Advertising agencies are great places to work. The jobs are creative in nature, the people are interesting, and the challenge of meeting the needs of the ever-evolving world of advertising keeps you on your toes.  People who work in advertising are often asked how to get into the business. The answer is fairly simple: develop an understanding of the job, make connections within the industry, and demonstrate to those connections that you’re the person to hire.  An advertising agency is made up of seven distinct departments: Account, Strategy, Media, Creative, Interactive, Production and Administrative.

Here’s a basic picture of what each does:  Account Department – Account Managers are the client’s day-to-day liaison. They work with the agency’s clients to write briefs that detail the advertising that’s needed, work with the creative department to develop campaigns, and work with the other departments to get the campaign produced, shipped and paid for.  Account Managers are people-oriented and enjoy splitting their time between the client and the agency. They enjoy solving business challenges and building relationships. The best Account Managers have a thorough understanding of business and advertising.

Strategy Department – Strategists, or Account Planners as they are also known, research the facts needed for creating advertising, and strategize the best messages and methods to use to reach their target audience.  Strategists are generally people who enjoy research and understand how to turn data into an actionable plan for advertising. Strategists spend the majority of their time working alone and with other agency personnel.

Media Department – The media department plans, coordinates and purchases media space to run advertising that the agency has created.  Media Planners and Buyers have a deep knowledge of magazines, newspapers, TV shows, cable channels and Internet sites, and understand the audience for each of these mediums. Media Planners spend less time with clients and more time with agency personnel.

Creative Department – Creatives include Copywriters, Art Directors and Production Artists. They are the people responsible for writing and designing advertising campaigns.  The best Creatives can continually think of fresh approaches to advertise a product or service and are equally adept at selling their ideas to clients. Creatives spend less time with clients, but the time they do spend with them is crucial to the agency’s sales process.

Administrative Department – Handles all of the internal business of an advertising agency, like finances and human resources.  Administrative jobs within an advertising agency are similar in scope to the same jobs in other industries, but have the added challenge of needing to understand and service clients and the distinctly different groups of agency personnel.

Hopefully my life in an advertising agency has been helpful!

Life in an Advertising Agency

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1. Careers in Advertising
2. Life in an Advertising Agency
3. Life as an Account Executive
4. Life as an Account Executive (Advertising)
5. Advertising Manager