Advertising and media executive - Advertising & media executive creative specialist

This occupation is found in the Advertising and Media industry which is worth over £20bn to the UK economy. People in the industry create messages (campaigns) which are intended to inform or influence the people who receive them. Agencies exist in every part of the UK and range in size from two people to thousands, however the majority are Small to Medium sized businesses, where they always work as part of a team of internal and external people.

The broad purpose of the occupation is helping the day to day progress of the whole advertising process, from receiving the brief from the marketing team, including objectives, budget and timescales, through to the measurement of how effective the advertisement has been. They also understand how the component parts are successfully orchestrated, with effective trade-offs being made as the process continues and evolves. In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with many other people, processes and systems. (For example the client, 3rd party suppliers, the broad team at the agency.) They help campaigns move forward, coping with inevitable set-backs and changes in direction (some at the last minute), whilst showing collaboration and maintaining relationships with all. Usually they report to an Account or Media Manager.

They usually specialise in one of two parts of the advertising process: the first is the process of producing the advertisement (creative); the second is the process of distributing the advertisement (media). Apprentices must therefore complete the core apprenticeship and one of these options. It is important that whatever part they specialise in they have an understanding of the ‘other’ part – decisions taken in the creative part of the process have substantive consequences for the distribution to media part, and vice versa. An employee in this occupation will be responsible for creative or media campaigns.

An Advertising and Media Executive Creative Specialist will be responsible for: working with creative producers (television/film producers, radio producers, designers, copywriters, art buyers) to assist them in their decision making. This might include providing a briefing regarding competitive brands to assist their decisions. They monitor the progress of the creative producers and evaluate their output, keeping team updated e.g. via status reports. They are aware of how the creative work helps the client’s marketing objectives. They also keep abreast of the latest trends within the industry, providing examples of best practice to the creatives.

An Advertising and Media Executive Media Specialist is responsible for: interacting with and getting the best out of automated platforms, using their awareness of what programmatic/automatic buying can do (e.g. evaluate and bid for, in real time, thousands of optional spots e.g. Facebook, TV) and what it cannot do (be certain that spot is the right environment for the message). They understand clients’ marketing objectives and help link to the media where they might place their advertising. They will assist in planning campaigns by providing the team with up to date media metrics. They are aware of the performance and trends of different media options and take this into account when discussing with the team. They help build and maintain relationships with media owners and use this to help negotiate rates strategically and tactically, conscious of long-term relationships.