2010 AIGA | Aquent Survey of Design Salaries

The AIGA | Aquent Survey of Design Salaries is the most comprehensive annual survey of compensation data for the communication design profession in the United States. It reports the actual salary ranges for design positions among AIGA members and related professionals in the United States. The survey is based on salaries in 2009, when many corporations and advertising agencies reduced staff and outsourced work to freelance designers. However, the good news is that nearly a third of respondents to AIGA's Confidence Survey of Design Leaders believe they will be more likely to hire new designers in this quarter than last.

Aquent Orange Book | Salary Survey and Industry Monitor for the Marketing, Communications and Creative Industries | European Edition 2008–2009

The Aquent Orange Book is the most comprehensive salary survey and industry monitor for the marketing, communications and creative industries. This year we surveyed in seven European countries – Czech Republic, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

With in-depth statistics, trend analysis and expert opinion, the Aquent Orange Book is designed to give employers the insights required to make informed staffing decisions. We explore employee tenure, talent sourcing strategies, salary increases, permanent and temporary staffing trends, staff retention strategies, staff turnover rates, benefits packages and detailed salary tables.

Aquent Orange Book | Salary Survey and Industry Monitor for the Marketing, Communications and Creative Industries | Asia Pacific Edition 2008–2009

The Aquent Orange Book is the most comprehensive salary survey and industry monitor for the marketing, communications and creative industries. This year we conducted our survey in Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.

With in-depth statistics, trend analysis and expert opinion, the Aquent Orange Book is designed to give employers the insights required to make informed staffing decisions. We explore employee tenure, talent sourcing strategies, salary increases, permanent and temporary staffing trends, staff retention strategies, staff turnover rates, benefits packages and detailed salary tables.

2008 AIGA | Aquent Survey of Design Salaries

The most unbiased‚ professionally researched tool of its kind‚ it draws upon data provided by more than 6‚000 design professionals throughout the United States.

Aquent Orange Book: Salary Survey and Industry Monitor for the Marketing, Communications and Creative Industries | 2006-2007 Asia Pacific Edition

The Aquent Orange Book (previously called The Asia Pacific Salary Monitor) is an indispensable management tool for any decision-maker operating in the Marketing, Communications and Creative sectors. It provides accurate salary information for hundreds of staff categories, detailed statistics on revenue growth, staff retention strategies, anticipated salary increases, and identifies employment and growth trends.

Aquent Orange Book: Salary Survey and Industry Monitor for the Marketing, Communications and Creative Industries | 2006-2007 European Edition

The Aquent Orange Book (previously called The Asia Pacific Salary Monitor) is an indispensable management tool for any decision-maker operating in the Marketing, Communications and Creative sectors. It provides accurate salary information for hundreds of staff categories, detailed statistics on revenue growth, staff retention strategies, anticipated salary increases, and identifies employment and growth trends.

Aquent | AMA Compensation Survey of Marketing Professionals 2006

The most comprehensive survey ever conducted in this field, it draws upon salary, demographic, psychographic, and job satisfaction data from thousands of respondents across a broad spectrum of job titles, markets, and business sectors.

Digital Asset Management

Specialized Creative Services Team

Brand Ambassadors

A global paint manufacturer partnered with Aquent to help boost sales of its leading designer paint brand at the world’s largest home improvement retailer by designing and implementing a Brand Ambassador program.

Brand Launch

Aquent helped a leading consumer packaged goods company find the interim marketing talent it needed to develop a new brand strategy and successfully relaunch its premier cookie brand.

Brand Strategy

Aquent helped a top consumer-lending products company identify and hire the interim brand strategy talent it needed after a major acquisition.

Content Management System Implementation

Aquent helped a top U.S. secondary mortgage company streamline internal communications by converting 70,000 pages of intranet content to a more user-friendly version of its content management system.

Web Portal Development

Aquent helped a health care staffing agency develop a Web portal to drive industry professionals to its public site and increase the number of online registrants.

Market Research Analysis

Aquent quickly identified the hard-to-find talent that a leading provider of independent investment research data needed to replace its outgoing market research analyst.

Interactive Marketing Specialists

Aquent provided the specialized talent a top North America retailer needed to remain competitive and drive its busy online promotional calendar during the critical holiday season.

Data Analytics and Database Specialists

Aquent helped one of the world’s largest banks manage the migration of several databases post acquisition by providing over 40 database and data analytics specialists.

But Wait, There's More... Pantone Launches a Magazine

Engaging, What?

10 Common Errors

Calling all Marketers! The 2010 Aquent/AMA Salary Survey is Here!

Creatives to the Rescue!

TMI? If in doubt, leave it out.... Making social media work for you

Staycation, All I Ever Wanted

Netflix Steps It Up and Takes on HBO and Showtime

Dreaded Interview Questions

Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Anne Curry - OH MY!

Dream in Color - Pantone Opens a Hotel

VIDEO: FITC Toronto 2010 Highlights!

FITC Toronto VIDEOS are BACK! Watch 'em while they're HOT!

DISCOUNT for Web App Masters Tour in Seattle, July 12-13!

Your Resume is No Place for Mistakes

Power of YouTube

Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube NOW! (Aquent is a proud sponsor)

Last Chance to Dance at Internet Week!

Man, iameffed

AMA/Aquent Webcast with Chi Modo of Diverse Insights

Mobile Analytics: Digital Strategies and Measurement Challenges

Presented by: Greg Dowling, Vice President of Mobile Strategy & Measurement, Semphonic

With new technologies putting the Internet in everyone’s pocket and an exploding apps market taking the possibilities to dizzying new heights, mobile devices have assumed a central role in the Internet equation. But going mobile is the easy part. The trick is to make sure your investment pays off, and for that, new metrics strategies are needed.

Learn about the hurdles involved in navigating this rapidly evolving terrain and understand ways to successfully address key mobile measurement issues, including:

• Handling multiple channels of data that include mobile and mobile applications
• Choosing the right mobile measurement infrastructure
• Handling carrier and phone restrictions and limitations
• Integrating mobile with fixed web

Demystifying Social Media Measurement

Presented by: John Lovett, Senior Partner, Web Analytics Demystified

The social media frenzy is escalating as millions of consumers flock to sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr to find their social media fix. Now marketers seek out customers in these new channels with an estimated 86% that plan to increase their investments in social media activity this year. However, among these marketers, a staggering number are failing to measure the effects of their efforts. Yet, dollars are flowing from traditional marketing activities to social media methods. Now more than ever it’s imperative to measure the results of social media marketing.

Going Mobile - A Practical Guide

Presented by Peter Barclay, Managing Director, Vaya Mobile

In this webcast Peter Barclay, co-founder of Vaya Mobile gives practical advice on...

• The mobile landscape
• Mobile apps vs. mobile web
• The key steps to mobile development
• How to approach mobile strategy

Marketing Mix Models: maximizing marketing effectiveness in a changing environment

Presented by Don Holtz, Co–Founder and President, Interlocking Analytics

This webinar will address what needs to be different in Marketing Mix Models to continue to improve marketing performance including:

• Lower cost media to encourage product trials and repeat purchases
• Non-CPG companies developing Marketing Mix Models even though their business environment is far different to CPG
• Competitive and external factors can change and affect the guidance that results from a model when the model was built using historical data

In Brands We Trust - Simplicity, Affordability and Sustainability as Key Drivers for Packaging

Presented by Peter Clarke, CEO, Product Ventures

This webinar will:

• Show how simplicity in packaging is what consumers crave
• Explain why affordability is crucial for today's shoppers and manufacturers
• Demonstarte how sustainability will continue to play a key role in packaging

Good Marketing - Marketing for Social Good

Presented by: Nancy Goldstein, Chief Strategist, Compass(x) Strategy

Surveys consistently report that consumers would choose a brand that "makes the world a better place" over other brands and will pay more for such a brand – even in a recession. How should marketers capitalize on this? Web 2.0 has made it possible for companies to engage with specific communities about relevant causes like never before. However, having a clear strategy is critical to avoid missteps, which can inadvertently undo the good your company is purporting to do. This webcast will address some of the issues that companies face when trying to position themselves as "doing good," as well as provide some solutions and tools to improve your company's ability to market social good successfully.

Web Standards – Today and Tomorrow

Presented by: Faruk Ates from the Web Standards Project and Susie Hall, Interactive Design Practice Leader, Aquent

Interactive teams today are faced with rapidly changing technology and a world where online content must stay fresh and relevant to compete. In this climate of change, design and development dollars are wasted as companies struggle without implementing Web standards. Faruk Ates of the Web Standards Project talks about current Web standards and explains their importance to the success of any Web project.

In this talk you will learn more about:

• How using Web standards can save time and money
• How employing standards can enable access to more customers
• New and emerging technology and standards that may change the future of Web development

The insights you need to successfully market to Tweens and Teens

Understanding the youth market is crucial for any company attempting to capture the attention of today's tween and teen consumers. The lives and minds of this dynamic group are ever-changing, so it's essential to gain a better understanding of our youth today before launching your next youth-oriented product or marketing campaign.

During this webcast Brenda Hurley of C&R Research will tell you:

• What tweens and teens do with their free time
• What is important in their lives today
• Their relationship with technology and its role in their lives
• Their engagement with social issues
• Where they get their money and the power of their spending
• How today's economy is impacting them
• How they find out about new products
• Ways to reach this illusive audience

Design through the downturn and beyond: A look at the future of design

Graphic designers experience significant risk of commoditization now and will, even more so, in the future. The challenges of differentiation and articulating the value of design are growing. Josh Levine discusses the realities faced by designers today and offers visions of how to approach these challenges.

Strategy activation: The secret to successful execution

In this webcast, Scott Glatstein, President of Imperatives LLC and author of Strategy Activation: How to Turn Your Vision into Marketplace Success, will tell you:

• Why 90 percent of all business strategies fail in the marketplace
• How high-performing organizations leverage the four key implementation success factors
• How to design a customer experience that matches expectations
• How the right culture and reward structures can build a workforce committed to implementing your promises
• How to design the necessary processes and select the right tools that will enable marketplace success

Attributes of a Great Designer: a conversation with Debbie Millman

Presented by: Debbie Millman, president of the Design Division at Sterling Brands and author of the book "How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer," and Randy Ricker, Director of Aquent's Graphic Design Practice

In this Aquent-sponsored webcast, you can learn from Debbie Millman’s experience and perspective on:

• Non-design skills matter for designers
• Understanding strategy
• Creating client trust and salesmanship
• Ideas for lifelong learning for designers

Bringing Online Marketing In-House

Presenter: Eric Waldinger, Online Marketing Practice Leader, Aquent

This recording will:

• Provide an overview of Aquent and the AMA’s recent Hiring Trends Survey.
• Detail the benefits of bringing your digital marketing department in-house.
• Specify how this department should be structured and managed.
• And explain how all of this will save your company time and money.

Social Media is About Socializing!

Presenter: Harry Gold, online marketing expert and founder and CEO of Overdrive Interactive

Careers in Marketing: Flux, Flexibility & the Future

Presenter: Matthew T. Grant, corporate blogger and content director, Aquent

This recording will:

• Provide practical insights on emerging (or fading!) career opportunities
• Discuss innovative work arrangements
• Describe effective strategies for finding and keeping in-demand talent

Leveraging the Value of Email Marketing During a Recession

Presenter: Simms Jenkins, CEO of BrightWave Marketing

This recording will help you:

• Define your program's purpose, goals, and benchmarks
• Position email as a service to your organization
• Track metrics and test concepts
• Cut costs and deliver exceptional value to your subscribers

Web Design for ROI: How Design Impacts the Bottom Line

Presenters: Lance Loveday, founder, CEO of Closed Loop Marketing Sandra Niehaus, VP user experience, creative director of Closed Loop Marketing

This live recording will help you to:

• Design different types of Web pages
• Increase Web sales/leads
• Increase overall site effectiveness
• Change your company's perceptions of Web design

7 Steps to a Stellar Online Reputation

Presenter: Andy Beal, co-author of Radically Transparent and founder of the award-winning Marketing Pilgrim blog.

Companies spend millions building and promoting their brands online. Yet, all it takes is a single negative review to destroy your company's reputation. Who's managing yours?

The Pragmatic Recession: what’s different this time around?

Ask experts and economic laymen alike in North America about the 2009 recession and you are likely to get more differing opinions than you will know what to do with. The newly inaugurated Obama administration is actively managing expectations, citing that it is “going to get worse before it gets better” and that the economic hardship “will take time, perhaps many years.” On the other hand, the Canadian central bank’s chief, Governor Mark Carney, just last week suggested a shorter duration than this and pointed to a milder recovery afterwards than experienced in previous recessions. With so many disparate positions over the severity and duration of this downturn, it seems at least one pattern has emerged creating common ground among many—the characteristics of this recession are very different than those of past incarnations.

Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit:A Contextual Assessment of Marketing Challenges, Compensation, and Job Satisfaction

It’s not easy being in marketing management today. A dramatic shift in the marketing landscape—increased globalization, multiple media platforms, an explosion of market segments—has coincided with an uncertain economy and shifting organizational dynamics. Marketers at all levels of the organization are faced with enormous strategic and tactical challenges, but their views of these challenges are colored by where they are within the marketing profession hierarchy. Not surprisingly, marketing professionals’ sense of personal satisfaction with their jobs and their ensuing compensation align directly with their level of achievement and tenure in the profession.

Powerful Content Resources: A Short E-book Full of Links and Information About the Digital Media Content Business

This collection of tips and best practices will help you make your content a powerful asset for your organization. The resources, links, and recommendations in this document will be helpful to creative and technical professionals who work with digital media content assets such as text, videos, illustrations, photos, and sound.

Managing Co-employment Risk When Using a Staffing Agency

Co-employment is an important issue for any company using long-term contractors.¹ In 2000, Microsoft’s $97 million settlement for benefits liability to the contract workers who provided services from 1987 to 2000 raised co-employment awareness nationally. To limit exposure to co-employment benefits risk, companies have enacted various policies for using contractors such as placing time limits on their use, rotating staffing firms, etc.

However, these policies don’t get to the crux of the co-employment issue, but rather, underserve the companies that need long term contractors. A solid understanding of both co-employment and how to work with a staffing firm to best handle this issue is an important step in managing risk.

This paper will address these points by defining co-employment and co-employment liability as they relate to benefits, discussing the implications of the Microsoft case, and suggesting ways to lessen co- employment risk when using a staffing agency.