 39% of men.

Despite this, less than one in five (19%) of non-parents recognise the difficulties working parents face in attending work events.

Source: Philips and Ketchum

Most marketers fear burnout in their current role

More than half (56%) of marketers are worried about burning out in their current role, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Younger marketers are more likely to fear burnout versus older people in the industry. Just under three-fifths (59%) of 25- to 34-year-olds indicated they are worried about experiencing burnout, compared to just 38% of 45- to 54-year-olds.

Despite a prevailing fear of burnout among marketers, the research does suggest that employers are thinking more carefully about mental health. Around three-quarters (74%) of marketers polled say their employer is taking the mental health of their employees more seriously than before the pandemic.

The research also suggests marketers have not seen significant salary increases in recent times. Around one-fifth (18%) report their salaries have stayed the same over the last 12 months, and just over a third (36%) report modest increases between 1% and 5%.

One factor putting pressure on marketers is worries about their organisation’s investment in marketing. Almost three in five (59%) say they’re concerned that brands are spending less due to external financial pressures. Just under half (49%) say they are worried that the growth of the marketing industry in Britain will be surpassed by its international competitors.

Source: Chartered Institute of Marketing

Grocery sales show sluggish growth despite normalising inflation

Grocery sales grew at their weakest level since June 2022 last month, despite grocery price inflation falling for the sixteenth consecutive month.

The 1% increase in take-home grocery sales in the four weeks to 9 June was the slowest growth since June 2022, with rain serving to hinder sales, as the average shopper visited supermarkets 16.3 times in the rainy month, down from 16.4 times in June last year, according to Kantar figures.

While growth in take-home grocery sales was sluggish, more premium retailers did well in the month.

Online-only retailer Ocado saw sales increase by 10.7% over the 12 weeks, meaning it was the UK’s fastest-growing grocer for the fourth month in a row. It now accounts for 1.8% of the total grocery market.

Waitrose has also seen strong growth in recent times. The supermarket attracted 188,000 new shoppers over the 12 weeks to 9 May, a greater increase than any of its grocery rivals. It also grew sales by 3.5% versus the same period in 2023.

Grocery price inflation now stands at 2.1%, Kantar reports, something that has contributed to a rise in consumer confidence, with 36% of households now describing their financial position as “comfortable”, the highest proportion since November 2021. The jump in “comfortable” households was the largest recorded since the start of 2023.

Source: Kantar

UK ad industry exports hit £18bn in 2023, ahead of telecoms and legal

The UK’s reputation as a global advertising powerhouse has been bolstered by new figures showing a substantial increase in the country’s advertising exports.

The value of UK advertising exports grew by 15% to reach £18bn in 2023, a figure four times higher than a decade ago. The UK is the second-biggest advertising exporter globally, behind just the US.

Based on the figures, UK advertising exports are worth more than exports in the engineering, telecommunications, legal, accounting, audio-visual or architectural sectors.

In terms of who is buying the UK’s advertising services, the US is the biggest importer, taking £3.4bn worth of UK advertising. Germany and France import £1.2bn and £1bn respectively.

Exports going to Europe, including both EU and non-EU countries, account for 63% (£11.4bn) of UK advertising exports.

The gap between UK and US exports has now narrowed from $4.7bn (£3.7bn) to $3bn (£2.4bn), according to advertising think tank Credos’ analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics, on behalf of the UK Advertising Export Group (UKAEG).

Source: Credos and the UK Advertising Export Group

Corporate reputation seen as the cornerstone of brand differentiation

Senior business leaders see corporate reputation as a “cornerstone” of brand differentiation, according to research from Bloomberg Media Group.

When it comes to what influences corporate reputation, trust is considered most important, with over one quarter (26%) of respondents associating corporate reputation with trust and ethical practices.

Marketers are considered one of the functions most responsible for building corporate reputation, with half of senior business leaders seeing the function as bearing responsibility. However, the research also finds that marketers tend to be the most sceptical around benefits of corporate reputation, with one in two marketers admitting to spending 10% or less of their budget on corporate reputation.

In terms of channels to build corporate reputation, digital media is most popular among senior business leaders. However, 61% believe that the negative impact of cutting edge tech like generative AI on corporate reputation will outweigh the benefits.

Source: Bloomberg Media Group