Marketers not interested in appearing on The Apprentice

While 73% of marketers were inclined to refuse an opportunity to appear on the show, it was a different story in other professions with 68% of accountants similarly reluctant, 64% of lawyers, 55% of HR professionals and 53% of those working in IT.

EMR managing director Simon Bassett commented: “Despite the show having 5 contestants with a marketing or sales background among the 16 hopefuls, the research suggests most marketers are less keen to compete for Sir Alan’s entrepreneurial backing.

“Salaries in marketing and communications are rising again and that makes the opportunity cost of quitting your job less attractive. The ONS shows average salaries for marketing and sales managers rose to £58,946 in 2010, up 4.5% over 2009, while advertising and PR managers saw their pay jump 5.3% to £53,352. The job market’s booming for talented marketers.

“However, I don’t think that’s the reason marketing and communications professionals are so risk averse. After all, the job market is booming for accountants and lawyers, too. And, despite the fact that lawyers and accountants are also very well paid, they are clearly less convinced by the benefits of hanging on to their jobs.

“It’s possible those in the marketing and communications are particularly committed to their current roles. But I fear the results may reflect that, while people in other professions are becoming more confident about the future again, marketers are still worried – unnecessarily, in my view – about their prospects if they were to go on the show and fail to win the series. Maybe marketers are just naturally more wary about the potential damage to their personal brand than other professions.”