Surviving recession, shifting loyalty, understanding consumers: Your Marketing Week
At the end of every week I look at the key stories, offering my view on what they mean for you and the industry. From the squeeze on marketing roles to the question of loyalty, it’s been a busy week.
Think twice
Brands are at the stage of the pandemic when they are either turning their attention to or acting to mitigate the impact of the coming recession. For most, action tends to fall into one or all of three categories – postpone planned spend, reduce prices, cut costs.
Inevitably, the latter often means freezing recruitment and redundancies. And marketing, as many of you will know, is not immune. As detailed in this piece from my colleague Charlotte Rogers, roles are being hit across the industry. But the picture seems particularly bleak at the junior end as the opportunities for marketing administrators and assistants dry up.
At the top end, we have seen a slump in open vacancies for CMOs and marketing directors. In the past couple of weeks alone, we have reported exits at Centrica, The Guardian and McDonald’s as the top marketing roles are shelved. I expect there are others under threat.
Those looking to cut costs and cut them quickly might be tempted to conclude the CMO’s salary is an unaffordable luxury. After all, with a necessary focus on tactics, digital and instant performance, the onus and priority might seem to be elsewhere.