Author Archives: FreshGigs.ca Team

Hot Canadian Marketing & Creative Jobs, Jan 31st 2014

FreshGigs.ca Team

Director of Fund Development & Marketing with The Leprosy Mission Canada
Markham, ON

Marketing Manager with Envisio
Surrey, BC

Account Manager with Laura Ballance Media Group
Vancouver, BC

Strategic Planner with Cossette Vancouver
Vancouver, BC

Sr. Brand Director with Cossette Vancouver
Vancouver, BC

Marketing Executive – Medical and Pharmaceutical Markets with iData Research Inc.
Vancouver, BC

VP Men’s Retail with Lululemon Athletica
Vancouver, BC

Art Director/Graphic Designer with Saje Natural Wellness
Vancouver, BC

Senior Online Marketing Specialist (Team Leader) with Centennial College
Toronto, ON

Instructional Designer with Lululemon Athletica
Vancouver, BC

From Marketer to Manager: Is it for you?

FreshGigs.ca Team

At a certain point in your marketing career, it might feel the next step is to move into management in marketing departments or firms. But is it the right move? Management has to take so much more in account than marketing, including the ins and outs of the overall business.

“Becoming a manager requires a transformation of your professional identity,” says Linda A. Hill, a professor at Harvard Business School in Are You Cut Out for Management?

Marketers who have an eye on management would be smart to remember that soft skills are often as important as specialization

In fact, moving into management means you will be doing less of the pure hands-on marketing and more ensuring that everyone is on the same page working toward the same vision. If you live for the rush of campaign and the hands-on creation of ad packaging, branding and so on, management may not be for you.

“The first question you’ve got to ask is, ‘Why do you want it?’ You may think that’s my natural progression in my career, but it’s not the natural progression for everybody … So the advice I always give people is to really understand what the job entails and make sure that’s how you want to spend your time,” Mike Indursky, current President of beauty marketer Bliss World, was quoted as saying in Can Marketers Jump to General Management? Two Execs on Making the Shift.

Who would make a Good Manager?

For both Industry and Anton, their success has come from being big-picture people who happened to come up in the industry through marketing. Continue reading →

Clients Always Right? Not Exactly.

FreshGigs.ca Team

How many times have we heard the old chestnut, the client is always right?

But are they?

Yes and No. Many of us go into marketing and communications projects wanting to keep clients happy, especially in the beginning of our careers. But, while the clients have an idea of what they want, their ideas of how to get there aren’t always in their best interest.

The key to this is to realize that what clients are looking for is not just the same old, same old.

You aren’t always there to just take orders. You may deliver everything they ask for, within budget and to the letter, but chances are it won’t deliver results. And likely, the client won’t be as happy as they could be.

Take this wise advice given to Mark Busse in his early design career by an especially tough client, as discussed in Act like an Expert, not a Designer.

“I pay you to be an expert, right?” he continued. “And obviously you are capable of producing what I need. Lots of people can. What I NEED from you is your expertise. There’s much more value between your ears than in your work. So if you’re not going to be honest with me, speak openly if you feel there’s a better way, or even teach me a few things along the way, then I’ll find someone else to work with.”

In fact, Busse suggests that the client-is-always-right mentality is passé: today’s communication professional now has to bring more to the relationship than just meet a client’s demands.

He cites research by Matt Dixon, author of The Challenger Sale and executive director of strategic research at the business performance consulting firm Corporate Executive Board.

“According to Dixon’s research, the buying process has changed in recent years. Never before have clients had easier or more access to information, allowing them to have a broader understanding of their own needs and benchmark against others, often downloading information from competitors’ and suppliers’ websites. Experienced design buyers can figure out much more on their own and are much further down the purchase path before they ever pick up the phone or email potential design candidates.” Continue reading →

Managing Marketing Integration: One Message for All

FreshGigs.ca Team

It’s not uncommon for today’s marketing departments to suffer from integration problems. People across the different levels of the customer-facing groups, be it social marketers, customer support, marketing, sales, and so on, speak different languages, have different goals and pursue different agendas.

The more marketing agencies and contractors are used, the greater the chance of integration problems, tracing to complexity-induced errors and strategy-execution gaps

This can create what could be a fatal ailment in the overall marketing and brand structure of an organization.

“Symptoms include: schizophrenic brand messages, tactics that run counter to the marketing strategy; duplication of effort and; in-fighting around who controls the priorities and budget,” says Mitchell Osak, managing director of Quanta Consulting Inc., 3 Key to Conquering Modern Marketing Integration.

Luckily, with a few approaches, managers can preempt and overcome the harmful effects of low integration. According to Osak, a well-integrated company has a stronger chance of top marketing performance, higher customer acquisition and retention and, importantly, stronger brand image.

Integration between sales and marketing goals alone can result in growth.

“Marketing sales integration, or smarketing, can offer a business several benefits. According to Aberdeen, Highly aligned organizations achieved an average of 32% annual revenue growth – while less well-aligned companies reported an average of 7% decline in revenue,” says Laura Moes, Smarketing: Effective Sales and Marketing Integration. Continue reading →

The Four-Year Career: Is the Hire-to-Retire Marketing Job going the way of the Dinosaur?

FreshGigs.ca Team

Marketing is an industry that has been known how to have a natural turnover, but this seems to be a day and age where the rate is on the increase. Blame technology that changes almost overnight, the economic times and many other factors.

“Shorter job tenure is associated with a new era of insecurity, volatility, and risk. It’s part of the same employment picture as the increase in part-time, freelance, and contract work; mass layoffs and buyouts; and ‘creative destruction’ within industries,’ says Anya Kamenetz, The Four-Year Career.

Instead of putting the time and resources into grooming long-term employees, the focus would be on attracting top talent and getting their best work before they move on.

Whatever the reason, Marcus Fischer, in the article, Supporting the new Four-Year Career, presents a startling stat: most people entering the workforce now will have an average of 10 jobs in their career.

So what does that mean for marketing careers? It can mean a lot of things, from both an employee and employer standpoint.

It might mean the marketers are competing with those outside of the traditional marketing industry for jobs. The idea behind the four-year career is not necessarily that people are changing jobs within their own field — they are often changing entire industries. Continue reading →

Inspiration from CEOs to Start the New Year

FreshGigs.ca Team

Sometimes you just need some inspiration. Whether you are in the middle of a job search, are in a career slump or are starting your own consulting business, wise words can sometimes help give us the boost we need to move forward and help those around us do the same.

As we say adios to 2013 and take a look at our career in the year ahead, take some advice from some leadership gurus, as suggested in Tips & Secrets from Top CEOs. Not only does this advice apply to leading others, it applies to the whole spectrum of your career.

There is a lot of emphasis put on production, but that can’t happen if you are so brain-fried that you can’t remember your own name. You may feel like you need to work 12 hour days, and the truth is, there may be days that you have to. But it does not need to become habit.

Harry Herington, CEO, NIC: “I have three children and have told them time and again to follow their passion – not the dollar. I don’t dwell on what issues might keep me awake at night – I’m setting goals according to what motivates me to get up in the morning. Focus on what you are passionate about.”

Is it true that you can’t buy happiness? Well, let’s be honest, we all like money. But there are other, much more important factors to take into account when getting serious about a career path. The Career Anchors Self-Assessment tool, developed by Edgar H. Schein, professor emeritus at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, can help you assess areas of competence, motives and values related to your work choices, according to Hannah Morgan, 6 Considerations for Choosing a Career Path. This is just one of many tools out there to help you assess what you are passionate about.

Jason Rhode, CEO, Cirrus: “Every single interaction you have with another person leaves that person a little more energized, or a little less. That’s true for all of us, but the further up the leadership ladder you are, the greater the leverage you have becomes. Employees notice every single thing you do. Be very mindful of the messages you’re sending.” Continue reading →

New Creative + Marketing Jobs in Canada – Jan 10th 2014

FreshGigs.ca Team

Multi-Channel Graphic Designer with The DATA Group of Companies
Brampton, ON

Bilingual Marketing Manager with VW Credit Canada, Inc.
Ajax, Ontario

Web Designer with Iovate Health Sciences International Inc
Oakville, On

Search Engine Marketing Specialist with Chartwell Retirement Residences
Mississauga, ON

Product Manager with Plentyoffish Media Inc
Vancouver, BC

Sales and Marketing Coordinator with On Side Restoration
Vancouver, BC

Art Director/Designer with Eclipse Creative Inc.
Victoria, BC

Advertising Account Coordinator with Eclipse Creative Inc.
Victoria, BC

Advertising Account Manager with Eclipse Creative Inc.
Victoria, BC

Freelance Editorial & Web Designer with Media Planet
Toronto, ON

Flash Developer with MacLaren McCann
Vancouver, BC

Graphic Designer/Production Artist with MacLaren McCann
Vancouver, BC

Mental Strength: Do’s and Don’ts

FreshGigs.ca Team

Whether you are looking for a job, starting a business, running your own marketing firm or managing a team of employees, attitude can go a long way. Success goes beyond just being a go-getter because at some point, everyone fails. It’s not an if, but a when, and just as important as what you do at that point is what you don’t do, as detailed in the Forbes article, Mentally Strong People: The 13 Things They Avoid, written by Cheryl Conner.

Let’s take a look few on the list, originally compiled on Lifehack by licensed clinical social worker Amy Morin.

Mentally strong people don’t seem to complain as much about the little things they can’t change: bad drivers, other people’s behavior, travel delays, and so on.

They don’t feel sorry for themselves.

Mentally strong people take responsibility for their actions and outcomes. They also understand that life just isn’t fair. More importantly, they learn from challenges. “They are able to emerge from trying circumstances with self-awareness and gratitude for the lessons learned,” writes Conner.

They don’t give away their power.

Very simply, mentally strong people are adults. They are in control of actions and emotions and control their responses.

They don’t waste energy on things they can’t control.

Mentally strong people don’t seem to complain as much about the little things they can’t change: bad drivers, other people’s behavior, travel delays, and so on. “In a bad situation, they recognize that the one thing they can always control is their own response and attitude, and they use these attributes well,” says Conner.

They don’t people please

People pleasers (or displeasers) need not apply. It’s a huge waste of time, reputation and resources

“There’s a huge price to pay when business is driven by people pleasing. From underearning to burnout to working extended hours, people pleasing leads to a lack of motivation, billing errors, waste, poor processes, and worst of all, owner frustration,” writes Jackie Nagel in Is People Pleasing Impacting your Business Growth? Continue reading →

Wishing You All A Happy, Healthy, And Successful New Year from FreshGigs.ca

FreshGigs.ca Team

From the team at FreshGigs.ca we want to wish you a very happy new year!!

May 2014 be a year of great health, happiness and success for you and your family.

We will continue to work hard for you to bring your the hottest marketing, advertising, and design jobs in Canada. We have a lot planned for this year and look forward to sharing it with you.

Again, happy new year and let’s make it a great one!!

New Canadian Marketing + Creative Jobs Round Up – Dec/20/2013

FreshGigs.ca Team

Social Media Specialist with international luxury fashion designer
Toronto, ON

Graphic Designer with international luxury fashion designer
Toronto, ON

VP Product Operations with lululemon athletica
Vancouver, BC

Search Marketing Specialist with The Status Bureau
Vancouver, BC

Strategy Project Manager with lululemon athletica
Vancouver, BC

Proposal Writer with CBRE Group, Inc.
Newport Beach, CA (Looking to hire Canadians)

Marketing Manager with River Market
New Westminster, BC