Creative director to advertising media planner
A creative director already meets 40% of what the advertising media planner role asks for. The move turns on 7 required skills not yet in the profile.
60.5/ 100
1 How much of what an advertising media planner is expected to do is already part of a creative director’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the advertising media planner role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An advertising media planner role treats 7 of its required skills as things a creative director already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advertising techniques
- copyright legislation
- create media plan
- media planning
- meet expectations of target audience
- perform media outlets research
What stands in the way is 7 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 14 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An advertising media planner role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a creative director background worth leading with.
- already held create media plan management skills
- already held media planning arts and humanities
- already held meet expectations of target audience information skills
- already held perform media outlets research information skills
- already held approve advertising campaign communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held evaluate advertising campaign information skills
All 14 carried skills, including the 7 the advertising media planner role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 28 missing skills fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn cope with challenging demands required
- still to learn work with advertising professionals required
- still to learn cooperate with colleagues required
- optional, not held buy advertising space optional
- optional, not held conduct public presentations optional
- optional, not held develop inclusive communication material optional
- optional, not held manage contracts optional
- optional, not held persuade clients with alternatives optional
- optional, not held present arguments persuasively optional
- still to learn create media schedule required
- still to learn meet deadlines required
- still to learn market research required
- optional, not held pay-per-click optional
- optional, not held below-the-line technique optional
- optional, not held search engine optimisation optional
- optional, not held social media management optional
- optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
- still to learn digital media required
- optional, not held interactive media optional
- optional, not held analyse business model optional
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held draw conclusions from market research results optional
- optional, not held monitor media industry research figures optional
- optional, not held study sales levels of products optional
- optional, not held data visualisation software optional
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an advertising media planner role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 cope with challenging demands practise this
- 02 work with advertising professionals practise this
- 03 cooperate with colleagues practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 14 skills that carry over
- already held advertising techniques knowledge
- already held copyright legislation knowledge
- already held create media plan skill
- already held media planning knowledge
- already held meet expectations of target audience skill
- already held perform media outlets research skill
- already held types of media knowledge
- already held approve advertising campaign skill
- already held coordinate advertising campaigns skill
- already held develop media strategy skill
- already held evaluate advertising campaign skill
- already held identify customer's needs skill
- already held manage budgets skill
- already held perform project management skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held statistics optional
- optional, not held demography optional
- optional, not held creatively use digital technologies optional
21 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held pay-per-click optional
- optional, not held below-the-line technique optional
- optional, not held buy advertising space optional
- optional, not held search engine optimisation optional
- optional, not held analyse business model optional
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held conduct public presentations optional
- optional, not held creatively use digital technologies optional
- optional, not held data visualisation software optional
- optional, not held demography optional
- optional, not held develop inclusive communication material optional
- optional, not held draw conclusions from market research results optional
- optional, not held interactive media optional
- optional, not held manage contracts optional
- optional, not held monitor media industry research figures optional
- optional, not held persuade clients with alternatives optional
- optional, not held present arguments persuasively optional
- optional, not held social media management optional
- optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
- optional, not held study sales levels of products optional
25 held skills the advertising media planner role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role CAD software knowledge
- not needed by the target role adobe creative suite knowledge
- not needed by the target role analyse consumer buying trends skill
- not needed by the target role analyse cultural trends skill
- not needed by the target role apply desktop publishing techniques skill
- not needed by the target role assess each stage of the creative process skill
- not needed by the target role brainstorm ideas skill
- not needed by the target role create advertisements skill
- not needed by the target role define creative components skill
- not needed by the target role design management knowledge
- not needed by the target role desktop publishing knowledge
- not needed by the target role examine advertisement layout skill
- not needed by the target role give live presentation skill
- not needed by the target role graphic design knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage creative department skill
- not needed by the target role manage staff skill
- not needed by the target role manage the handling of promotional materials skill
- not needed by the target role manage workflow processes skill
- not needed by the target role perform market research skill
- not needed by the target role provide input to collaborators to guide their work skill
- not needed by the target role receive actors' resumes skill
- not needed by the target role recruit employees skill
- not needed by the target role select artwork developed by staff members skill
- not needed by the target role train employees skill
- not needed by the target role use CAD software skill
11 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn digital media required
- still to learn market research required
- optional, not held pay-per-click optional
- optional, not held below-the-line technique optional
- optional, not held search engine optimisation optional
- optional, not held data visualisation software optional
- optional, not held demography optional
- optional, not held interactive media optional
- optional, not held social media management optional
- optional, not held social media marketing techniques optional
- optional, not held statistics optional
Common questions about this move
Can a creative director become an advertising media planner?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A creative director already covers 40% of what an advertising media planner is expected to do: 14 skills carry over, 7 of which the advertising media planner role treats as required.
What skills does a creative director need to become an advertising media planner?
7 required skills are missing, plus 21 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is cope with challenging demands.
How hard is the move from creative director to advertising media planner?
Its learning distance is 60.5 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.