Most advertising sales agents work in the information sector at media firms including television and radio broadcasters, cable broadcasters, or print and Internet publishers. They typically sell space in magazines and newspapers or on television (or billboards or anywhere else there is paid advertising, such as Yellow Pages). Your customers are usually media departments at companies and advertising agencies. There are also media-buying companies. Sales (which means listening) skills are obviously paramount as are communication, friendliness, and service. You would also need to know various forms of office software, and be fairly proficient at math. Read More...

Companies employ advertising managers to promote their products and/or services.  Sometimes called a marketing communications manager, an advertising manager act as the liaison between the company and the advertising or public relations firm. This position may approve strategies and creative, and may also be in charge of an in-house advertising division. AMs are good at communication, and handle stress well. It is a very visible position, with good chance for advancement. Read More...

The account director is generally the next step up from account executive, with correspondingly increasing responsibilities and duties. The account director (AD) deals with senior levels at the client more than the AE does. The AD is responsible for more accounts and/or bigger accounts, and is supervising any number of account executives. In addition to working with present clients, the AD works on getting new clients. The AD is sometimes known as a Senior Account Executive or an Account Manager. In charge of the Marketing Plan, the AD generally oversees a great deal of brands and their marketing strategies. If the AE is the quarterback, the AD is the offensive coach.
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The traffic coordinator, though it may not sound like it, is usually a managerial job, with immense responsibility for getting all of the agency’s work out to the proper media on time.

The traffic coordinator, like the advertising coordinator, must use communication skills, organizational skills, and a certain amount of polite bullying to carry out the job effectively. The traffic coordinator (TC) works with the client and all areas of the agency to ensure that at each phase of the work, the deadlines are met. Read More...

The advertising coordinator is a position both in the publishing industry and in the advertising industry. Both positions demand a great deal of organizational ability, communication ability, and responsiveness to others.

The advertising coordinator in a newspaper or magazine must work with the agency or the business to ensure that the ad is correct and is in on time and goes in the right place in the publication. Because of the deadline nature of a newspaper, this is frequently impossible, and the coordinator must deal with the advertiser’s complaints. Read More...

The Advertising account executive is the primary contact with the client and the person responsible for good relationships with the client on behalf of the agency. The account executive (AE) spends as much of his time in the client’s office as in the agency’s offices. The AE meets with various departments of the client, but chiefly with the Marketing Department. The AE meets and must be comfortable with all levels from CEO to receptionists. Read More...

The print production manager is the print equivalent of the commercial producer.

This position entails both business aspects of choosing the right vendors – printers, artists, graphic designers, photographers, and other print production people – as well as understanding the finer aspects of printing.

The print production manager (PPM) works with the art director and the creative director to understand exactly what they need in the proper completion of print ads, collateral, or anything that needs to be printed. The PPM then works with the vendors to negotiate the best price, and often to negotiate a faster schedule than the vendor would want. The PPM handles many such tasks in various stages of completion and must stay on top of them all because each stage depends on the timely completion of the previous stage.
Average Salary: $77,000
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The executive producer is head of the production dept. of an advertising agency, and is ultimately responsible for all of the broadcast commercials – radio, television, and Internet – being produced on time and within budget.

The executive producer (EP) is a producer who has shown the management ability and production ability to handle the many responsibilities of overseeing other producers and assistant producers and ensuring their budgets are correct, and their schedules are accurate.

The EP also works with the creative department to choose production companies who are able to complete the productions on time. Though the creative department is concerned primarily with the aesthetic ability of certain directors, the EP must be concerned with their business track record.
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The advertising producer is responsible for the completion of television and radio (and sometimes Internet) commercial productions. The producer must bring the “spots” in on budget and on time. This is not easy, as a multitude of factors well beyond the control of the producer can delay production.

The producer handles the budgets and negotiates with the production companies, who shoot or record the commercials, to get the best price. The producers must work with the client and creative department, too, to sometimes change commercials that are too expensive for the client’s budget. The producer communicates the agency’s client’s points of view to the production company on the set. The producer also supervises all aspects of post-production: editing, recording music and voices: mixing all of the elements of film and sound, “color correcting,” and other fine-tuning of the commercials. Read More...

If one desires to get into the film production or the commercial production business (or sometimes television production), the Production Assistant (PA) is a good entry position.

As the title implies PA’s do any and all jobs to help the production along. So, a great attitude is essential, as PA’s may often suffer the misdirected verbal abuse of directors and producers who are under a great deal of pressure. Filming is extremely expensive, so every minute is valuable. So, the PA’s must cheerfully be go-fers, chauffeurs, etc. In all those odd jobs, though, the PA’s can pick up a lot, and gather a great practical understanding of the production business. Read More...

Survey researchers may start out as people who stand in malls asking a few questions of passersby, or who call consumers to conduct phone surveys. But survey researchers actually do much more. In a sense, they are the first stage in what will eventually become advertising.

Survey researchers may work for governments, both federal and local. Many survey researchers work to develop the United States Census, supervise the gathering of information, and help the Analysts in collating and making sense of the data. They may also work for large companies who constantly need to conduct their own customer-satisfaction surveys. These survey researchers would also develop questions to ask the customers, and work to make the results easy to understand. Read More...

The media director is head of the media department. In a large agency, there may be three or four Media directors, each one over the media acquisition on behalf of a major client.

The media director meets with the client and account director and other heads of agency departments regularly to work out the client’s marketing strategy and how various media – from TV, radio and magazines, to Internet, billboards, and post cards – could help the client get its message across to the people most likely to buy the client’s products or services. Read More...

The Media planner works in the media department of large advertising agencies, or, increasingly, in large companies that do buying of media solely, and don’t do other aspects of an advertising agency.

The Media Planner in an advertising agency works with a media buyer and a media supervisor, as well as members of the account team, to first decide which media – Internet, newspapers, direct (mail), television, radio, magazines, billboards, or skywriting – are the best ways to get the client’s message to the right consumers, those most likely to buy the client’s products or services. Read More...

The Media Buyer works in the media department of large advertising agencies, or, increasingly, in large companies that do buying of media solely, and don’t do other aspects of an advertising agency.

The media buyer in an advertising agency works with a media planner and a media supervisor, as well as members of the account team, to first decide which media – Internet, newspapers, direct (mail), television, radio, magazines, billboards, or skywriting – are the best ways to get the client’s message to the right consumers, those most likely to buy the client’s products or services. Read More...

A creative director is the manager of the advertising agency’s creative department. If an agency is large enough, creative directors may just be in charge of groups (of art directors and copywriters) within the creative department. Depending on the size of the agency, a CD may be in charge of four to forty or more creatives.

As supervisors of other creatives, creative directors have to be well-versed in both art and writing, and in all aspects of advertising. They also have to understand the client’s products and services very well, and be well acquainted with the competition’s products and services, too. Creative directors will help teams who they think are making mistakes in the way they approach the advertising assignments, re-directing their efforts. Read More...