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January 24, 2006
Research boom?
In December, the Financial Times' Gary Silverman ran a fascinating short piece projecting an 11% increase in research spending year-over-year for the next three years("Ad worries fuel research boom," 12/5/05 p.18).
These numbers were drawn from consumer agencies (not recruitment), but the force of the article describes a trend I'm seeing here at TMP and am hearing about anecdotally elsewhere.
In brief, Silverman observes that "companies are spending more to measure the impact of advertising as they shift resources to new approaches, particularly on the internet."
I'm seeing a similar trend in the recruitment ad business.
Clients increasingly want to see something beyond great creative: they want an assurance that the creative they're placing will be effective. The result on my end is that we've never been busier.
Now, from a parochial perspective this is a good thing, of course, but from a larger perspective I think it reflects the beginning of an important trend: a drive to measurable results. That's a good thing, and a relatively new thing.
It's a clear win all around so let's hope the trend continues. It's a win for recruiters because at the end of the day, if you can't measure the value of the advertising you purchase you may be paying too much--and you're likely to lose some level of that funding next time 'round. Its a win for the creative side of the house at agencies like mine because it saves creative directors from having to do spec creative--or creative off of dull briefs. And it's a win for the organizations we all support because the insights good research delivers go well beyond the domains of recruitment and HR into the arena of operations.
Posted by davidkippen at January 24, 2006 05:31 PM