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The most hilarious mail from today's mail explosion:

Is EY GDS providing any joining bonus ?
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Some do, some don’t. It’s not always a guarantee brand side will pay more, but yes it’s a thing. Also have to take into account annual bonus + life balance + rest of comp.
Just my personal take on this: It's more about the long-run. You'll likely make more money over the next 20 years if move to brand with salary potential, bonus every year and stock options. Plus as agency life continues to get harder - brand side seems to be more stable long-term. Never hurts to have experience on both sides so you double your job market pool if/when layoffs hit. Nice to have experience on both sides so you're more marketable and can tell a more holistic story.
Looking at the wrong brands lol...
Brand side roles have better total comp. Bonus is significant, whereas it's more like a tip for most agency roles.
Rising Star
Yes. Unless you go to Facebook, Google, or Apple.
Brand side doesn’t necessarily pay more (say museums, publishing, beauty, etc.), tech does.
Rising Star
Also companies usually take their advertising in-house because they already don’t value what we do. So they’re not going to pay us big money to be their glorified Chat-GPT.
Remember a VP at somewhere like Unilever is significantly more senior than a VP agency side
This
Not true! If a company gives quarterly bonuses like finance & retail. I left healthcare due to burnout. One year later my salary was topped. Especially in retail with my quarterly bonuses based on sales. Also, if I got converted to FTE while freelancing at banks. They too offer yearly bonuses. For me client side meant more about time & job freedom than money. 9-5 or 10-6pm. Able to go to Pilates during the week as well as happy hour. Weekends are not packed with errands. Since, I get off at 5pm. You can’t pay me to go back to agencies or healthcare. I’m at mid 6 figures btw.
Look at fortune 100 and tech companies..I was offered a 50% increase in base salary, 20% annual bonuses & $25,000 RSU for the same position agency side where I just had shitty salary.
What level are you? Stock and bonuses are what brands offer. And agencies don’t pay well for a long time.
I’m a senior pm. I pivoted when I was at mid level.
yes unless it’s tech