What Big Brands Pay For Marketing Talent; Agency Execs Want Wiggle Room On Their Upfront Deals

Marketing Moola

The world is in an economic tailspin and traditional media doesn’t know which way is up – but big brands are still paying big bucks for marketing talent. Business Insider dug into disclosure data from the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification to find out how much large brands across CPG, apparel, fast food and other big spenders pay their marketing employees, and the answer is: a lot. It does depend on the title, though. Salaries range from slightly more than $95,000 for a marketing project manager at Adidas, for example, to a cool $600,000 for the CMO job at Mondelēz. What’s the takeaway here? Well-known and well-loved brands remain top destinations for marketing professionals, and that’s likely to continue as agencies shed jobs like mad. Forrester predicts that the US agency sector will lay off roughly 52,000 people over the next two years as media spend declines.

Upfront Flex

Agency executives are weaving pandemic clauses into their upfront negotiations as COVID-19 continues to chart its unpredictable course. Agencies want a “get out of deal free card” based on the trajectory of the virus, but networks are reluctant to play along, because the triggering event for these clauses can vary between different types of advertisers, Digiday reports. A movie studio, for example, could trigger the clause if theaters are shut down, while a retailer could do so if a certain percentage of stores are closed. Clauses range from the ability to cancel a higher percentage of upfront deals to full-on cancellation rights. Advertisers were quick to cancel their Q3 upfront commitments after the pandemic hit, but they want more and continued flexibility to back out of deals without being beholden to the networks. “We don’t know when it will be officially over,” an agency exec said. “So we need to make sure we have as much protection as possible.”

No News Down Under

What happens when publishers require platforms to pay them for distribution? They get cut off. At least, that’s what it looks like will happen in Australia, where the country’s competition watchdog is drafting a bill requiring platforms to pay publishers for their content. Facebook pushed back against the legislation by threatening to block users and organizations in Australia from sharing news through its apps if the law goes into effect, The New York Times reports. In an Aug. 17 letter, Google hinted that it could make a similar move, arguing that the law would put its free services “at risk.” If Google and Facebook do stop allowing news to circulate on their platforms in Australia, it could further splinter the internet across countries and regions. Misinformation could also thrive if people aren’t allowed to share credible news stories.

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