Task 5 | unit 20 and 24

Task 5: Job Roles

Learning Outcome 2 (U24): Understand the behaviours, skills and attributes necessary within the advertising industry.

1. Explain the behaviours and attributes required for a specific job role: P4 (U24)

Head of Advertising/Marketing

The head of advertising for a company’s primary goal is to oversee the whole advertising operation team at the time. They are also in charge of production and development of the advertisements and the distribution. The head of advertising will be already experienced in advertising and will have to be comfortable with running a project from end to finish and be able to manage a team. The head of advertising also identifies new markets for and designs and delivers programs specialised to the customer need, leading to the company becoming more differentiated in their current market and expanding there reach of there advertisement’s.

The goals of the advertising manager is for the ad to reach the desire audience and have a positive effect leading to more sales within the company.

Behaviors and attributes

Being an exemplary role model and leader – they must be excellent at leading. In the sense that they must be fair but strict and be nice enough that the team they manage likes them but be strict enough that the team respects there commands when work needs to be done.

Documenting success and progress is very important as it means the directors and the rest of the team can follow the progress which is important for people and colleagues communicating there progress to one another.

Showing professionalism at all times is vital to the project as the head is the superior and they set the example and his employees follow his footsteps. Being immature and childish in the workplace allows for this behavior to spread across the office environment.

Creative and artistic – as they are leading an advertising campaign they must understand the audience they are sharing the ad with and be able to create graphics and art in relation the audience. The creative aspects are to do with the heads ability to create material that will manipulate the consumers into paying attention and purchasing the project.

Customer- centrist – although focusing on your team is vital, the main focus is on the customer and how they will react to the ad. ‘Customer is king’ as they are the people buying your product.

Relationship building –

Head of advertising must create relationships with the other sectors within the business as they manage an amalgamation of different skills and workers so burning bridges is not an option and constantly networking is vital.

Willing to take chances/risks –

Heads of advertising can pre-preemptively check if there material will work by utilising primary methods of research such as focus groups or interviews or secondary sources such as academic journals or pre-existing advertisement’s, however, this research won’t always lead to the outcome wanted or give viable information as sometimes a risk needs to be taken to gain the wanted outcome.

Always be on top of work and pushing team to meet deadlines and work to the best of their ability and integrally.

Motivation and excellent communication skills – attributes

One of the main goals of the head of advertising is to communicate effective advice so the team know there tasks explicitly. Communication is therefore very important as it means the head of advertising is in constant communication with the other heads of different departments and must be the mouthpiece for the advertisement department. They are also a representative for the company meaning impression they set will carry throughout the whole company.

Prioritizing and multi-tasking is vital as the head of advertising has to manage many things at once. It is essential that they are confident in their ability to prioritize the most important tasks and then delegate tasks to employees in regards to advertising material.

They must have a professional understanding of business process and the distribution of material and also the legal and ethical issues of the distribution of advertisement material. This is also important as the advice they give out needs to be linked to facts and experience. They are far more trustworthy if they have experience.

Companies also look for –

Intelligent and witty
Humorous and exciting
Individualism and a leadership skills
Able to work under pressure
Digital intelligence

Explain how personal behaviors and attributes affect career development opportunities within the media industry: M2 (U24)

Chosen Career to talk about: head of advertising

The head of advertising is in charge of the production and distribution of advertising material used by a company. They also have to keep good relationships with their client as they are running marketing material and coercing with other departments to create good advertisement material.

When becoming the head of advertising it is important to have some personal attributes that will help them develop their career in the media industry. This leads to them being able to do bigger and better things. Employers will be looking for skills such as team leader management and effective communication skills, this is because they must be precise and clear with their team as to what they want the outcome of the project to be.

For example, when working with a new client the head of advertising needs to prove to the client that they are competent and can provide a good service for the client and get as much exposure for the product or service as possible.

. The client is putting their trust into the company for them to lead there advertising campaign to the next level and provide great exposure for the brand, knowing this the client has to be trustworthy and prove to their clients that they will provide the best service possible. Proving this is a good chance for them to prove to their employer that they are competent and the best person for the job. This then allows them to be promoted in their job position which leads to them being payed more.

As head of advertising you are also conversing with many different parts of the business such as marketing, copyright, HR and more. You are in turn a face for the business and have the companies’ reputation in your hand. Doping your job well and providing the client with a product they like will lead to better relationships within the organisation and also outside creating more opportunities for you as head of advertising.

When working as head of advertising your attitude and behaviour can have both positive and negative effects on your position and future in advertising. For example, if you are driven, dedicated and outwork your peers you will be seen as a valuable asset to the business making you more likely to progress in your career.

Your personal emotions can affect the rate in which you do work and complete tasks which can be noticed in the work place and by the client if there product isn’t being finished or the quality of it has dropped off.

Negative behaviours however such as gossiping about peers at work will be picked up by colleagues and can lead to confrontation and the destruction of relationships built between departments. It is better to keep your views to yourself in a professional environments.

Another behaviour that is important is confidence to make and stick to decisions you have made as if you second guess and are easily swayed by other voices and opinions then you will not last long in your position as you will cave into pressure. If you have a clear view of what you want to create for the client and are sure it is the right way to go, changing your mind and going back on things wastes valuable time.

This is applicable to most roles in the media industry as there is always an option to progress to a higher position and many of the requirements and traits that are required for head of advertising role are required in many other places and roles across many industries.

For this role it asks for previous experience and extensive knowledge in the field already. This job would require a lot of experience in marketing and you would be in charge of a larger group of people. This is a promotion from the head of advertising as you will be paid more and your responsibilities will increase like managing more people.

With this job you will be paid competitive salary but will also have a lot to do. As it’s a start up there is a lot of work to be done and there is no promise of job security, you are helping the company get off the ground basically. You must have extensive marketing experience and be a confident leader within the field. it is a promotion from head of advertising as you will take on more responsibilities and you will be more senior therefore making you be in charge of more people and have more responsibility in a business.

Explain the importance of the etiquette when working on a media production: D2 (U24)

The workplace is a professional environment and with a professional environment comes procedure and etiquette that everyone must follow for it to be a safe, effective and efficient working environment. The importance of practicing professionalism in a workplace environment is down to the effect it has on your peers and the task in hand. If you were to act how you do outside your work in your work, then you would feel less compelled to work towards your target set by management. Having this work life balance is vital to become a great employee of an organisation as it shows you have discipline and are able to recognise when it is time to relax and when it is time work hard. Another negative affect to not practicing professional behaviour is that it reflects on the company negatively, especially if you are showcasing your lack of professionalism to a client who is paying you to do something for them. The more people that start to undermine the company’s integrity and ability to complete tasks well, the less products and services they will sell affecting the company tremendously.

Not every employee in a company possess the same skillset as if that was the case there would be extreme competition and it would be difficult to find a job. Depending on your specific skill set as a person that is where you tend to be assigned too in an organisations roster. For example, in a hospitality business such as a hotel, a staff member with good communication skills and good professionalism would be assigned a job lie a desk clerk where they would interact with the customers coming in and out of the establishment. The importance of this role could not be placed upon someone who doesn’t possess these skills. In this scenario the desk clerk is the face of the business and controls how first time visitors perceive the company. In advertising job role terms, this type of person with this skill set would be given a job such as account executive as these same skills are applicable and in this job, they are interacting with clients. Therefore, it is vital for them to keep a solid relationship between the client and company for business relations in the future.

The employees and occupants of the advertising industry are not the only ones who need to maintain a professional standard of communication and etiquette internally and externally. The advertising standards agency (ASA) is the united kingdom’s regulator of advertisements. The ASA set the standard and applicable rules that adverts in the UK must follow to be allowed to advertise. The ASA states that it is illegal to mislead customers by saying you will provide them with one thing shown in an advertisement and then they get another thing which was not stated or shown in the advertisement. If it is found that an advertisement breaches these regulations, then it will be taken down and could damage the company’s reputation immensely. The company will lose its customers trust and could get into legal trouble with misled customers who were not happy with the product and though they were getting something else.

The head of marketing is a vital role In the arts and entertainment industry. They must guide a team of artists and graphic designers and other professionals to a clients desired product. This includes the organisation of resources and allocation of company assets to different teams, and it also requires good patience and communication skills as they must stay in contact with other branches of the company such as HR and accounting. The head of marketing must practice good etiquette as they are in charge of a lot of a big team of people that loo up to them and if they practice bad etiquette, they will too be leading to client requirements not being met and the value of the company decreasing. Another reason for practicing good etiquette is that because the head of marketing is the brain behind coming up with designs and how to execute the designs effectively they must uphold a level of etiquette that the client will be content with. The head of advertising will also be the person communicating with the client when discussing the intricacies behind the product they want the company to create they must show good etiquette as they are the face of the company when speaking to the client. Head of marketing is vital to an agency and must possess these skills to continue good relations with clients.

Employees in lower down positions are vital the growth and prosperity to any company but must have a level of etiquette as they have a big effect on the way the company is viewed. An example of this is a Personal assistant (PA), they may not be taking part in the high profile meetings with other CEOs of companies but they still manage and escort high profile clients through to the high ranking official in the business, so the impression they make is important as they set a standard for the whole company.

The importance of etiquette in business and professional environments is vital to success and building and maintaining good relations within business.

Some tips for etiquette and courtesy:

If you are arranging a meeting with a client at a specific time or certain day, it is courtesy to attend and to be on time. Rearranging shows dishonesty and makes you seem untrustworthy. Sometimes things do happen that mean you can’t attend, the best thing to do is rearrange as soon as possible. If you do attend the meeting make sure to greet the client with a warm smile, a tall posture and a stiff handshake. Once finished walk the person to the door, thank them and shake their hand again, these are basic courteous actions and will take you far not only in professional situations but also any others where you are meeting new people.

It is also beneficial to research your client and their company before meeting them so you have a basic background on them. If your client is from a different country, then sometimes things you may think are polite or non-offensive could be perceived as offensive : for example – it is considered impolite to laugh with your mouth wide open in japan and you should cover your mouth and chuckle.

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