Creative Agencies

A creative advertising agency is responsible for creating and executing advertising campaigns for its clients. A creative agency is concerned with what messages to convey to the target audience, and how to communicate the message in a creative way that gets it noticed.

In creative agencies you'll see people take briefs from clients, then recommend the best way to answer that brief through the production of ads. They develop scripts for television commercials, then make those commercials. They develop billboard executions, radio ads, digital and social media content, or build digital experiences.

The process of developing ads can involve market research, developing concepts and messages, creating visuals and copy, and production.

The key thing that distinguishes a creative agency from a media agency is that the creative agency decides how best to communicate a message and produces the 'ad' that does so. The media agency is concerned with where to best place that ad so that it is seen by the right audience. They then negotiate with media companies (such as TVNZ, Stuff, or Google and Meta) to buy the space that the ad appears in.

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Media executive

Media Executive

A Media Executive is an entry level role, that is part of the team who are making sure that any created ads are put in the places that the intended audiences will see and respond to it (be that TV, billboard, street signage, social media, digital or any other channel). They create strategies or plans around content, placement, and timing to make sure the advertisement has the most exposure possible, and within budget. Media roles can be either buying media space or planning – the buyers are negotiating and purchasing the media space and airtime on behalf of the clients, and the planners are developing the strategies/plans that determine which media channels should be used to communicate with the target audience. Most Media Executive roles start as both, before specialising as they move up.

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Fikri Razak

Media Executive at OMD

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“I think what makes this industry so special is its people, the friends you will make and how much diversity there is in the type of work you can do. You are never cornered into doing one thing..”
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Fikri from OMD
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Career progression

There are no defined time periods between levels of seniority. Talent defines how quickly you can rise to the top. When you start in your role, look for opportunities to support your team and wider business, find a mentor or group that can help you when you are feeling stuck, ask lots of questions, and then try putting your hand up for as many projects and opportunities as you can.
1. Media Assistant
2. Media Account Executive
3. Media Account Manager
4. Planning Director
5. Head of Planning
1. Media Assistant
2. Media Account Executive
3. Media Account Manager
4. Planning Director
5. Head of Planning

What might I be able to earn?

The following provides an indication of the sort of earnings that you can achieve in your career.

We’ve taken a selection of roles and provided indicative earning potential. Due to the merit-based nature of the industry, the different levels of responsibility that titles can carry – based on size of agency and nature of accounts – alongside geographical location and the different ways in which agencies interpret individual titles, these are indicative only.

To be successful you'll need...

A love of data and translating that data into human behaviour.
Strong communication both verbally and written – can you translate complex data into simple information?
Be a keen follower of where people are getting their information from.
Strong attention to detail, accurate and well organised.
A lover of finding the next new cool thing – knowing about Tik Tok before everyone knew about it and knowing it would be a great way to talk to/reach a young audience.
To have a love of systems, with Excel being your best friend.

Common Study Choices for Media Executives

Agencies are looking for people who are great at communicating, who are confident with data and numbers, while also thinking about how it appeals to people.

This can be from a tertiary pathway – an economics, psychology, business, maths, or science degree would be helpful, but what you study does not matter, it can be anything you are passionate about.

Two hands both on top of same computer mouse.

Getting a job as a Media Executive

There are a number of different ways to get a job as a Media Executive. There are graduate programmes (see The Comms Council Graduate Programme for more details).

When applying for any of these roles directly, make sure to emphasise your communication, organisation and love of relationship building in your Cover Letter and CV.

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