Marketing’s Salary Benchmarks 2010
Welcome to our annual Salary Benchmarks report, a coast-to-coast examination of compensation and employment for the Canadian marketing and advertising community. We’ve asked recruiters to provide data and salary ranges for 20 key positions–six at marketing companies and 14 at advertising agencies. (Recruiters were very discreet and at no time were the salaries of specific individuals or companies revealed.) They shared the starting and top salaries people can expect to make, as well as typical ranges for each position. Based on the collective data provided by our experts, Marketing compiled aggregate ranges for each category and position. Keep in mind, however, this is not a formal research report or scientific survey–we pointedly call it the “Salary Benchmarks.” That said, as our diligent team of recruitment experts specialize in marketing and advertising, we’re confident their insights allow for an accurate reflection of what’s happening in the Canadian marketplace. This year, as part of an effort to show the evolution of the business, we also teamed up with the Interactive Advertising Bureau to publish figures from the new 2010 Canadian Interactive Salary Guide.
THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS : GIVE YOURSELF A PAT ON THE BACK.
Most of you survived one of the toughest job markets in recent history and most indicators point to an easier road ahead. While things aren’t back to pre-2008 levels (that will take a couple more years) most companies are putting the fallout of the global economic meltdown behind them and getting back to business.
What does this mean for you? Read on to find out what top recruitment professionals across the country have to say about the latest industry trends, compensation compression, demographic shifts, hot sectors, retention challenges and more.
THE YEAR THAT WAS
Harry Teitelbaum of InterCom Search Inc. succinctly sums up the period from October 2008 until late last year: “Dreadful.” Layoffs were still happening and there was a real sense of uncertainly. “If you were looking for work you might as well have taken last year off because nothing was happening,” he says. Until things started to improve late in the year. “I saw a bigger uptick in a weird time; late November and December, which are usually slower months… Its been slowly creeping back to normal ever since.” Although certainly not back to pre-recession levels, experts agree the job market has steadily improved in 2010. When the economy hit the skids, most were shelved. “Only critical hires were being made and even those were frequently being dropped at the last minute,” recalls Sylvia Mac- Arthur, president of Madison MacArthur. “With the tough economy, those that were gainfully employed were highly cautious and reluctant to take risks in considering new opportunities.”
However, the mood is changing. “Things have definitely picked up,” says Elevate’s Barbara Morris, who cautions: “The word on the street is we’re in an upswing, but it’s not going to be [as steep] a trajectory like [following] other recessions.” Still, candidates are gaining confidence and starting to actively look for new opportunities, while companies are ramping back up–although not as fast as candidates would like.
COMPENSATION
“Salaries are still pretty stable except in a few areas where there are shortages of key talent,” says Chad Management’s Rick Chad, adding salaries are being driven up in digital/social media and project management. Deanna MacDougal, president, Merlin Group Inc., doesn’t expect a rise in salaries for another couple of years, but believes companies need to motivate candidates with signing bonuses. “Individuals are moving for same or slightly increased base salary, and signing bonuses are needed due to the perceived risk… Last hired usually means first let go.” Teitelbaum sees salaries edging up slightly, but mostly in the junior to middle ranks. “The upper end of the salary scale is pretty much the same, if not [down] slightly.” This, says Bruce Powell, managing partner, IQ Partners Inc., is causing a lot of complications, both in the agency and marketer world. Junior and mid-level employees are in high demand. “Quality junior staff are few and far between and competitive pressure is pushing up salaries to the point where the compensation difference between managers and directors is becoming slim. Companies are fighting for juniors, and senior staff are wondering why their direct reports are getting paid almost as much as they are.” Alternative incentives and motivation for managers may be the key to retention going forward.
Adding to the pressure is that most employees are being asked to do more for less. “Often employers are looking for candidates and their existing employees to take on greater responsibility and a larger workload for the same salary,” says McKinnon.
SLOWER HIRING PROCESS
“Candidates are still complaining it’s taking so long for people to make decisions,” says Morris of employers’ cautious optimism. Companies want people who fit into their culture and buy into corporate philosophy, adds Chad. While there is significantly more activity than previous years, clients are not rushing to make hires, even though they are lean. “They appear to be taking their time before hiring and tend to risk losing the odd candidate rather than rush into a decision… in order to make sure they make the right hire.”
HOT SECTORS
On the agency side, all things digital are on fire (see “Checking the hype…” page 24), prompted in part by the importance of social media marketing. In addition, those that focus on experiential and engagement marketing are in demand. Sectors where there is a lot of activity and innovation include technology, energy, some telecommunications, online retail, risk management, financial services, nutrition and health. Fast moving consumer goods continue to be a steady growth area.
AGENCIES
“Overall the agency market saw a dramatic jump in activity in January and has continued to pick up pace throughout the year,” says Mark Rouse, managing partner at IQ Partners. However, while hiring at junior, intermediate and mid-senior levels is quite active, there’s not much happening at very senior agency leadership roles. In addition, he sees “a notable increase in contract versus permanent hiring, presumably reflecting agency uncertainty about longer term client budgets.”
“Some of the mass agencies have not caught on quite as quickly as some of the mid-sized agencies, but they appear to be getting there,” says Chad. “The more successful agencies are anticipating their needs and hiring, or at least interviewing, in anticipation of what they are going to need in order to make sure they have the best talent.” “It really doesn’t matter if the agency is large, medium or small,” adds Teitelbaum. “I’m finding the small agencies are paying as good if not better than large shops.”
The good news is you don’t hear of anyone closing doors right now, says Morris, who notes there’s a lot more competition out there in the form of small shops or one-person operations that emerged as a result of the mass layoffs. Consequently, more business is being doled out in bits and pieces with these new entities taking on small projects or parts of bigger projects. There’s more fragmentation as candidates don’t want to wait for agencies to start hiring, but rather carve out their own piece of the pie.
This is a trend that will continue, says Rouse of the resurgence of the small entrepreneurial agency. “Young professionals have never known employer loyalty and hence have little hesitation to leave and start their own business.” He says that while agency employees are generally happy with the work they are doing, the consistently long hours are taking a toll on their job satisfaction.
MARKETERS
Marketers are beginning–with some trepidation–to replace talent cut in the past two years. “Generally there is still too much interference from their mostly U.S. offices, but Canadian marketers are resourceful and they generally find creative ways of putting their stamp on things,” say Chad. The ice has thawed in consumer package goods– the hiring freeze is gone and the market is active.
“In October of ’09 the markets suddenly exploded, and our phones were ringing with multiple searches to back-fill roles,” says Stuart Calvert, of IQ Partners, adding the boom continued through the summer months, which are traditionally a little quieter. With so many strong professionals having previously lost their jobs due to downsizing or mergers, there’s now an abundance of talent, especially at the senior level, and companies are being very particular about who they hire. As a result, says Calvert, “candidates are in a more competitive situation than previous years, and some are prepared to take a hit on overall compensation to get back into the marketplace.” In addition, many are prepared to scale back for career development, work-life balance, geographically desirable location or a good cultural fit.
That said, specialized roles have seen an increase in overall compensation. For instance, consumer/customer/shopper insight and research is a growth area. “Most of the major CPG companies have internal research and insight teams, but you are now seeing the small- to mid-size companies investing in these particular areas too. If they don’t, then there’s a sense of being left behind and losing their competitive advantage,” says Calvert.
RETENTION CHALLENGES
As the economy picks up, one of the major challenges employers will face is retention, says McArthur. “Clients are realizing the toll that constant cutbacks and budget tightening have had on staff, and that a level of frustration has set in, putting them at risk of losing the key talent that has kept them going.” Experts note previously cautious candidates are showing more interest in making a change, indicating employers are correct in their concerns.
McArthur predicts a lot of movement in the next year. “As the economy continues to rebound they have new confi dence in making a change. This will not necessarily translate into the creation of many new jobs but rather movement between existing jobs.” As a result, savvy employers need to explore new retention strategies to keep key talent.
WESTERN CANADA
Lisa Kershaw, partner at Odgers & Berndtson in Vancouver, describes things as “steady and solid” in Western Canada, where, like the rest of the country, clients are still reticent to create and fi ll new positions. “They are more comfortable fi lling previous roles, if they are fi lling them at all. Some clients are ‘making do’ by combining two roles together.”
In what’s still a relatively tight market, she notes “candidates are less likely to move unless there is a compelling reason.” This might include a once in a lifetime opportunity, such as the Olympics; a direct match for their personal values, such as moving into not for profi t; or lifestyle, such as fl exible work hours.
QUEBEC
The market in Quebec was slow right through to the end of 2009, but it started to pick up in January. Since then, it’s been “crazy,” says Nicolas Fortin, from Montreal’s La Tête Chercheuse. “There was a whole bunch of layoffs two years ago and now companies really feel they are understaffed.” The market has improved, agrees Mandrake’s Normand Lebeau, “but it still qualifi es as a jobless recovery. The top lines of most organizations are solidifying, but companies are failing to follow that up with [enough] hires. I think that we will be in better shape in Q2 of 2011.”
While there is still pressure to keep salaries down, especially at agencies, there is opportunity for so-called “rainmakers” to reap rewards. “We’re seeing more and more compensation that is performance-based, especially when it comes to the web,” says Fortin. For instance, a base salary might be $150,000 with the potential to earn up to $300,000.
THE U.S. ECONOMY
While Canada is eager to get back to business, the slow recovery in the U.S. is taking a toll. “If the U.S. parent is doing poorly, they cut back talent across the board,” says Chad. However, Canadians are benefi ting on one level, says McArthur. “We have seen a fair bit of activity with U.S.-based and global companies opening operations in Canada due to our more stable economy.”
RECRUITING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA
“Social media tools and networking have allowed companies to fi ll positions with speed, accuracy and less money,” says Merlin Group’s MacDougal. “One of our fi nancial services clients has asked us to train their employees to read LinkedIn profi les. Their objective is to meet their hiring quotas via social media tools.” Still, candidates do not understand the importance social media tools play in the recruitment process, she says. “Those under the age of 30 have not learned to respect their careers via Facebook and Twitter, nor do they utilize LinkedIn professionally.” MacDougal says six of her clients review a candidate’s Facebook page before extending an employment offer. Increasingly “candidates will have to be diligent about their online communications because it may hinder their success.”
WHAT LIES AHEAD
While the fi rst half of the year was very reserved, Greg McKinnon of McKinnon Targeted Recruiters, says the market is loosening up as confi dence builds. “Several of our Fortune 100 clients are beginning to hire for new roles that are the result of new initiatives that they are undertaking.” Chad is “still fairly bullish on moderate growth in the next 12 months.” And while he is concerned the U.S. has not started to rebound, he is still optimistic regarding growth over the next two or three years.
Teitelbaum predicts some challenges for companies looking to hire at the lower end of the market. “This happens all the time post recession: clients want someone who has two years experience when there was no one being fed into the pipeline for training because the multi-nationals announced global hiring freezes and salary freezes.” In general, the challenges will be very different than in 2008/2009 when layoffs dominated the headlines and those still with jobs hunkered down and hoped for the best. Companies are going to have to reinvest in young talent and look for ways to retain top-tier staff in what is evolving into a much more healthy job market . “Give us a couple more years and we’ll be booming again,” says Morris.
