SA adland faces retrenchments, pay cuts — #coronavirusSA survey •

by MarkLives & HaveYouHeard. MarkLives and HaveYouHeard have released results from a followup study on how the South African advertising communications services industry views the impact of covid-19 upon advertising and marketing professionals, the agency environment and marketing.

“While trust in company leadership has stayed the same or increased since the start of lockdown; confidence in the company’s future has reduced since March,” comments Claudia Schonitz, HaveYouHeard head of research and insights, on the survey results. “The most-positive impact of covid-19 remains companies showing flexibility, agility and the ability to change (65% of agencies vs. 47% of companies). However, flexibility and improved communications has decreased since the level five [lockdown].”

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Negative/positive impact of covid-19 on agency	Agency	Brand/ marketing company	Freelancer/ consultant	Total
Negative impact: Decreased billings	65%	34%	38%	50%
Negative impact: Caused retrenchments or salary cuts.	49%	37%	29%	42%
Positive impact: Shown flexibility, agility and ability to change	65%	47%	46%	56%

Significant impact on billings

The survey shows a significant impact on billings, with agencies taking particular strain (65% stating decreased billings). More than half of respondents expect their company’s short-term projected income to decrease substantially.

The ranked order of activities anticipated to decrease remains the same, (ie events, promotions and activations, outdoor, print and sponsorship), with some anticipated recovery for events and activations as lockdown starts to ease.

Digital is still expected to increase in activity. Concept and strategy have dropped one place to third behind mobile marketing (which increased significantly).

Respondents are feeling the strain, with those reporting retrenchments or salary cuts increasingly up from 18% to 42%. Stress levels are rising and many are participants reevaluating their careers, with 36% considering looking for a new job and 25% considering consulting or starting their own business. Half of respondents considering looking for a new job have felt their stress levels increase substantially since lockdown.

Change in stress levels	Staying at my current job	Looking for a new job	Freelancing or starting my own company	Total
Stress increased substantially	37%	51%	42%	41%
Stress increased slightly	37%	29%	39%	39%
Stayed the same	20%	9%	6%	12%
Stress decreased slightly	6%	7%	10%	6%
Stress decreased substantially	0%	4%	3%	2%