Salary survey 2013: The full analysis

If marketers needed any more evidence that this is the age of austerity, then the 2013 Marketing Week/Ball & Hoolahan Salary Survey provides it.

As household incomes are squeezed, 26 per cent of marketers did not receive a pay rise in 2012, while for 34 per cent any increase was less than 3 per cent.

The average rise expected this year is 3.6 per cent, but a quarter of marketers expect their salary to remain unchanged during 2013. Compare this to 2001 when average salary increases were a whopping 8.7 per cent.

But it is not all doom and gloom. Nearly one in 10 are enjoying pay rises of 6-11 per cent. Around 16 per cent work for US-owned companies, which traditionally pay better than UK companies.

Flexibility

If employers are reluctant to increase salaries, they need to look at alternative ways of keeping marketers happy - flexible working, for example, for which there is a strong demand. Nearly 75 per cent say flexible working is either important or very important to them, although only 14 per cent say being able to work more flexibly would be the main reason for changing jobs.

So far, only 62 per cent of companies have adopted flexible working and of those employers yet to offer it, 56 per cent are unlikely to do so over the next 12 months. But for PepsiCo European marketing director Lee Sargent, flexible working is crucial.

“It is a rising trend in marketing and you need to have an adult relationship with your staff - which means trusting them and giving them more control over how they deliver what you want them to.”

But there is a mixed picture regarding the kind of flexible working practices that are on offer. Just 36 per cent of employers that let staff ‘work flexibly’ allow part-time working and only 14 per cent provide career breaks, despite 41 per cent of marketers saying these are important or very important to them.

Citi’s departing global consumer chief marketing and internet officer, Michelle Peluso, says her priorities as a mother are critical to her. She works a four-day week and her high-powered job means that her regime is strict - she leaves the office at 5pm to spend three hours with her family. “I’m offline entirely during that period. If someone has a question they can call the home line but they know not to email me because I won’t see it,” she says.

Peluso spends 8pm to 11pm on calls around the world, mainly to Asia because of the time difference between there and her US location.

She also has rules about emailing, so that it does not distract from the job at hand. “During the day, I do almost no emailing. I have a policy where I say I’ll get back to you within 24 hours, so night-time is often spent trying to catch up.”

The number of companies allowing staff to work from home has fallen from 80 per cent in 2002 to 71 per cent this year, which is difficult to explain considering the move to more remote working fuelled by new technology such as smartphones and tablets. Also, one third of companies have implemented a hot desk policy, which encourages remote working as well as reducing central office costs.

Vodafone UK enterprise marketing director Peter Boucher says increasing flexible working is an inexpensive and easy way of boosting morale, job satisfaction and retention levels.

“Our research shows that access to flexible working options and an improved work-life balance are among the most important drivers of employee satisfaction today,” he says. “One way to do this is to introduce new processes and technology that create these better ways of working and enable employees to work from wherever they need to be.”

Boucher adds that younger marketers have a different view of the workplace and many organisations are offering graduates tablet devices to attract the best talent. Around one-fifth of Vodafone’s 5,900 head office staff, including marketers, work remotely and productivity levels have improved by up to 20 per cent, he claims.

Restructuring

The survey shows how the restructuring of marketing departments continues, although much of the root and branch reorganisation implemented when the economic downturn hit in 2008 has been completed. Marketers expecting reorganisation in their teams this year is down from 53 per cent in 2012 to 49 per cent. However, last year 61 per cent experienced a shake-up.

Of those marketers expecting more changes, one-quarter anticipate staff cuts, 24 per cent a reduction in marketing spend and 21 per cent a merger with other departments.

During 2012, there were major reorganisations. These included the overhauling of Ocado’s marketing team during a wider company restructure, Direct Line Group bringing

together product development and marketing and Royal Bank of Scotland implementing a new group marketing structure across its retail banking brands.

GlaxoSmithKline insight manager Loretta Quinn says restructuring is a regular part of life at large brand owners. “It can be disruptive but you get used to it as a marketer because you adapt your personal working style,” she says. “You must be proactive and able to manage yourself effectively, although too much restructuring can affect the morale of the team.”

Pay pressure

Average salaries for some job titles have slumped since the economic clouds began to gather in 2008. In 2007, marketing directors earned £82,300 on average. This year it is £75,345, down from £77,799 in just 12 months. For marketing managers the fall is equally as depressing at £36,767, down from £37,305 in a year and from the £42,950 average in 2007.

Other job titles to see their average salary fall year-on-year include insight managers, down 5 per cent to £38,007 and brand/product managers, down 2.5 per cent to £35,166. Graduates have seen an improvement, with their average earnings rising by 5.2 per cent from £21,462 to £22,574.

Those who are less likely to have had their pay frozen are heads of category management/customer marketing, senior category managers, and senior brand and product managers. Among the most likely not to receive any pay rise are marketing assistants and those in communications roles.

Marketers with specialist knowledge remain in demand and can negotiate higher than average wages.

One reason for shortage of supply in some key areas is the reluctance of employers to look at an individual’s potential and take a risk on a candidate who does not have exactly the right skills for a job. In 2013, employers may have to change their approach as well as pay higher salaries for exceptional people, despite the economic difficulties.

Among the roles proving difficult to fill are those requiring FMCG brand management skills. The industry also needs more people with consumer insight and category management skills, while there remains a lack of depth of experience across the digital sector.

It does seem that marketers understand the economic pressure their employers face as 69 per cent of respondents are happy or very happy in their current business. Two-thirds feel they are getting a fair financial reward and 83 per cent are happy with where they are being asked to work. However, 47 per cent would like to work with more sexy brands and 50 per cent do not think their career progression requirements are being satisfied that well.

Andrew Dunn, managing director of luxury holiday company Scott Dunn, gave his marketing team a small salary increase and he is recruiting a head of sales and marketing.

“This is a senior post and the person will be paid well but there is certainly the attraction of working for a fun brand that enables you to travel the world. We have had 250 applications and are shortlisting at the moment,” he says.

Diageo’s Western Europe marketing director for Smirnoff, Louise McKerrow, says employees appreciate the varied career opportunities of working with high-profile global and local brands such as Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan. “There is always the possibility to move across categories, brands, markets and functions and this is attractive to our marketers who want to do brilliant work across Western Europe,” she says.

Qualified

One route to earning more is having qualifications. Among those questioned, 54 per cent have a marketing-related qualification and 60 per cent of those feel it has increased their earning potential.

Overall, 55 per cent have an honours degree, 18 per cent a post-graduate diploma and 10 per cent a qualification from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

Anne Godfrey, chief executive of the CIM, claims members enjoy salaries that are on average £5,000 higher than their non-member counterparts.

“Professional qualifications give employees a competitive advantage, which is more valuable than ever in the current jobs market,” she says. “It also reassures employers that they’re taking on someone who can do the job and will stay up-to-date with the latest marketing industry thinking. I’d expect to see the 60 per cent earning potential figure rise over the coming years.”

Money is not always the main driver when people look to change jobs. The survey reveals 44 per cent of marketers will be looking to move in 2013 with 71 per cent on the hunt for a new challenge and 64 per cent looking for more money.

Marketers are typically an ambitious bunch and more than half of senior marketing managers, digital executives, assistant brand managers and 50 per cent of CRM executives, communications executives and marketing assistants expect to change jobs this year.

Moving abroad is a possibility for many motivated marketers with 58 per cent saying they would work overseas, while 84 per cent will stay or very likely stay in marketing for the next five years, wherever they choose to work.

Don’t just read about salaries - you can compare yours against other marketers using our tool at MWlinks.co.uk/salarysurvey2013.