Troubleshooters bail out brands

As marketing departments all over the world shrink due to pressure on budgets, there is one set of executives who have enjoyed an average 12% increase in pay over the last year. It seems this could be the golden age for the interim marketer. 

With this in mind, is it time to stop talking about marketing roles as part of a linear career and see them as project management positions?

Rather than seeing interim marketers as people to fill gaps when no permanent role is available or affordable, it is now being argued that interims should be treated as strategy specialists to be parachuted in when times get tough.

With permanent marketers staying in roles just long enough to change around the agency roster and run an ad campaign, some brands now consider a troubleshooting interim on a fixed contract more desirable than a career-driven permanent marketer.

Interim marketer Rob Rees (see Viewpoint, below) says that permanent marketers treating jobs as projects can lead to brand inconsistency and a fragile marketing team.

He says it often makes more sense for an outsider to come in and sort out specific  problems and implement strategies because an interim marketer doesn’t come with baggage or play at office politics.

“When you get a marketing director who’s moving around every 18 months the first thing they say is the agencies are crap,” he argues. “The second thing they do is spend the next 18 months hiring and firing them. Then they move on, leaving the team behind. I can name hundreds of marketers who have made a career out of this approach.”

When Rees is assigned to a project, he says that instead of firing agencies or demotivating staff, he attempts to work with the team he inherits. He claims that sour agency relationships can often be repaired by sorting out a few simple communication issues.

Rees says that his role as an interim often finds him acting as a motivator and morale booster to marketing departments. He says: “You often find marketing directors just fighting their own corners and thinking about their own careers. Sometimes you need to stand up for the team; make them believe in themselves and re-energise them.”

Motivating and managing staff difficulties and grievances is particularly important in a recession, where marketers are being asked to do more with less on a constant basis.

Paul Botting, chairman of the Interim Management Association (IMA), says that he is also seeing a demand from brands for interims that have specialist – rather than general – marketing skills.

“Interim is in growth mode and is a newly discovered business solution,” he claims.

The interim industry overall is worth an estimated £1bn, according to Ipsos MORI. For the marketing sector, interims are proving particularly popular for those companies needing a turnaround or wholesale change to strategy.

Furniture brand Habitat is employing Mike Phillipson as an interim marketing director until the New Year. He will implement a European marketing strategy following the completion of a review of the retail chain.

Assess the business

Habitat chief executive Mark Saunders first bought in Phillipson, a director at creative agency Propaganda, along with his team, to assess the business. “As I was leading the audit at Propaganda, it made sense for me to get more involved in a more formal role, to ensure the plan that has been created is implemented correctly,” explains Phillipson.

Phillipson believes that taking on a senior marketer on a project-by-project basis enables businesses to expand and contract their team depending on their needs.

Despite the homewares and furniture brand being a sizeable player in the UK and Europe, Habitat sees a future in using an interim rather than appointing a full-time senior marketer.

“For companies like Habitat, it is a more flexible solution and driven by the need for consumer, strategic and marketing expertise at board level,” says Phillipson.

He acknowledges that practical financial considerations are also a factor in the decision. “It is driven by a common sense view that if they do not need a full-time marketing director, why have one?” he asks.

It isn’t all about cost, though, he argues. He says that his own agency has spotted a trend of clients looking for “knowledge and less assumption” from interims. As a result, Propaganda is expanding its services with its directors already on the boards of clients like Seabrook Crisps and make-up brand Illamasqua.

Keeping an open mind when coming into a new job and staying neutral to assess where the business needs to change is also an essential part of an interim’s job.

Years of complacency

Charles Russam, chairman of interim agency Russam GMS, says the recession has caused many companies to reassess their businesses after years of complacency. Those that were previously reluctant to bring in an outsider are now seeing the benefits. 

“You get more clients that don’t immediately take to interims but companies that restructure are operating with fewer staff. A lot are saying they need to drum up new business and modify new products. Bringing in an interim manager is an effective way of doing these things.”

Rupert Dobson, practice director at recruitment agency Hoggett Bowers, adds that since many businesses have lost or cut knowledgeable and experienced staff, interims can plug the skills gap. “The team in place may not posses the knowledge and skills for a particular project or initiative,” he says.

If used correctly, interims do not simply have to be a response to budget cuts or a downsizing measure. Rees claims that those brands that put their interims to best use see them as external troubleshooters rather than simply filling a gap.

He says that interims can actually help increase a brand’s investment in marketing by having the perspective required to encourage investment and kick-start the company.

“With the arrival of the recession, a lot more businesses are procrastinating with decisions. It’s a different sort of approach as interims have to be able to make decisions quickly and take risks,” he explains.

Infrastructure and ego

But not every business is ready for interim marketers, admits Phillipson. He says many companies are too conservative to consider an interim marketer as an option to implement a change in the business. “To a number of companies, the idea of having an interim marketing director would not work for a number of reasons. History, infrastructure and ego are three reasons I have encountered.”

Despite the recession not budging some business’ views on the use of interims, more individuals are becoming interim marketers – some through choice and others because their permanent job has been cut.

While most interim placements have traditionally come through agencies, the internet is enabling interims to network and find their own contracts.

Business-orientated social networking website LinkedIn puts contacts in touch with one another, for example. It allows those looking for jobs to update their status (“I’m seeking out new projects”), get written recommendations and update their CVs to highlight their experience.

Russam notes: “There’s evidence that social networks and online job boards are starting to play a more prominent role in the process as the market is changing.”

Competition for assignments is high at the moment, but as an increasing number of businesses are forced to lay off their marketing teams, more companies are likely to turn to short-term projects to fill the gaps.

However, an oversupply of marketers doesn’t necessarily mean more choice, argues Dobson. “Numbers can be very deceptive,” he argues. “There are only going to be very few of the calibre required that have the right knowledge, who are available now and who are willing to travel to Moscow to work. Finding the right person for the right role is quite a challenge.” 

Bob Weare, who has worked as an interim for six years in professional financial and business services and has recently been placed by Hoggett Bowers at a global insurance company, says it makes sense to build up specialist knowledge in a particular sector.

Successful decisions

Weare agrees that specialists will be at an advantage compared to generalists in this climate and claims that he is being asked to scrutinise each business he goes into at a much greater degree than ever before; understanding the market sector in depth is key to being able to make successful decisions. 

“It’s a much tougher market. There’s a greater emphasis on helping clients develop a compelling value propositions and making sure what they’re doing is relevant,” he notes. “There is also much greater focus and attention in terms of what they’re getting for their money, in terms of tracking marketing effectiveness.”

While these changes are evident in this current climate, interim Janet Morris (see Viewpoint, below) believes the recession will lead to a different way of working for marketers in the long term. “I believe this recession is going to be a step change because more people want to work in this way in the future,” she says.

Using short-term interims with a wealth of experience that can be employed on different projects is going to be far more beneficial to businesses than relying solely on linear positions, Morris believes. 

“I think it’s much more important to have flexible skills. It is definitely the future for companies. If businesses want to change things, then it’s difficult for a permanent person to do that,” she says.

With interim sales and marketing specialists seeing a pay increase of 12% year-on-year, there’s a clear sign that experienced interims are in demand and being rewarded for their knowledge. The success of the interim sector will no doubt have career marketers watching with interest to see if this will change the way they climb the ladder for good.