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Thursday, April 5, 2007
My AE Knows Nuts"
“My AE knows nuts. He’s no more than a coordinator with a big sounding name.”
This is another common complain heard from the client side as well as the Account Executive’s own agency – especially from his creative department. I can empathize with the client who believe that the AE should be responsible, at least partially, to help generate awareness and sales, but I can also fully relate to the poor guy who is totally bewildered and clueless of his role and responsibilities (the AE, of course).
The AE is the liaison between his marketing/advertising agency and his agency’s client. And within his own agency, he’s got to work closely with creative, art, studio, production, media and more departments to get his projects done. In some way, he is the beef patty in a hamburger, being squeezed from both sides. And he has to manage them all; making sure both sides are happy, i.e., deliver a great campaign for his client and profits to his agency.
Many small marketing/advertising agencies choose to hire someone fresh from school or with just 2-3 years’ experience in marketing or sales and leave them to fend for themselves. This is a mistake. Without proper guidance, this rookie AE will likely end up writing tons of contact reports to his clients, and parroting his client’s wish list to his agency. That would certainly irk them all. Why? Because one expects him to be his extended marketing arm, while the other requires him to bring in a sufficiently complete brief to kick start a brainstorm/creative session.
While seemingly simple, the job of the AE is a complex web of communications, street smarts, market knowledge and a mixture of skills that would make a normal “sales man” swoon in confusion!
What does it take to be a successful AE? Generally, he would have to be:
Knowledgeable – Good grasp of marketing communications, marketing and sales concepts. Without these, he can’t help to sell anything!
Business savvy – In-depth understanding of the client’s business, the marketplace and his client’s clients.
Analytical and Insightful - Analyze the client’s Agency Brief (Check this out in my article " Is Your Marketing/Advertising Agency Really That Lousy?", also published with ezinearticles.), ask intelligent questions, all these information plus own insights to write a Creative Brief for his agency. The creative brief – like the client’s agency brief – could make or break a project.
This is another common complain heard from the client side as well as the Account Executive’s own agency – especially from his creative department. I can empathize with the client who believe that the AE should be responsible, at least partially, to help generate awareness and sales, but I can also fully relate to the poor guy who is totally bewildered and clueless of his role and responsibilities (the AE, of course).
The AE is the liaison between his marketing/advertising agency and his agency’s client. And within his own agency, he’s got to work closely with creative, art, studio, production, media and more departments to get his projects done. In some way, he is the beef patty in a hamburger, being squeezed from both sides. And he has to manage them all; making sure both sides are happy, i.e., deliver a great campaign for his client and profits to his agency.
Many small marketing/advertising agencies choose to hire someone fresh from school or with just 2-3 years’ experience in marketing or sales and leave them to fend for themselves. This is a mistake. Without proper guidance, this rookie AE will likely end up writing tons of contact reports to his clients, and parroting his client’s wish list to his agency. That would certainly irk them all. Why? Because one expects him to be his extended marketing arm, while the other requires him to bring in a sufficiently complete brief to kick start a brainstorm/creative session.
While seemingly simple, the job of the AE is a complex web of communications, street smarts, market knowledge and a mixture of skills that would make a normal “sales man” swoon in confusion!
What does it take to be a successful AE? Generally, he would have to be:
Knowledgeable – Good grasp of marketing communications, marketing and sales concepts. Without these, he can’t help to sell anything!
Business savvy – In-depth understanding of the client’s business, the marketplace and his client’s clients.
Analytical and Insightful - Analyze the client’s Agency Brief (Check this out in my article " Is Your Marketing/Advertising Agency Really That Lousy?", also published with ezinearticles.), ask intelligent questions, all these information plus own insights to write a Creative Brief for his agency. The creative brief – like the client’s agency brief – could make or break a project.
# posted by gopi @ 6:12 AM 
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