Marketer burnout, personal data, retailer loyalty schemes: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Over half of marketers fear burnout

Over half (51%) of UK marketers fear burning out in their current role, with the concern more acute among younger marketers.

Almost three-fifths (57%) of marketing professionals aged 25 to 34 are concerned that they may burn out in their current role. By comparison, over a third (38%) of those aged over 55 worry about burning out.

Overall, nearly half (49%) of marketing professionals want to see changes to their working patterns to deal with the stress of the job.

That’s exacerbated by economic conditions that curtail marketers’ ability to perform for clients: an uncertain economic outlook is putting pressure on marketers, almost three fifths (59%) are concerned that brands are spending less due to external financial pressures.

There is also concern about the ability of the UK marketing industry to keep pace with its international rivals, almost half (49%) worry that the British marketing industry will grow at a slower rate than its international rivals.

While fear of burnout is common almost three-quarters (75%) of marketers feel their employer takes their mental health more seriously than they did pre-pandemic. More than half (57%) say that their company’s mental health initiatives have had a positive impact on their wellbeing.

There are mixed feelings about hybrid working post-pandemic. Around two-fifths (39%) believe that working from home has negatively impacted their teams’ creativity.

Source: Chartered Institute of Marketing

Large gap between consumer trust of brands’ on data and the brands themselves

Senior leaders at brands believe that consumers are much more trusting of them with personal data than they are in reality, finds data.

Over half of UK consumers (51%) deliberately try to withhold their personal data from brands, with almost a third (31%) preferring to remain completely anonymous from businesses.

While this paints a rather bleak picture of consumers’ trust of brands with their data, there is a disconnect from that reality among leaders at businesses. Almost four in five (79%) of senior executives in UK companies believe their customers trust them with their personal data.

Data breaches are a significant factor in lessening customers’ trust of brands with their personal information. Over half (54%) say they would switch to a different brand if one they used experienced a data breach.

Meanwhile, almost two-thirds (64%) of UK executive leaders admit their organisation has suffered a data breach in the past, with a third (34%) stating this has happened within the last year.

Source: Treasure Data

More than half of retailers seeing increased uptake of loyalty schemes

More than half (53%) of retailers have seen an increased uptake of their loyalty schemes in recent years, according to research from Dunnhumby.

While the cost of living crisis may lead consumers to shop around more, around seven in 10 retailers report that their proportion of ‘loyal’ customers has remained constant (44%) or increased (26%) versus last year. Around three in 10 (30%) say the number of loyal customers has shrunk in the past year.

Discount coupons and vouchers is the most popular loyalty programme method for retailers, with over four in five (82%) offering this. Exclusive member-only discounts are in use by three-quarters of the retailers surveyed.

2023 saw many UK retailers including Boots, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons adopt exclusive discounts for loyalty members, as Tesco continued to expand its scheme.

Over four in five (82%) of retailers cite budget constraints as the biggest barrier to introducing loyalty and personalisation mechanisms. That’s closely followed by technical difficulties in implementing the schemes (79%).

Source: Dunnhumby

Consumer confidence sees Christmas boost

Consumer confidence is up across the board ahead of Christmas, according to the December results of analyst GfK’s barometer. Every category reported single-digit increases in consumer confidence – and overall sentiment is 20 points higher than the same period last year.

In December 2022 the overall index score – a combined measure of consumers’ confidence in their own financial situation and their perception of the state of the economy – stood at -42. This year that figure has risen to -22. While it is still negative, it is the second month in a row in which overall confidence has increased, following a sharp fall in October.

According to the GfK research, consumers’ sentiment around their personal financial situation over the previous 12 months has risen two points to -14, a 14-point increase from where it stood in December 2022.

Meanwhile, people’s sense of confidence around their personal finances over the next year stands at -2, a one-point increase over last month. That figure stood at -29 in December 2022, suggesting a marked increase in the overall sentiment.

Source: GfK

Empathy in advertising can drive business results

Marketing that embraces the power of empathy as well as creativity can drive business results, according to research from Effie and Ipsos.

Data from Ipsos testing and Effie case studies demonstrate that ads combining ‘creative experiences and ideas’ and ‘empathy and fitting in’ are more likely to be effective and perform 20% better on short-term sales lift.

The research also reviewed two years’ worth of Effie US and UK finalists and found that winners had a 25% higher score on ‘creative experiences’, ‘creative ideas’ and ‘empathy and fitting in’ versus finalists.

Consumer research finds 73% globally wish the pace of life could slow down and simplicity and meaning could be prioritised. This is a trend that in the UK has grown 48% over the last 10 years. It suggests brands and marketers should avoid overcomplicating things with their marketing.

Source: Effie and Ipsos