Advertising Executive

ADVERTISING, A CAREER WHERE NO TWO JOBS ARE EVER THE SAME

Advertising executive roles vary enormously from company to company. In agencies, executives have to coordinate the production of various advertising campaigns for a whole host of different advertisers (their clients). Whereas within advertising networks, they simply sell advertising space. At advertisers, their in-house teams develop new ways of communicating products and brands on behalf of the company they work for. 

Sectors: media, Internet, publishing

Monthly gross salary of a junior advertising executive: €1,500 - €2,000

Synonyms: project manager, sales manager, project leader, advertising manager, salesperson, advertising space seller

The life of an advertising executive... 

Ad agencies: managing campaigns from start to finish on behalf of advertisers

Advertising executives who work at agencies act as an intermediary between clients who want to advertise their products and services and the creative and technical teams who bring their campaigns to life. Once they’ve gathered together all the customer’s needs, they get to work on the advance strategic planning, working alongside dedicated strategic planners in bigger agencies. Afterwards, they bring all the information together and prepare a brief for the client, which will be used as the springboard for all the teams. They oversee all stages of the project. Besides ensuring the quality of the material delivered to the client, advertising executives need to ensure schedules and budgets are carefully respected. Working in such close contact with clients, they need to be constantly available and anticipate any new requests. 

Depending on the size of the agency, they may report to a marketing manager, a client director or directly to the sales manager in smaller organisations. 

In-house advertising departments: coordinating campaigns just for their company 

Within dedicated departments, advertising executives essentially carry out the same role as they would in an agency, but here they have to coordinate in-house teams and service providers to bring only their own company’s advertising campaigns to fruition. The key difference? They’re advertising their own company’s products, services and image. In the world’s biggest companies, they generally have an in-house advertising department, which is often part of a wider communications department.

Advertising networks: selling valuable advertising space 

Advertising executives may also work for advertising networks, meaning independent advertising companies that sell space on a variety of different types of media, including online, television, cinema, radio, press, billboards, etc. It’s their job to convince advertisers that the media space they have on offer is the most effective way to get their message out there. 

Their chief responsibility is to find advertisers directly or reach out to them indirectly via agencies, always seeking to expand their portfolio of clients. Once they’re on board, advertising executives have to negotiate contracts to sell various spaces and oversee the eventual advertising campaigns themselves. After rolling out new campaigns, they have to review progress with their clients and develop future plans. 

Required skills 

• Excellent knowledge of the media, marketing, media production channels and communications

• Diligent and well organised

• Able to work with others and create loyalty around projects 

• Business skills

• Good negotiating skills

• Adaptable and reactive 

Typical educational background 

• Masters in marketing, advertising or communications

• Background in communications and business studies