SAN JUAN — By now, we are familiar with the idea that software engineers in Silicon Valley can pretty much name their own salary.
But it’s not just in technology that certain key staff are in-demand.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, an ad agency boss says that all sides of the marketing industry are also racing to hire a new generation with key skills.
“As an agency we’re really spending a lot of time trying to think about the talent that we’re bringing in,” says Dentsu Aegis Network EVP, US media investment, Michael Law. “We’re working with different types of people.
“This isn’t just a transactional job anymore. We need to build this bigger into our training programs. We need to think more about not (just how to put things in MediaOcean but how to trade and how to get planners thinking about audiences.
“The brands that we’ve seen have the most success (are) the people who are really passionate about this. We talk about using them as lightning rods and moving them around. The challenges is … everybody wants those people … because they’re few and far between.”
A couple of years ago, the industry was talking about a programmatic skills gap, concerned that there were insufficient people to work the new levers of the ad trading platforms.
That concern has ebbed away. But the hiring concern this year has taken on a new shape, as the strategic imperatives themselves have shifted once again.
In April, Omnicom’s new Hears & Science agency told Beet.TV it was hiring 800 people, having added a chief experience officer to implement culture programs that the new cohort can dovetail with.
This video was produced in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Beet.TV executive retreat. Please find more videos from the series on this page.
The Beet Retreat was presented by NCC along with Amobee, Dish Media, Oath and Google.
