What motivates Brand Managers to move on?

Marketing People - the marketing recruitment specialist division of The People Group - surveyed a cross section of Ireland’s brand managers within the food and drinks
arena to find out what are the key motivators when they make the move to switch brands. Money is a long way down the list as marketers seek better career progression,
the ability to influence strategic direction and more autonomy. Not

surprisingly, the location of their employer is a key factor for many marketers as Dublin traffic makes commuting long distances difficult. Checkout - in association
with Marketing People - presents the marketing salary survey for 2006 and the key reasons why brand managers are moving to new employers.

1. Broadening brand experience was the most common reason for moving. Within this, lifestyle brands were preferred by most brand managers as desireable brands
   to work on. However equally important was getting strong above the line advertising exposure - 80% of brand managers viewed this as an essentially box to be
   ticked in their brand career in the first three years after the completion of their academic studies.
   
   
2. The ability to influence, shape and set the strategic direction of a high profile brand was a major attraction to most senior marketers - the end goal in many cases.
   This would include full advertising & promotion control and running a brand team to implement their brand plans.
   
   
3. Location of employer and length of time spent travelling to work has become a major influence in the last two years - even if the marketing job of their dreams
   was presented to them - 90% of marketers in the survey put location ahead of career.
   
   
4. Career progression was an important influencer - companies with multiple brands and large marketing departments which have developed career mapping and
   planning policies favoured well amongst branders looking to progress their career. These companies are always trying to attract the very best brand talent in the
   marketplace. Most branders are more than aware that blue chip companies only hire talent from blue chip brand-led companies - so getting experience in the
   larger groups can be key to evolving your career in the marketing community in Ireland.
   
   
5. Money -marketers are more career focused than other professionals such as sales professionals - 74% of branders agreed job satisfaction and career
   progression potential rated higher in a move than the money on offer. Getting an increase in basic salary is important - but what is equally as important is
   the breakdown and scope of the benefits package - with the likes of the percentage of performance bonus on offer, the type of pension plan, health plan and car
   package/allowance being key factors. Car parking availability and the amount of holidays per annum are equally important components in the package from a
   brand manager’s perspective.
   
   
6. Their Boss - The reporting structure, the amount of autonomy they have within this structure and the style of their immediate boss all entered the equation -
   65% of respondents are looking for a boss who has an open style of management and would be viewed as a mentor to their brand career.

Salary Survey Details

The annual Marketing People salary survey for marketers within the FMCG and drinks sector in Ireland will be fascinating reading for the whole sector. The survey refers to the minimum, average and maximum basic salaries awarded to marketers within the sector in September 2006 and relates to basic salaries paid on a per annum basis.

• These salaries will be further enhanced by company benefit packages. Typical benefit packages for marketers will incorporate some or all of the following: company pension, a healthcare plan, mobile, laptop, performance bonus, shares schemes, company car or car allowance, club and professional subscriptions, car parking space etc.

• The data is compiled from a comprehensive range of industry sources including a large selection of multinational and indigenous companies, key industry contacts and supplemented by up-to-date salary and benefits data from Marketing People’s extensive marketing candidate database.

Key Observations

High levels of recruitment and demand for marketers within the FMCG/drinks arena, particularly from the top branded players has helped improve basic salary levels by an average of 8% in the last twelve months. This compares to 5% in the previous year – so overall there were very healthy salary reviews in this sector due to high demand in a very competitive marketplace.

• Perfomance bonus – both personal and company – continues to be a key component in marketers’ remuneration packages. Some companies offer this at all levels of marketing employees – however most offer it to managers – the norm being 10% within top blue-chip groups – with marketing directors getting as much as 25%. As well as incentivising high performance – it also has the added attraction of keeping retention levels high – many marketers are not prepared to make a career move once they are within sight of their next annual bonus payout.

• Demand for blue-chip brand managers and marketing managers remains high. These marketers can expect to make an average 10% increase on their basic salary in their career move plus a more competitive benefits package.

• Over the last 12 months, marketing specialists such as consumer insights managers, market research managers and sponsorship managers have all enjoyed above average basic pay increases due to high demand and an increased importance of their skills and contribution in the marketing effort in a very competitive and sophisticated FMCG/drinks marketplace.

• Category management specialists’ basic pay has generally levelled off in the last 12 months, after dramatic increases in the previous 12 months.

• Our last survey noted an increase of 5% in the number of foreign nationals being recruited into marketing roles within the FMCG sector - however the number of foreign marketers - primarily from EU countries – has diminished radically in the last 12 months. There has been a steady increase in experienced former ex-pat Irish marketers returning home to take senior roles within mainstream industry and FMCG – but especially in the financial services sector.