A burgeoning demand has emerged for multi-skilled candidates in marketing departments as well as advertising and media agencies, reports Nick Buchan.

It’s no longer enough to be the best in your field–you may need to be the best in someone else’s as well, according to the third annual Aquent Asia-Pacific salary survey, the Aquent Orange Book.

With the rise of the digital sector in marketing, Aquent International CEO Greg Savage says it’s a good idea to get a grounding in a digital discipline, no matter what field you currently work in.  He says those who ignore the digital and online advertising revolution risk being left behind.

“In the past, people specialised in clear niches, but now because of the shift to new media and experiential and interactive marketing, people need integrated skills,” Savage said.  “The people who are earning the best returns are those with traditional creative and advertising experience, but who can also point to demonstrable interactive experience.”

The significant shift in communications spend from traditional to experiential and digital communication is driven by several factors.  One is the pressure to supply a measurable ROI; secondly, broadband; email and high-end mobile technology have reached mainstream use in most markets; and finally, the heavy investments by companies over the past five years in customer databases, CRM systems and web content management systems.

“It actually dovetails with the other message from our research, which is that companies must nurture their staff to retain them.  If they don’t, people will look for a company that does that for them,” Savage said.

“It is all about retention.  The war for talent no longer goes for enough.  The real battle is internal–keeping good people and growing them.”

“You need to treat talent acquisition and retention as a strategic priority, not just an operational thing.”
Greg Savage, Aquent

But does Savage think this spells the end of the marketing specialist?
“I wouldn’t go that far: I would say that in certain niches and sub-categories like direct marketing, there will be that specialisation,” he said. 

“I do think that for somebody to be truly traditional above-the-line-that is going to become less and less common.  People who have spurned new media will find they will end up like people of a generation slightly older than mine, who said ‘I’m never going to have to use a computer, so I’m not going to bother learning’.  You cant go on like that.”

Savage said two areas to consider multi-skilling into are direct marketing and high-end mobile telephone advertising.  He said direct marketing, such as email or web-based campaigns, will become more popular with advertisers because it is easier to measure its ROI.  Savage also said that the take-up of mobile phone marketing overseas in countries like Korea has been huge, and he expects similar results in the Australian market in years to come.

Savage said the survey showed that on average, companies in the communications industry would be offering increases of 4-6% this coming year: However, while niches such as PR are seeing multiples of this figure, he said attention was moving away from salary as the sole method of retaining staff.

“The interesting thing now is that salaries are reaching a kind of natural ceiling,” Savage said.

“There is a limit to what companies can pay.  Companies are starting to realise there must be other ways to attract and retain staff.  You need to treat talent acquisition and retention as a strategic priority, not just an operational thing.  One, the skills you are simply after may not be available; secondly, throwing money at your staffing problem is a slippery slope to hell,” he added.