Last night, something quietly special happened upstairs at The Nags Head in Covent Garden. A hundred of the UK’s sharpest marketing directors and CMOs gathered, people who have built household brands, led huge teams, and shaped campaigns the public instantly recognises. And for once, no one was talking about job titles, writes Richard Robinson, executive director of Ingenuity+.
Because, for many, there is no job title right now.
This is The Inbetweeners, a community created by Ingenuity+ for senior marketers who find themselves in between roles, and usually through no fault of their own.
Why it matters
Being “in between” happens more often than most people think. Even the brightest careers sometimes pause. Restructures, timing, market shifts, there are plenty of reasons you might step off the treadmill for a moment. And what surprises many is how invisible you can feel when the music stops. The phone goes quiet. Invitations stop coming. You’re overlooked for conferences.
And yet, nothing about your talent has changed. The greatness remains.
So, after years of informally supporting marketers between roles we decided to lean in and do something properly about it.
We call the group The Inbetweeners, but these are people who don’t live on the sidelines. The evenings are deliberately not flash, they’re in-keeping with the theme, we meet in a traditional London pub packed full with friends old and new, meeting for drinks, food, camaraderie and a bit of self-belief. And it works. Because great marketing talent never stops being great marketing talent, even when it’s in between jobs.
The secret no one talks about
In the past twelve months, we’ve supported 155 senior marketers in between roles. Over half are now back in full-time roles or now working happily as fractional marketing directors and consultants.
Every week, we track senior marketing moves across the UK and throughout this time there hasn’t been a single week without at least five external hires at marketing director or above; a run-rate of twenty a month which are odds I’d take every day if I was looking to return to a role brandside.
So, the jobs are out there. The challenge for many is how to stay visible and connected so the right opportunities find you. Time and again, we see a clear pattern: the marketers who put the effort in to stay engaged with their networks, keep stimulating the market and making themselves magnetically visible are the ones who land the roles they crave.
And this is at the heart of what the Inbetweeners is really about. We’re not recruiters, and we’re not setting out to save anyone. We’re inviting great people in to benefit from our network and connections and stay visible while they wait for the next great role. We offer camaraderie, friendship and connection, open doors and the tools to help build personal brands where sometimes there may be none.
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What made this one special
At 18h00 sharp, the doors opened. By 19h00, Robert Newry, co-founder of Arctic Shores, and I were deep in conversation, sharing stories of resilience, change and reinvention with the audience. Robert, supported by brilliant personal stories from Stonegate Group’s new Marketing Director Mays Elansari and First Bus’s new Director of Marketing Virginia Barnes, unpacked a lifetime of experience to explore what’s needed most to succeed in a job market overshadowed by LinkedIn algorithms and AI assessments.
Consistency: Whether it’s posting on social media, connecting at events or job searching… just keep showing up. Discover your unfair advantage and then consistently make it happen as part of your personal brand.
Persistence : Every time you hear a “no” it’s going to hurt, especially when you can see yourself in the role. But use every ‘no’ to fuel the fire, keep on keeping on and know every time you hear it you’re pushing closer to the finishing line.
Curiosity: Think laterally and think bigger than just looking in the obvious places for roles. If you read about a brand entering a new market & you can add value, reach out to the C-suite or talent team. Say yes to things that scare you: hosting a stage, joining a podcast, or walking up to a stranger at an event. Make brave “hellos” into meaningful connections.
Connectivity: Find the radiators and cheerleaders who give you energy and shout your name loudly when you’re not in the room. Discover the networks and connectors to get you one step ahead, and remember the ABC: Always Be Contactable with business cards, esignatures and contact details visibly on Linkedin.
Personal brand: You’re a marketer and the CEO of your brand. Know what you stand for, own your story, lean in & be memorable every time you go online or step outside your front door.
Intentionality: Right now, you have the gift of time. Use it wisely. Take that marketing course. Message your old boss for a coffee. Write an article. You’ll thank yourself later when you’re back in the grind.
Conversations flowed easily, overlapping across the hundred CMOs and marketing directors while people swapped connection, camaraderie, and more tips and tactics than anyone would care to admit.
And while most of the room were in between roles, at least a third were already back in work because this community never stops. People come partly because of its fun informality, partly because the network is gold dust, the membership is inclusive and the people are senior, but mostly because they know they’re paying it forward.
Searching for something more human
Importantly Ingenuity+ aren’t recruiters or headhunters. In fact, we intentionally invite in executive search firms like Hunter Miller, Fortune Hill, Grace Blue, GrowthKind, and others who see reciprocity as a sign of strength.
Alongside them we enjoy the support of representatives from The Marketing Society, ISBA, the UK EFFIEs, Creative Equals, MAD//Fest, and the Alliance of Independent Agencies in addition to Marketing thought leaders and podcasters at the top of their game including Abigail Dixon (The Whole Marketer), Mark Evans (The Places We’ll Go Show), Jarrod Cocksedge (The Badlands Podcast), and Rory Sutherland (MAD//Masters).
At its heart the Inbetweeners is a living ecosystem designed to remind great talent they remain great, and they’re still at the top of their game.
Outside of the quarterly events, we keep our doors open inviting any brand side marketing director to pitstop at our offices between meetings, put names forward for speaking slots, awards judging, and media comment opportunities, host regular “ask me anything” panels for our teams, and make a lot of cups of tea.
And yes, we do recommend great people to recruiters, headhunters and HR managers. Our fee? Just one glass of wine, and only to be shared in person when the marketing director gets hired. Because we know this is how every Inbetweener story ends.
Next stop, the Inbetweeners Christmas Party.
