Today saw the release of 'Advertising Pays: World Class Talent, World Class Advertising' a new report from the Advertising Association.
The report, created in partnership with LinkedIn, highlights just how important a diverse international workforce is for the UK's advertising and marketing industry. Using insights from a pool of 328,000 LinkedIn members working in the UK sector, it provides a detailed account of how 'international talent plays a pivotal role in the UK’s creative success, but also that the UK is a key source of talent for other advertising hubs worldwide'.
The UK's creative crown in jeopardy?
Given the uncertainty around Brexit and how it will be implemented, it is little surprise that many within the industry are concerned about how it will impact the ability to access international talent. As such, the Advertising Association is warning that 'the UK’s creative crown is in jeopardy', calling out the fact that the: proportion of the current advertising and marketing workforce in London that has migrated here from abroad in the last 12 months is three times higher than the corresponding figure in New York; and also higher than in Paris and Amsterdam. More than a third of this talent comes from within the EU, with many others arriving from the United States and Australia.
Looking beyond London
London has long been a hub for advertising and marketing talent, but despite the fact that 6% of LinkedIn members in the London area work in the industry, 57% of the industry’s UK workforce is based outside of the capital, with Manchester as the largest of the city hubs. The UK is the number one source of international advertising and marketing talent in New York, Paris and Amsterdam and has provided more than a third of recent migrants to Sydney’s advertising sector.
Chairman of the Advertising Association and CEO of adam&eveDDB James Murphy commented that the "UK ad industry is a world-leader because we’re open to the world. It will be catastrophic to the long-term success of the sector if we can’t access the right talent quickly and easily. Global brands want to work with the best talent and the UK has it. As an industry that delivers £120bn of GDP per year for the country, anything that knocks advertising will dent the economy.” Josh Graff, UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, added “I have experienced first-hand what makes the UK such a creative powerhouse – the people. We’re a wonderfully diverse and international workforce that enables brands and their agencies to create campaigns which resonate across international, cultural and socio-economic boundaries. I hope that this report, informed by LinkedIn’s powerful data, can not only help employers make better decisions about their talent pipelines but that it will also inform policymakers and educators on what’s required to ensure the sector continues to thrive.”
A Great Advert For Britain - championing access to global talent
In an effort to protect the sector post-Brexit, the Advertising Association are also running the ‘A Great Advert for Britain’ campaign, which champions access to global talent and celebrates 'the immense contribution of international talent to the UK'.
Stephen Woodford, CEO of the Advertising Association said:
“Our new report, informed by LinkedIn’s powerful dataset, highlights immigration as the most important area for Government support to maintain the UK’s position as the world’s leading global advertising hub and drive growth domestically. Our new campaign, ‘A Great Advert for Britain’, brings this important issue to life. We have been working closely with the relevant Government departments on measures to safeguard and promote UK advertising internationally, as well as stimulate further growth in the regions among SMEs. We will continue to make the case to Government for funding and
support in these areas.”
The full report is available to download here.