Bouncing back & getting on with it

Bouncing back & getting on with it 

The creative industries are an enormous driver of growth for the UK economy, having contributed £115.9 billion in 2019, pre-pandemic. 2020 was a year in which the creativity and innovation inherent in advertising, marketing, media and tech was directed towards how to communicate, as much as what to say. New opportunities came to light through accelerated tech adoption and ways of working demanded by the crisis.

A more hopeful outlook has developed in the face of uncertainty, even with the disappointment and frustration felt by individuals and businesses in all sectors. CIM research estimated that some 40,000 people – 1 in 10 of the UK marketing sector, lost their jobs as Covid-19 hit.

Yet the market has shifted again at the start of 2021, with a raft of new opportunities for roles with digital, tech and content specialisms, as companies seek to communicate with clients and consumers in more meaningful and innovative ways. Having taken stock of the initial shock of global quarantines, social distancing and all that meant for running a business; winning work and supporting clients, renewed optimism emerged in the latter half of 2020, particularly in the agency environment, with just under 60% of agencies positive about revenues picking up and confident of bouncing back in 2021.

1 in 5 agencies reported international revenue growth post-pandemic, according to a report by the Advertising Association (AA) and PwC.5 This is at the same time that UK employment showed a sharp decline.Our survey informs us that the pandemic has increased the importance of job security (70%) and a good working environment (42%) for the creative community. However, interesting work and fair financial rewards scored highest, with career progression and a good company culture following closely behind and autonomy and diversity also flagged as important. We believe this broad spectrum is reflective of candidates taking many more considerations into their expectations of work than in previous years, brought into focus by the pandemic.

The growing importance of communication, digital connection and channels, supported by tech innovation and enablement, has given rise to new, hybrid or blended roles to explore across traditional and new disciplines. It has inspired innovation in integrated campaign design and activation and overall, it has driven renewed and reinvigorated purpose.

All of these are supporting the need for stronger and more sustainable strategies for client excellence and growth, and we expect that Project Management will once again need to evolve, becoming even more valuable in keeping clients ahead of and responding to the changing expectations of an increasingly online customer base.
 

"I think we all know that the industry is undergoing a seismic shift. Covid has had a massive impact on the way agencies are operating." - Simon Hewitt, Managing Director, Orange Panther

Download our full 2021 Creativity Counts report by clicking here.