Medium and large-sized businesses have long allocated a significant part of their B2B marketing budgets to exhibitions.  But the exhibition industry witnessed business declines in 2009 along with most other sectors of marketing-related activity.  The Center for Exhibition Industry Research reports that the number of exhibitors, the number of attendees and the overall revenue at exhibitions have been in steep decline since 2007. In 2009, the  industry saw a 12.5% drop.

A study released by the same organization late last year indicated that B2B marketers allocate up to 33.9% of budgets on exhibitions. In general, spending on activities such as exhibitions has been a lagging indicator. Therefore, many industry analysts do not expect to see significant recovery in the exhibitions sector until well into the second half of 2010.

Spending on exhibitions, which falls into the event marketing category, has long been seen as a way to deepen personal relationships between buyers and sellers.  As the economy recovers, marketers will be looking to make exhibition spending more effective.  Some of these changes will address better strategies for reaching younger Web-savvy business professionals.  As the industry outlook improves during the year, analysts believe that “[e]xhibitions have kept in step by correspondingly evolving into more of an experiential-based marketing format, where personal exchange and prospect involvement methods have become diversified and skillfully refined.”

[Source: Final 2009 CEIR Index Results Center for Exhibition Industry Research. 22 Mar. 2010 Web. 1 Apr. 2010; White Paper – Looking Past the Recession. Center for Exhibition Industry Research. 2009. Web. 1 Apr. 2010]

Employment market experts have long held that the job situation for temporary help improves before permanent spots begin to appear. If this is true, the market for consultants should be looking up because temp agencies have indicated more demand this year.  In addition, the findings of a survey released by the M Squared Consulting network indicate a better market in 2010 for the “high-end flexible workforce.”

In general, consultants responded to the survey with the following specific opinions:

• They anticipate a revenue increase in 2010: 45%
• Clients are moving forward on projects: 56%

Consultants see the best opportunities this year in the following sectors:

• Healthcare: 37%
• Financial Services: 30%
• Biotechnology/Life sciences: 29%
• Professional services: 26%
• Computers, peripherals, software: 23%
• Energy: 22%
• Internet services: 21%

Because of the challenging business environment, clients also expect their consultants to have specific expertise. Here are the management needs predicted to be in demand this year:

• Cost containment/reduction: 38%
• Revenue growth: 28%

As the economic recovery continues, look for more consultants to market their skills and experience in cost cutting and revenue growth as they seek more opportunities in the healthcare and financial services sector.
[Source: M Squared Survey Reveals That Consultants Are Cautiously Optimistic for 2010. M Squared. 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2010]

Job seekers in the marketing industry have reason to hope based on the February 2010 survey results released by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. While hiring in the industry have been virtually stalled for some time, nearly half Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) expect to bring on new employees within the next 6 months. CMO optimism is based on their belief that consumer spending will continue to increase. Fuqua professor Christine Moorman says “marketers are beginning to see the signs of a rebound within their own companies.”

Marketing professionals with specific skill sets will be in the highest demand. For example, the business-to-business (b-to-b) arena will see growth on several fronts. First, these companies often outsource their marketing projects. Second, business services companies will need help on the social media front. This group of businesses plans to increase social media as a percentage of total marketing spending.

• Business-to-business services: 11%
• Business-to-consumer services: 7%

In addition, businesses will be looking for employees with experience in Internet marketing. By industry, here are the percentage of firms who expect to use new employees to handle Internet marketing:

• Consumer packaged goods 7.1%
• Communications/media 6.8%
• Mining/Construction 1.4%
• Transportation 1.4%
• Energy 4.6%
• Manufacturing 15.3%
• Retail/wholesale 5.7%
• Technology/Biotech 14.6%
• Banking 13.9%
• Consumer services 2.1%
• Service consulting 15.7%
• Healthcare/Pharma 8.2%

The news is even better in the long run. At least 60 percent of companies plan to increase staff in the next 12 months while about 90 percent will do the same in the next 2 years.

[Source: The CMO Survey, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, February 2010]

Late last year, an Aberdeen Research report noted that the average CMO stays on the job for a little less than 2 years. These short tenures leave the CMO with  limited time to make a big impact with his or her marketing ideas and to become a key member of the C-suite team. Now a report on Brandweek points to an even more unsettling trend – the temporary CMO.

The use of temporary CMOs is increasing and seems especially noticeable in firms with annual revenues ranging from $250 to $500 million, considered small to mid-sized. The Brandweek report highlights a couple of statistics that may be leading to this trend. First, employment at traditional advertising agencies  fell significantly during the recession. This shift in employment has left talented marketing and advertising professional available to take whatever position comes along. To cut costs, firms are not yet looking for permanent employees. Instead, they are seeking lower-cost employment arrangements and one of these has been temporary work, which grew quickly in 2009.

Companies are hiring temps because these workers don’t qualify for benefits. In addition, they may cost less than traditional consultants according to Bob Van Rossum, president of MarketPro, an Atlanta  executive staffing firm. Rather than using a consultant to take care of all marketing needs, companies are bringing in temporary marketing executives to oversee a product launch.

The upside for companies that engage temporaries is that these workers may focus on the task at hand without worrying about corporate politics. Sharon Slade, who has worked in a number of temporary positions says, “ you can take more risks, be more aggressive and provide more solutions. You can also focus on accelerating what needs to be done.” The downside to this hiring strategy may be that the best candidates will not be available once the economy fully recovers.

For now though, it looks as though the temporary CMO is part of the playbook for many marketers.

[Source: Wong, Elaine. Temporary CMOs Are Here to Stay, Brandweek, 2.7.10]