Marketers under pressure ‘like never before’: Wingmaven study
The disconnect between what businesses expect from marketers and the actual conditions they’re operating in is growing exponentially, according to a new qualitative study. The result is that senior marketers are under pressure like never before.
The Marketing State of the Nation report, conducted by marketing “coach-sultancy” Wingmaven in partnership with The Owl Insights and Vibrant Insights, captured the experiences of leaders at mid to large marketing functions for brands across Australia and New Zealand.
It revealed that marketers are being asked to transform businesses, drive growth, and “keep the engine running” with shrinking resources and expanding scopes. According to Wingmaven, this is making the marketer role evolve faster than the support systems around it.
“More for less, it’s not just a catch cry. It’s absolutely a reality,” Laura Wilson, co-founder of Wingmaven, told Mumbrella.
“Someone in our network coined the term ‘chief magic wand’ rather than chief marketing officer. Which is really about the expectation that at the flick of a wrist, you can make magic happen.”
Some responses from marketers expected to “think big”
Marketers are expected to “think big” while running flat out — often, their days are spent doing administration or people management, not strategic planning. One study participant, a senior marketer, said the reality is that marketers have “so much to manage” that strategy and planning often take a back seat.
Strategic thinking getting crowded out by operational intensity was just one of the themes that emerged. Others included widespread burnout and fatigue, expectations of innovation with no resources, and the growing complexity of marketing with the reintegration of CX, UX, and digital.
As a result, marketers are rethinking what they need from external partners. According to the study, the priority is no longer additional hands or activity, it’s now more about clarity, structure, and capacity to lead well.
“We’re seeing more and more in-housing, particularly in terms of creative and media execution,” Jenn ten Seldam, co-founder of Wingmaven, told Mumbrella. “People are looking for efficiency, they’re looking for control, and that feels like almost the easiest way to get it.”
Marketers are rethinking what they need from externals
She said when it comes to finding outsourced help from a strategic point of view, however, frustrations are growing for marketers about the options available.
“If you go to a traditional consultancy, they’ve rarely sat in the [marketer] chair so there’s a lack of empathy for what it actually takes to get strategy into the implementation stage. They just don’t have the support. So many are now looking for external partners who can work closely with their teams and the business so that the strategic rubber hits the road.”
What the study did find, however, was a power shift in client-agency relationships. While agencies and external partners once “carried a lot of favour”, the dynamic has shifted back to clients.
“A few years ago, if you had a great agency of record, then you were a brand that had arrived,” Wilson said. “But that’s shifted now, the model has changed, bringing with it some challenges to inflated retainers, and how it’s more about billable hours than it is about outcomes.
“So the power dynamic has shifted back to the client side, where they’re really now holding partners to account.”
(L-R): Wingmaven’s Laura Wilson and Jenn ten Seldam
The study was created to “focus on the people behind the positions”, rather than the practice of marketing, like most already do.
Wilson explained: “There are a lot of studies out there about marketing, and typically they’re focused on the practice of marketing, the technical side of things. What we realised, particularly because we coach so many marketers, is that there’s less focus on the people.”
As former marketers, she and ten Seldam said they know how challenging the job can be. So they wanted this to be different, to “shine a light” on the people and celebrate what it is to be a marketing practitioner.
The study is now entering a quantitative phase, with an open invitation to marketing leaders across Australia and New Zealand to participate. The survey will be open until June 26.
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Lauren McNamara is the associate editor at Mumbrella, covering the agency beat. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS.
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topics
client agency relationship
Jenn ten Seldam
Laura Wilson
Marketing
Marketing State of the Nation
State of the Nation
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