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Vacationing Ad Execs Increasingly Tethered to Office

More than six in 10 (61%) marketing and advertising executives surveyed say they check in with work at least once a day while on a vacation or holiday break, according to a recent study by the Creative Group.

This compares with 47% who checked in at least once daily in 2006 and 38% in 2001. Within this group, the percentage of respondents who now check in with work several times a day has risen the most dramatically, from just 11% in 2001 to 30% today, the Creative Group said.

At the same time, the number of execs who say they “never” check in with work while on vacation has fallen from 19% in 2001 to just 8% today.

Specific trends, by year and frequency of office  contact:

“For better or worse, technology has made it easier for professionals to check in with the office from just about anywhere,” said Megan Slabinski, executive director of The Creative Group. “While periodic updates may provide peace of mind, being overly connected can detract from the benefits of time spent away from work.’

To get completely away from the office, the Creative Group recommends that execs consider remote locations, without easy or affordable access to telephones or technology. Unfortunately, a recent vacation study from Harris Interactive found that 50% of Americans, on average, are planning to save money this summer by vacationing closer to home. This may indicate that some execs do not have exotic or remote destinations in mind.

About the study: The US-based study was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on 250 telephone interviews — 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from the nation’s 2,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 with senior marketing executives randomly selected from the nation’s 2,000 largest companies.