How to become An Advertising Executive

• Ad Exec

What do Advertising Executives do?

An Advertising Executive would typically need to:

• Arrange meetings with potential clients to understand their products/services and advertisement goals
• Plan, initiate, implement and execute Advertising strategies and media plans; handle all aspects of Advertising including marketing, research, and sales
• Advise clients regarding new marketing techniques and prospective target audience
• Determine promotional strategies and industry programs to identify critical purchasers like consumers, dealers, and distributors
• Interact and coordinate with clients and creative heads in developing an Advertising campaign
• Use online marketing campaigns to create a brand image for the clients’ products or services to increase sales and business opportunities
• Evaluate Advertising scripts, audio and videotapes and other promotional material to check if they adhere to clients' requirements
• Monitor day-to-day operations and supervise Advertising campaigns with the team that works on them
• Execute an Advertising campaign within the clients’ budget and time limits
• Conduct weekly meetings with different teams to track ongoing projects; assist the design team in developing appropriate ads for various media
• Schedule and conduct meetings of existing and prospective customers
• Handle Advertising accounts and resolve complex billing issues in league with the accounting department
• Meet sales quotas, keep track of sales records, and develop sales leads to attract potential clients and build customer relationships
• Create and maintain strategic partnerships with significant Advertising agencies
• Initiate an integrated Advertising and marketing solutions program as a complementary offer for long-term clients

Advertising Executives stay in constant touch with account executives and coordinators to ensure that an Advertising campaign meets the needs of a client. They work with content production managers, Advertising managers, and sales representatives daily. Advertising Executives may work with sales supervisors and marketing directors who implement Advertising strategies and promotional campaigns.

You spend a lot of time in the boardroom, meeting with clients, or brainstorming concepts with your co-workers. The recommended dress code includes tailored suits, dress shoes, and accessories like leather briefcases or portfolios. You should pay careful attention to your grooming and present a polished look from head to toe.

Like most project-oriented careers, you can expect unpredictable work schedules with periods of intense activity during which you have little free time. Advertising Executives often need to work past the typical 40 hour a week work schedule. A six-day week is not unusual. At other times, the workload is light and mundane.

You may work for an Advertising agency and be hired out to various companies on a contract basis, or you may work on staff for a large manufacturing company. Cities with a cosmopolitan ambience offer the best work opportunities to ad executives.

Advertising Executives are generally employed by:

• Advertising Agencies
• Large Manufacturing Companies

Professional associations and organizations are a crucial resource for Advertising Executives interested in pursuing professional development or connecting with like-minded professionals in their industry or occupation. Membership in one or more looks excellent on your Resume to bolster your credentials and qualifications.

• Less focus and diminished results because of overextension by new brands
• Ensuring that team members are happy and productive
• Growing pains of diversification; lack of an internal development team
• Failure to leverage present opportunities
• Turnover in the executive team
• Managing rapid growth
• Pushing the limits of the organizational bandwidth
• Successful pivot of company and product strategies
• Multiple and complicated lines of communication with clients
• Hold the organizational staff accountable
• Entry into new markets
• Lack of guidelines and checklists to set expectations for the design/development process

It is rare for someone to graduate college and enter an Advertising Executive position. Having sales, marketing, promotions, and public relations work experience helps individuals aspiring to land Advertising Executive jobs. You may consider seeking out internships in Advertising agencies before gaining full-time employment. Internship programs offer on-the-job training and can help you to develop your skills in the field.

Most jobs require a bachelor's or master’s degree in communications, Advertising, journalism, graphic design, English, psychology, public relations, and business administration. These programs may offer coursework in marketing research, domestic and global marketing analysis, product development, accounting, public relations, business management, sales management, promotion techniques, and persuasive strategies.

The requirements differ depending on whether you become an Advertising Executive in an Advertising firm or a large manufacturing company. If you are working for a manufacturer, you should have a degree or previous work experience related to their product line and their demographic profile.

Certification offered by professional and private organizations may increase your job prospects as an Advertising Executive.

Advancement is based mainly on achievement at all levels of the industry, not on academic achievement or course of study, nor on connections or professional associations (although the last two are growing in stature).

Entry-level positions, mostly “assistantships,” can mean answering mail, entering computer data, returning phone calls, and proofreading copy text. Responsibilities can increase, but only with persistence, luck, and the help of someone currently in a position of responsibility. The lack of complicated tasks during these first two years is a blessing; much is learned by observing, following, and listening to experienced Advertising Executives. The attrition rate is around 20 percent.

Rising young executives move into “account representative” positions, responsible for coordinating the variety of parts involved in a campaign, but no client contact. Salaries rise by around 50 percent. The number of hours becomes deadly, and many young professionals, frustrated with the small amount of creative input allowed, long hours, and limited pay, leave the profession (25 percent). The few who have the opportunity to make creative input to a campaign see the results of their input and feel the ramifications of that responsibility.

Ten years later, the average industry professional has changed jobs three times and seen about 60 percent of his or her contemporaries leave the profession. Hopefully, they have developed some specialty in an industry, demographic, or medium of expression. Many have risen to “account executive” level or higher.

Twenty percent more have entered other industries as consultants, managers, or executives. Pay can skyrocket-but it can also plummet to zero. The reason it can fall so dramatically is that peculiar to Advertising is the belief that experience, while important, runs second to “freshness.” Advertising executives over the age of 52 years are rare.

In general, an outgoing, well-spoken, well-informed person with confidence and common sense is a typical Advertising candidate.

Some employers offer on the job training for entry-level Advertising Executives. They typically start at the bottom and move up to an executive position through experience. Certification and continuing education opportunities offered by professional and private organizations may allow you to advance in your career. Accomplished Advertising Executives with experience in television, radio, magazines, newspaper, and digital media will have better chances of advancement.

As several large players in the industry move toward “computer-based brainstorming,”- a way in which creative ideas are kept in a fluid database without regard to account specificity - computer skills will become more valuable.

Advertising promotes economic progress. A Peek into the Daily Life of an Ad Exec Advertising Executives supervise the production of ad campaigns, and develop plans to increase sales for their clients' businesses. Advertising Executives are the liaison between their agency and its clients. Advertising professionals combine creativity with sound business sense to market a product based on economic, sociological, and psychological research. To ensure this complicated process works smoothly, you’ll spend a lot of time in the office.

Most of your time is spent brainstorming, creative blockbusting, and sifting through demographic research; less time is spent meeting with clients or pitching Advertising campaigns. Fluidity of daily activity marks the life of the Advertising Executive who jumps from project to project, but it can’t happen at the expense of attention to detail. It takes a very disciplined person to handle both the creative end and the detail-oriented side. Walk the Talk As the leader of an Advertising campaign, an ad executive must translate “business talk” into “creative talk” for their team members. They must understand the goals of a campaign and seek to reflect those goals creatively. Successful Advertising Executives working in teams on projects can add to other people’s ideas and help them grow. “You can’t have an ego in this business,” mentioned one executive, “but be aware that everybody...has one.” The Need of the Hour As an Advertising Executive, you may be handling several accounts at any given time. You need to know your clients’ business from the inside out to ensure you meet their expectations. Your research methods may include a tour of the client's headquarters or factory, studying sales trends, or conducting marketing research. You should have the necessary information about the different fields involved in Advertising and must be flexible enough to instruct inter-cross functional teams. Clients - Numero Uno You contact your clients daily and communicate feedback to the creative team. You also work closely with the creative department, reviewing copy and design material. This may include concepts for TV commercials, newspaper ads, and billboards. While you don't write, you may be responsible for deciding the core message of a campaign and pitching concepts to potential clients. The clients will hear pitches from many agencies, but choosing only one, so you must have excellent communication skills. These skills will also come in handy when you solicit new business by making sales calls, hosting dinners, or holding business conferences. Demanding yet gratifying Advertising can be a demanding and competitive industry, but the job is also gratifying and exciting. As an Advertising Executive, you might find yourself living the glamorous and thrilling life depicted in episodes of "Mad Men." Selling Images Advertising executives are in the business of selling images. They must present themselves to potential clients in a confident, successful manner that conveys an air of trust, prosperity, and professionalism. When you are making a sales call to an extraordinarily casual or outdoor-based business, tailor your look to best represent the company you’re pitching. It is still important to dress in a polished and professional manner. Still, it is equally essential for prospects to see you as someone who understands their business and can represent it effectively.

Advertising experts agree the “greatest commercial ever made” was the 1984 Super Bowl commercial that introduced the Macintosh computer and ran only once.

Advertising helps businesses grow and increase their customer base. The Don Drapers of the world may be a thing of the past, but Advertising Executives are still an essential part of any successful Advertising campaign. While you won't spend your lunches sipping martinis while thinking of product slogans, the creative aspect of the career still exists – even if it isn't quite so glamorous.

Creativity without strategy is called art; creativity with strategy is called Advertising. Nobody remembers the number of ads you ran; they just remember the impression you make.