Kathleen Gunther.
Kathleen Gunther, Marketing Strategist guntherconsulting.com
Move over the Great Resignation and enter the era of the Great Reinvention.
In the same way the industry was shaken up by the post-pandemic mass exit of talent quitting for greener pastures, the industry is now in flux due to a string of redundancies, making it particularly hard for senior executives to find a new role.
This is not new news. It happened to me a year ago, along with many of my colleagues, and hundreds of others across the creative and advertising industry. I'd literally bought my first home the day before I got the redundancy news. On top of that, I was turning 50. This wasn't my first redundancy rodeo, and I had the skills, right? I wasn't going to lose that apartment I'd worked so bloody hard for. It wasn't an investment, it was a secure roof over my head. Given I got my last role smack in the middle of COVID beating over 125 applicants, how hard could it be to get another job?
Boy, was I wrong. Everything had changed. Everything.
The tactics I'd used to get my last role (including a bespoke video for every application - I was ahead of my time in COVID!) weren't getting any bites. Like, zero. After two months, I did get two interviews. One I really wanted, the other a tyre kicker. Both were soul-sucking, with the first question of one asking: "There have been 350 applicants for this role, why should we consider you?"
Well, if I wasn't nervous before, I was then.
Luckily, I had a three-month notice period on my last role, so I discovered all this while still working. It was then that I realised how tough it actually was out there, and also, how much I loved my current role. I was in a rare position of Marketing Director at an integrated agency. Only about 10-15% of indie agencies have a dedicated marketing lead and supporting roles.
That's when I realised there was an opportunity. There were literally hundreds of agencies competing for the same budgets, but very few of them with a dedicated marketer, let alone a robust go-to-market strategy. I also had 13 years of growing multiple agencies so I had a proven track record. Just time to do this for myself.
The Great Reinvention.
Change is either bestowed upon you, or you make change. Sometimes, you HAVE to change to survive.
The advances in technology have been influencing the creative industry since the last century. Like the early days of digital photography replacing film. Some photographers resisted and faded away, others learned the new tools and thrived. The ones who succeeded didn't just adopt the technology, they became the guides showing others how to navigate the transition.
According to industry analysis, in the US alone, 5,000 agency jobs disappeared in 2017, remarkably during an economic expansion, while Facebook and Google captured 90% of digital ad growth. The disruption in my life was nothing new. I was in telco when the iPhone came in, at Social Soup when Instagram blew up, and at Omnicom when programmatic media buying first took off.
One year on at Gunther Consulting, I've had countless lessons. Almost every day a new one. But no mistakes, just lessons.
However, despite the uncertainty of when the next job or project will come in, I've never been so sure of myself or my decision. I've scaled up, white-labelling offshore talent through the fantastic crew at Team Up Now, partnered with many other specialist freelancers and have added value to some talented agencies in Aus and NZ. I'm also proud of influencing gender equality and inclusion in the industry, particularly through my role as a Board Director for the Australian Web Industry Association.
Most importantly, I'm paying the mortgage and my dog gets walked twice a day. That makes me happy. I've still got a long way to go before I can say "I've nailed it", and I may well get a job again one day. If there's one thing I've learned, it's "never say never".
I'm not alone in this reinvention. The numbers back this up - freelancers currently make up over a third of the Australian workforce, and 70% of Australian workers are now open to taking on additional work. The freelance platforms market in Australia is expected to grow at a staggering 17.6% annually through to 2030, proving this isn't a trend but a transformation.
So yes, the industry is going through change. But it's not going to stop. And if my years of experience have shown me anything, it's that even if you do land that next dream role, it might not be there in 12 months' time.
If you're a senior suit, creative, marketer or comms professional and you've found yourself suddenly thrown into shit creek, look to create your own paddle. Work your networks, go to the events, join a board and research what courses you can do to upskill.
As you update your current work status on your LinkedIn profile, remember it's not about an ending, but the beginning of The Great Reinvention.