Study: Marketers And Agencies Increase Commutes And Days

Marketers and agencies are increasing their commutes and spending more time at the office, according to a new Advertiser Perceptions study of 303 media agencies and brands commissioned by the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group®. 

Interviews took place October 3-10, 2022, and the results were compared to the same study conducted in April 2022. The Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® also commissioned a Maru/Blue study to examine the commuting habits of everyday Americans. The nationally representative study was conducted November 9, 2022, among 1,516 adults 18+.

This week’s blog outlines the findings from both studies.76% of marketers and agencies now commute to the office, up from 63% in Spring but still less than average Americans.

• 87% of Americans are commuting to work, 15% more than marketers and agencies.
• The average number of marketer/agency office days grew from 3 to 3.5 but is less than the 4.3 office days of average Americans.
• Average Americans are clocking more days at work compared to marketing industry. 28% of marketers and agencies work 1 or 2 days at their workplace compared to only 12% of everyday Americans. 24% of brands and agencies work 3 days at the office compared to just 10% of the total U.S. Twice as many average Americans are commuting 5 days a week (56%) compared to the marketing industry (26%).
• Increases in the number of days in the office were driven by large marketers and agencies. The most significant growth in the number of days in the office came from marketing firms with 1000+ or more employees.
• Of the 23% of brands and agencies who are still working from home, half say they are never going back full time.
• 62% of marketers and agencies have resumed in-person media vendor meetings, up from 41% in Spring.
• 58% of marketers and agencies have resumed in-person conferences and events, up nearly 2X from Spring, and 24% say they will begin attending conferences in the next three months.

Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard suggests that the ad world's significantly higher share of at-home workers may lead agencies and brands to the conclusion that radio and out-of-home ad audiences are down, assuming total U.S. numbers are the same. “Americans are much more frequently exposed to billboards, out-of-home and AM/FM ads than folks in the advertising business...because [they are] still not up to the number of days at work [of] the average American,” he says. 

“This is one of these situations when we realize that we in the media and advertising business are very different from average Americans.”