Contents
Contents
Details of the occupational standard
Occupation summary
This occupation is found in the Advertising and Media industry. People in the industry create messages called campaigns to inform or influence the people who receive them. Advertising and Media Agencies exist in every part of the UK and range in size from two people to thousands, however the majority are small to medium sized businesses.
The broad purpose of the occupation is helping the day to day progress of the advertising process, from receiving the brief to setting budget and timescales. Individuals would also measure how effective the advertisement has been.
In their daily work, an advertising and media executive will work with many other people for example the client, suppliers, other agencies and the broad team at their agency. It is important they can work well with others and maintain relationships. They help campaigns move forward, coping with set-backs and changes in direction. Usually, they report to an Account or Media Manager.
They usually specialise in one of two parts of the advertising process: the first is the process of producing the advertisement also known as the creative process. The second is the process of distributing the advertisement through media. Apprentices must therefore complete the core apprenticeship and one of the two options advertising or media. It is important that whatever part they specialise in they have an understanding of the other option as decisions taken in the creative part of the process have consequences for the distribution to media part, and vice versa. An employee in this occupation will be responsible for creative or media campaigns.
An Advertising and Media Executive Creative Specialist will be responsible for: working with creative producers to assist them in their decision making. They monitor the progress of the creative producers and evaluate their output, keeping the team updated for example via status reports. They are aware of how the creative work helps the client’s marketing objectives. They also keep abreast of the latest trends within the industry, for example AI, sustainability and diversity providing examples of best practice to the client and team.
An Advertising and Media Executive Media Specialist is responsible for: interacting with and getting the best out of automated platforms and programmatic buying to evaluate and bid for, in real time, thousands of optional spots for example on Facebook or TV. They understand clients’ marketing objectives and assist in planning campaigns by providing the team with up to date media metrics so that the advertisement is the best price at right time and place to reach the chosen target. They are aware of the performance and trends of different media options. They help build and maintain long term relationships with media owners and use this to help negotiate rates.
Typical job titles include:
Core occupation duties
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 1 Work as part of a team to receive briefs from the client and help coordinate responses from the agency to feedback to them |
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Duty 2 Assist the account or media manager in monitoring campaign costs and budget plans and prepares budgetary information |
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Duty 3 Arrange and attend meetings, conferences, seminars, client presentations as required, keeping and disseminating relevant notes |
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Duty 4 Support the day to day running of accounts and the management of communication plans. Monitoring progress and ensuring others involved in the process are on track, for example colleagues, third parties or other agencies |
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Duty 5 Check projects to ensure the legal, ethical and regulatory issues for advertising and media have been adhered to |
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Duty 6 Co-ordinate internal client account status meetings and maintain accurate and timely status reports |
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Duty 7 Recognise, listen to and influence people in high pressure situations. Work with the team to calm situations and keep campaigns on track, maintaining collaborative and working relationships. |
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Duty 8 Maintain information systems to collate data to ensure the project is delivering what is required and to maintain evidence and a record of this |
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Duty 9 Follow up third party suppliers, clients and team members for example for approvals, quotes and actions |
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Duty 10 Suggest trade offs between quality, cost and timescale, prioritising successfully, to help get the best possible outcome in a given set of circumstances |
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Duty 11 Ensure the correct signs offs for example for proofs, media plans are obtained at relevant stages in the project |
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Duty 12 Carry out relevant market research such as Mintel, Mediatel, Target Group Index (TGI) and digital data to help identify target audience. |
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Duty 13 Recognising the consumer journey, advise team on competitor activity, and ensure project reaches key consumer audiences. |
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Duty 14 Research the client’s business, its industry and challenges to assist senior colleagues in delivering campaigns with a full range of agency services including digital services or selling other agency services. |
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Duty 15 Follow organisational policies and procedures for example equity, diversity and inclusion and environmental sustainability. |
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Duty 16 Following organisational policies and procedures on the use of digital tools for example zoom and generative artificial intelligence. |
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Option duties
Advertising & media executive creative specialist duties
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 17 Support creative producers with decision making. |
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Duty 18 Provide briefing regarding competitive brands to assist senior colleagues in developing brand strategy |
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Duty 19 Review clients’ business goals and implement these in the agency's response to meet clients’ needs. |
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Duty 20 Build and maintain working relationships with stakeholders and use this to influence the client's decision making. |
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Advertising & media executive media specialist duties
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 21 Keep up to date with the principles of a range of social media channels and regulations, including how to buy with automated platforms. |
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Duty 22 Understand the client's business objectives and help link to the most appropriate media for the advertising |
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Duty 23 Assist in planning campaigns by providing the team with up to date media metrics |
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Duty 24 Build and maintain relationships with media owners and use this to negotiate short and long term rates to benefit the client. |
KSBs
Knowledge
K1: The role creative and media plays for clients and the links to commercial objectives
Back to Duty
K2: Project management techniques
Back to Duty
K3: The systems and digital technologies that are used in agencies for example Teams, Sage, scheduling tools and Excel
Back to Duty
K4: Methods and approaches for reporting and documentation
Back to Duty
K5: The lifecycle of an advertising campaign
Back to Duty
K6: Roles and services offered by agencies, departments within agencies and their interactions
Back to Duty
K7: The key legal, regulatory and ethical issues for advertising and media, for example sustainability, equity diversity and inclusion, advertising to children, data regulation and Artificial Intelligence
Back to Duty
K8: The commercial dynamics of advertising and media
Back to Duty
K9: Theory and history of advertising including evolving advertising trends. For example how humans make decisions, gender representation and proliferation of media opportunities
Back to Duty
K10: Principles of management and delivery of third parties for example client, supplier and regulatory body
Back to Duty
K11: The value the supply chain can provide
Back to Duty
K12: The digital landscape and how it impacts on any given campaign
Back to Duty
K13: The creative process and how people operate in that environment
Back to Duty
K14: New creative and media, trends for example influencers, virtual reality and Artificial Intelligence
Back to Duty
K15: Understand the different elements of a creative idea copy and art direction and its execution, understanding the relative importance of those different elements
Back to Duty
K16: Understand how the effectiveness of a campaign is measured against the client's business objectives
Back to Duty
K17: Fundamentals of brand building
Back to Duty
K18: Influencing and negotiating techniques
Back to Duty
K19: The media buying process
Back to Duty
K20: Media buying techniques, processes, channels, tools and trends, for example best alternative to a negotiated agreement, how to buy using automated platforms, depth of data and influencer marketing
Back to Duty
K21: Media metrics for example latest Google Adwords, latest viewing figures from Broadcasters Audience Research Board
Back to Duty
K22: Location and timing of media interaction with creative content
Back to Duty
K23: Approaches to the evaluation of media planning and buying, both short- and long-term
Back to Duty
K24: Principles and policies of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace
Back to Duty
K25: Digital tools and software including those used to communicate and interact with a range of key stakeholders
Back to Duty
K26: Policies and procedures relating to environmental impact and sustainability
Back to Duty
K27: Professional communication methods for stakeholders
Back to Duty
K28: Problem solving technique to generate ideas to solve a problem
Back to Duty
Skills
S1: Identify the ways in which creative and media can help organisations to achieve corporate objectives
Back to Duty
S2: Objectively structure problems and approaches to solving them
Back to Duty
S3: Manage projects using project management techniques in order to ensure campaigns are on track maintaining relationships
Back to Duty
S4: Use industry recognised systems and technologies that are used in agencies to plan, budget and bill
Back to Duty
S5: Produce communications for example on PowerPoint, emails, minutes and reports using industry terminology and professional language
Back to Duty
S6: Manage and prioritise workload to meet agreed timelines
Back to Duty
S7: Apply knowledge of the interface and the dynamics of the different agencies for a smooth flow of work
Back to Duty
S8: Adhere to legislative regulations that apply in the advertising and media industry
Back to Duty
S9: Upward supplier and client management related to commercial realities for example a new digital opportunity or a TV production problem
Back to Duty
S10: Use negotiating and influencing techniques for example to communicate with different audiences or authorise a late media opportunity
Back to Duty
S11: Delivery of supply chain value, on time
Back to Duty
S12: Deploy digital mediums to guarantee results for example using Google Analytics to check key words
Back to Duty
S13: Communicate with clients and stakeholders accurately and by selecting the appropriate method
Back to Duty
S14: Use creative and production techniques to help the idea appear in the correct format
Back to Duty
S15: Support the execution phase to maintain the key creative idea.
Back to Duty
S16: Support stakeholders in obtaining the data they need to complete tasks, for example demographics and metrics.
Back to Duty
S17: Report differences in ways competitor brands market themselves.
Back to Duty
S18: Coordinate responses to media owners and intermediaries for example using automated platforms
Back to Duty
S19: Access the metric data and report it to the team
Back to Duty
S20: Provide support to research how the message or creative idea might be best distributed to reach the target audience for example time of day, the right place and make recommendations based on this
Back to Duty
S21: Use digital collaboration tools to work with colleagues and key stakeholders
Back to Duty
Behaviours
B1: Shows attention to detail
Back to Duty
B2: Embraces problems as challenges to be solved
Back to Duty
B3: Engage with different stakeholders professionally demonstrating the values of the organisation
Back to Duty
B4: Exhibits curiosity about the industry, demonstrating a positive approach to learning
Back to Duty
B5: Shows resilience keeps going through difficult situations
Back to Duty
B6: Prioritises sustainable practices for example reducing paper waste, turning off unused lights, car sharing or using public transport to travel for business meetings
Back to Duty
Qualifications
English and Maths
English and maths qualifications must be completed in line with the apprenticeship funding rules.
Other mandatory qualifications
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