Nielsen's Adview Pulse report released it's latest findings yesterday on the state advertising in 2013. Internet was the big winner with a 32% rise in spending in the first three quarters of the year compared to 2012. 

2014 has started with a bang, and a number of competitive pitches have led to some huge agency wins!
We've highlighted the major deals this January:

The combined entity will be called Xaxis and will be run by the Brian Lesser, the existing global chief executive of Xaxis and David Moore, the founder of 24/7 Media will be the chairman of Xaxis.

Our friends at MEC have won the social account for Natural Balance Food's 'Nākd' bars. The aim of this year-long campaign is raise awareness via social media channels. They will look to expand on their current core market of health aware individuals; made up of vegans, vegetarians and people with intolerance. While also specifically targeting what they call "health balancers", these are ABC1 women aged between 18 and 44 who try to improve their health and diet by doing things like avoiding added sugar, drinking more water and not eating food groups despite being tolerant of them.

Confidence seems to of been restored amongst marketers as 2014 is set to see budgets reach their highest levels since the 2008 financial crash. Bellwethers most recent report highlights that 26 per cent of companies are planning to increase their marketing budgets year on year in 2014, this was complimented by a strong Q4 in 2013 which saw 11 per cent of companies registering an increase in budget spend.

We recently placed our first candidate at Private White in Manchester. Private White VC are a Manchester based brand that "is committed to producing quality everyday menswear using the finest British materials and craftsmanship". The collection is designed by former head of Dunhill menswear, Nick Ashley. But stays true to the roots of the man Private Jack White himself, all Private White V.C. clothing is manufactured in the same factory in Manchester where Jack originally started his apprenticeship after WWI, and later went on to own.

Senior Account Manager Harriet Sanders has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the digital recruitment industry. As the key link between several Chrysalis clients and potential candidates, her insight into recruiting is very valuable.
This brief interview (she’s a busy lady) should highlight some of her prowess as a recruiter:

So – what type of candidate would you say is most difficult to recruit for?
HS: I find that developers are notoriously hard to recruit for. It may be due to their nature, which is what makes them good developers – geeky, a bit insular and they prefer to deal with code than people, which can make them hard to find.
Then what type of candidate is the easiest?
HS: Contrast developers to marketing people, who talk and interact as part of their daily roles. Their personality typically makes finding and talking to them easier.

Once you have that skilled new candidate, how tough is it to sell your client and the role to them? Presumably it depends on the role itself, but working without job specifications…
HS: Good candidates tend to have their pick of offers and opposed to the other way around. There are always more companies for the candidates to choose from than vice versa, and there tends to be one candidate that perfect for each company but few companies who are perfect for that candidate.
In this seemingly recession-proof industry of recruitment, And with competition for exclusivity fierce, is recruiting tougher than ever?
HS: It’s always been tough, but that’s why we earn lots of commission and if it was easy to recruit then companies would do it themselves.
And finally – what is it about your job that you love? Apart from this, of course.
HS: The role is great when you find a lovely candidate, and you’ve dealt with them for weeks and then you get them a role which they love. That makes all the troubles worthwhile.

If you're looking to change roles, contact us at Chrysalis to speak to one of our specialist recruiters.

The team at Chrysalis have come up with our predicted trends for the digital sector in 2014. Regular interaction with some of the leading digital agencies has given us a great insight into what they believe will be huge this year.