GroupM vs Z2C - which is a career accelerant? [Part One]

Examining every media, creative, and digital agency in Pakistan at various stages of operational maturity to understand which is the current and future leader in being a career accelerant.

A career accelerant is an organisation that propels the careers of its alumni forward, to greater roles with even more valuable organisations - or to create valuable products. It is one of the seven variables within the T-Algorithm.

For the next 50 weeks, we will share analysis of the leading advertising & media agencies in Pakistan within the scope of how long people last, what compels them to leave, what industries do they join, who their top employers are, and how well trained they are to become clients.

In the Pakistan market - its no secret that if your digital/media agency trains you well enough that you someday become the client/marketer, you will always have a soft spot for your former employer, which is a source of long term ROI.

GroupM Pakistan

With a sample size of 53 former employees of GroupM Pakistan - including MEC, Maxus, Mediacom, Wavemaker, and Mindshare - we sought to understand what the media investment firm alumni does.

The average employee tenure at GroupM was 43.5 months

Only 26.4% stayed within the advertising industry after leaving GroupM

Nearly two-thirds went on to become client-side marketers and media

Top current employers

Z2C Limited

With a sample size of 53 former employees of Z2C Limited Pakistan - including Starcom Pakistan, Blitz Advertising, Starcrest Communication, Brainchild Communications Pakistan, MHoldings, and PakMediaCom- we sought to understand what the alumni of the largest independently owned media & technology goes to.

The average employee tenure was 36.45 months

Only 24.5% stayed within the advertising industry after leaving Z2C

Nearly three-quarters went on to become client-side marketers and media managers

Top current employers

Key Takeaways

Within the context of Pakistan, GroupM’s alumni say that the media investment firm gave them the confidence and credibility to deliver innovation for the clients they worked on. The data reflects this, with most GroupM alumni who went over to the client side doing so with actual active customers of the media investment firm.

Alumni of Z2C Limited shared that the willingness of upper management to allow staff to try new things, take charge of various projects and internal initiatives, resulted in a mindset that embraces experimentation and failure. This, we are told, has led to tremendous successes in cultures that follow the agile model of project and product management.

In both cases, the data showed that when employees were promoted at least once every year - or at most 15 months - the chances of staying for upwards of three years improved. Alumni told us that reinforced career progression - whether in the form of promotions, more responsibility, public acknowledgement, sizeable training investment, or foreign assignments - encouraged them to stay longer.

All alumni share that since joining the client side, they have been able to pitch media as an investment, reframing the business activity outside of its cost centre perception. We also learned that alumni of GroupM were more likely to start their own advertising agencies compared to alumni of Z2C Limited.

Alumni of GroupM Pakistan - speaking of pre 2020 - resented seeing incapable people being promoted to the C-suite despite numerous client complaints and a total lack of capability in media. They were glad that the decision makers that played favourites were out and saw this as a factor that could encourage a return.

Alumni of Z2C Limited - speaking of pre 2018 - shared that the tolerance of harsh or aggressive department heads (who have since moved on) has created deep rooted resentment towards the inaction of the organisation despite multiple staff complaints. In seeing news reports of promotions concerning capable team members and the onboarding of inspiring figures in the media space, respondents shared that this as a factor that could encourage a return.

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For more on the advertising & media industry in Pakistan, reach me on babar.khan@pakistantoday.com.pk or support Profit.