Integrated, Below-the-Line, and In-Demand
A story in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago pointed out an interesting effect of the interactive talent shortage felt throughout the marketing and design world: it may in fact be limiting on-line spending. According to one analyst, marketers are "looking to spend 15% to 20% of their marketing budgets on digital media," but this spending right now is stuck around 5%. People aren't paying for work to be done because there aren't enough people who can actually do it!
It's not news to anyone that the old warhorses of advertising - television commercials and newspapers - are well on their way to the glue factory. The ubiquity of broadband, advances in internet-video capabilities, the rise of social-networking sites, and the widespread adoption of high-end mobile technology in many markets have conspired together to elevate the Web and all things "interactive" to advertising supremacy. Unfortunately, the possibilities these innovations afford marketers have multiplied faster than the human beings required to execute them and it is turning out that the lessons, skills, and experiences of old-media marketing do not transfer readily to the new paradigm.
From a recruitment standpoint, the problem is only going to get worse before it gets better. The WSJ article cites one on-line ad firm (AKQA) that is opening an office in Shanghai, not only to seek out new clients, but also to acquire new talent. They may be hard-pressed to do so. A recent salary survey published by Aquent's Asia-Pacific division, the Aquent Orange Book, demonstrates that the war for marketing talent, especially those with interactive and experiential marketing experience, is raging there as well. Salaries are on the rise across Asia and the vast majority of employers (ranging from 87% in China to 78% in Korea) plan on hiring more permanent staff in the coming year. (If you'd like to see a television interview with Steven Pang and James Koh of Aquent discussing the situation in Asia, you can find it here.)
Of course, all this talk of shortages and war is good news for marketing and creative professionals who know their way around e-mail marketing, Flash-video, and CRM systems. The good news even extends to some more traditional areas of marketing such as promotions and events marketing. As the hyper-connected 21st century unfolds (or unravels), it's becoming clear that, whatever your specialty, as long as the marketing you do is Integrated, Interactive, or community-Intensive (I had to work in another "I"), you are going to be In-demand.
It was recently reported that the volume of direct mail increased by 15% in the US last year. The reason given was that consumers have a higher tolerance for junk mail now that their tolerance for spam and telemarketing has waned. There may be a backlash of hope for the old world yet!
