Last week we headed to Publicis Groupe in White City for a masterclass on all things advertising featuring our friends from ad agency powerhouse Publicis London. We touched on everything from a day in the life of an account manager, to why being a strategist is a bit like being a detective, as well as understanding why TikTok can help you become a better creative, and what it takes to thrive as a producer! 

Panel: 

🎤 Guergana Stoytcheva, account director 
🎤 Prianka Ramlugun, strategist  
🎤 Pierre Lavenir, content creative  
🎤 Bea Icke, production assistant  
🎤 Ella Darlington, head of comms at Creative Access (chair) 

Want to know what really goes on behind-the-scenes in advertising? You’re in luck. Here’s the breakdown of the four key parts of an advertising agency… 

Think of the account management team as representing the client within the agency and the agency with the client. They’re responsible for the day-to-day client contact, they help sell in the work to the client and oversee budget, timelines and delivery.  

Account director at Publicis London, Guergana, has been working in the advertising agency for three years with a background in travel and tourism (talk about career-switcher inspo!). Here’s what she had to say about working on the accounts team…  

The stakeholders when you’re in a role like this are everyone – we’re talking finance, clients, SLT, creative, strategy, and production. It is vital that you are able to build and maintain trust with both the clients and everyone at the agency.  

• Understand the client’s business challenges and personal goals (you’re their champion and they become yours) 

• The agency team need to know they can depend on you: if they have a different strategy idea to what the client wants, your team needs to know you’ll have their back.  

• You’re not just the yes person for the client! You’re there to help them see the vision. 

• Good communication skills 

• Empathy 

• The ability to read between the lines 

• Detail oriented 

• Presenting skills 

If you have zero experience in the field but want to get in, Guergana’s been there. Her advice for getting in without the industry experience is…  

“Be honest and highlight your transferable skills – the things that make the best account management people are rarely taught, everything technical can be learnt” 

Our very own Creative Access alumni Prianka started off as an account & strategy intern at Publicis London and three years later, she is now a strategist at the agency. She said she always wanted to do everything and admitted to ‘applying for every positive action scheme that Creative Access had’ when she finished uni. But realised, after finding the internship, that advertising and the creative element wasn’t just something she’d like but it was a space where she could actually use the skills she had: her research abilities from her history degree and her ability to chat to people from her Saturday job.  

Brands come to strategist with business problem; it’s the strategist’s job to find the gap in the market and think about the people to help solve this problem. 

• Immerse yourself in news; polls and surveys; you’ll use market research platforms like Mintel (which Prianka calls a strategist’s best friend); you’ll analyse other products on market; and good news for those immersed in internet culture, you’ll constantly be researching on platforms like TikTok and Reddit – “if you’re going to talk to people, speak their language”, Prianka says 

• You’ll have to research how the client can stand out in a crowded space. Some good examples are products and campaigns like Liquid Death, Heinz and CeraVe’s Michael Cera ads  

• Working closely with the creative team, you’ll distill all your research into one line to help them bring the vision to life  

Here’s how strategy comes to life:  

Garnier came to Publicis London with the launch of a new Vitamin C daily UV. Prianka and the team of strategists found out that 9/10 brits admit to never wearing spy on their face. They realised that the SPF category is constantly talking about sun and, unfortunately, Britain isn’t the sunniest of climates. So, their strategy to help Garnier stand out in the market was to make SPF an everyday habit for British people: ‘phone, keys, wallet.. SPF’. The campaign hinged upon the idea of wearing every single day versus every SUNNY day. 

• Be like a detective: find the insights  

• Be like an architect: curate a plan of what story you want to tell and what you want them to feel 

• Be like a presenter: zoom out and tell everyone the one thing you want to create based on all your research 

Strategy is all about storytelling. She told the audience: “Remember in your applications that you’re talking to strategists so present your career journey and story for them to showcase your storytelling skills!” 

The creative team are the ideas people. They use imagination to produce the work, turning a product into memorable ideas, campaigns and activations.  

Pierre was working in marketing before he started as a content creative at Publicis London. One day he saw a beautiful Gucci x North Face ad with Francis Bourgeois that stopped him in his tracks. He felt inspired and wanted to work on bigger campaigns. He joined Publicis a year later on accounts team and then made the switch into the creative team.  

• The creative teams focus a lot on the concept  

• You’ll work lots with strategists, account team and producers, as well as ‘the makers’: designer, video editors, film directors, photographers 

• It’s a really varied role! Pierre says from his own experience, “one day you might work on an idea for LFW and the next you’re doing social content for Renault and the next you’re working on OOH campaigns” 

• On that, a recent campaign for Thayer’s skincare, Publicis London honed in on a Gen Z audience who love their phones but can find them overwhelming and launched a campaign called: “Tone it down”. The campaign was a play on the fact the product is a toner and the team even got the Bimini to wear a life-size version of the bottle’s red lid at London Fashion Week.  

• The best part of the job for Pierre?  “Sometimes you come up with really crazy ideas and sometimes they really do happen!” 

• You’ve got to be a conceptual thinker! 

• A trend lover with your finger on the pulse. Pierre says, “I watch TikToks to get inspired – that’s part of my job and I get paid for it!” 

• You need to be able to build trust with your client to help sell in the more ‘crazy’ ideas and prove to them you have the knowledge it will succeed 

Pierre says your portfolio is most important thing as a creative, it shows your taste and what you’re all about so get building it! He also recommends competitions and awards such as the D&AD New Blood Awards to get some practice working on campaigns, and you might even win!  

Production assistant Bea always knew she wanted to do something creative and cites the Coca Cola Christmas adverts as her biggest source of inspiration to enter the advertising world.  

The production team brings it all together. They’re there for the whole ride that is a campaign: Before, during and after the shoot. 

Before an advertising shoot/campaign… 

You’ll be working within the agency, as well as exterrnally with casting, locations, art department and wardrobe and – vitally – making sure everything is within budget!  

During an advertising shoot/campaign… 

You’ll be there on shoot, making sure everyone is sticking to storyboard and that everyone is happy 

Post-advertising shoot/campaign…  

You’ll work with post-production, this includes sorting out titles and working with legal too to ensure that everything meets the brief and fulfils any legal requirements, as well as working on all the final touches with experts such as colourists 

• Organisation is KEY! There are so many moving parts, there’s lots of meetings with different people and emails to keep on top of 

• And on that note, it helps if you’re a people person with good communication skills and you’ll be meeting people with all sorts of different jobs and approaches 

• Good time management skills 

• Project management skills 

Bea says that in production you’re the middleman. “Sometimes it is a really tight window and managing everyone’s expectation can be difficult… You’ve got to learn how to do this.” 

Thanks so much to the wonderful panel at Publicis London for shedding light on how everything works behind-the-scenes at an advertising agency – we definitely left feeling inspired!  

If you’ve not already registered with us, do it here. You’ll be the first to know about the hottest paid internships and jobs in the creative industries, as well as FREE events and masterclasses like these! 

Last night, we entered the Publicis Poke offices in Television Centre for a masterclass on all things advertising. Publicis Poke is a 160-person strong ad agency that has worked on campaigns for the likes of Google, Renault and Morrisons.  

Our panel included: 

• Prianka Ramlugun – strategist 
• Mollie Milton – strategist 
• Emma Tacon  – account manager 
• Khalil Orrett – producer 
• Kate Bly  – business lead  

Our community were welcomed by Creative Access alumni Prianka, introducing us to Kate who gave an insight into agencies back in the day (think Mad Men, Kate said) versus agencies now (thankfully, there’s much more diversity but there’s still more to be done). Kate talked us through the different departments helping us understand what it’s like to work in strategy, creative, production, and as a business lead.  

We were then lucky to get a behind the scenes look at a case study of their client Tourism Ireland’s ‘Fill Your Heart With Ireland’ campaign. Mollie, Emma and Khalil pulled back the veil on exactly what goes into a high-profile campaign from the level of research needed to help discover the concept, how long pre-production and post-production takes and of course, its delivery (plus then even more research afterwards to see how well the project has worked!). You can see the fruits of their labour in this advert with cast members of Derry Girls here… 

Throughout the masterclass we gained a deep insight into the nitty gritty processes that help make advertising work. However, our panel also made our audience aware of the skills needed to break into the industry and propel careers forward. Here’s the top three things we learnt… 

Many of our panel spoke about their ‘unconventional routes’ into advertising. Out of all the panel, only Mollie studied marketing at university. Khalil actually studied law and worked as lawyer for a couple of years but hated it. He got into advertising via a Bartle Bogle Hegarty scheme which didn’t ask for a CV, experience or a relevant degree, and recommended keeping an eye out for this sort of internship. Khalil also advised our audience to hone your interests outside academia and work; whatever your passion is (doesn’t have to be related to advertising!) can make you stand out from the crowd.  

Kate has also had a ‘squiggly career’, working on and off in advertising for 20 years. In that time, she took 10 years out of the industry to raise her 2 autistic children and work as a wedding florist. She said: “My attitude now is totally different compared to if I’d stayed in advertising – you can use your life experiences to your advantage.” 

Meanwhile, Prianka found her start in advertising via a Creative Access internship at Publicis Poke two years ago. She said she used her history degree to her advantage:  

“The process before getting my internship was horrible as I graduated and then it was lockdown and I was stuck. I used my history degree to sell myself: creating a story, my research skills, what I do in my free time, what work I love. This industry is about selling yourself, it’s not about having a particular skill or experience” 

Prianka’s route into the industry shows the power of storytelling in advertising. Ultimately, advertising is about making the audience feel something. In her intro, Kate used the example of the Snickers’ tagline “you’re not you when you’re hungry” as a statement which really makes you think about your feelings and is emotive.  

Mollie recommended that any aspiring advertisers do their research into brands they like or products they’ve bought and to bring their learnings to a job interview or into their role: “Have a look at what brands inspire you and how you can bring that into your role. What led you to buy the thing that you bought recently? Analyse that process.” 

Kate stressed that the industry has changed, it’s not as hierarchal as it once was; “A good idea is a good idea, and it can come from anywhere or anyone”. This means, if you have an idea you believe in then back yourself. Emma says learning this skill will come in handy when receiving push back from clients.  

And finally, whilst advertising is a very fun industry, it can also be difficult if a client is unhappy with the campaign, putting your team under pressure. This is why Khalil wants to hire people who ‘when we’re in the trenches, we can rely on you.’ Kate echoes this highlighting that skills like tenacity, teamwork, and simply being a nice person are what she looks for when hiring new talent: “If you’re in an edit suite together at 6pm on a Friday and the client has threatened to pull the ad (when it’s due out on a Monday), you need someone with you can trust and get on well with”. 

When dealing with pressure, Mollie says that kindness will help you take a step back and remember it’s only advertising.  

Ultimately though, being friendly will also help you build up your network as you work your way up the career ladder. Khalil explained that: “It is a tough industry with a lot of nepotism, but those who have to try harder or network more will have actually worked out whether you really want to do the job or not”. He recommended the audience to keep finding their own network as his network helped him get back on his feet and find a new job during the pandemic.  

Emma assured the audience that there’s no need to be intimidated when meeting industry contacts exclaiming: “We’re all a friendly bunch so get out there and have a chat!”.  

A massive thank you to the team at Publicis Poke for welcoming us into their offices and arming us with the behind-the-scenes intel on how the industry works, what it takes to create a campaign, and why our audience should enter the sector! Find roles in advertising here.

Keep your eyes peeled for our next masterclass in November…  

Originally a guest-blog for the Advertising Association.

People from working-class backgrounds are under-represented in many industries, however the Advertising Association’s All In Census found that, in advertising, they were outnumbered almost two to one by those with a privileged upbringing. The creative industries, specifically advertising, need to do more to represent society as a whole, not just one subset. At Creative Access, we recognise the barriers people from under-represented communities face when entering the creative economy, but there are ways your organisation can attract, support and retain employees from all different walks of life. 

The most fundamental way to improve diversity of social background in your organisation is to pay your employees a fair and living wage. The London Living Wage is now the standard for agencies and organisations based in the capital. This may seem obvious, but too often agencies rely on unpaid or low-paid interns. Most people cannot afford to work for free, so by taking on unpaid labour, you deny a whole host of people a way of gaining access into the industry and limit access to those whose families can afford to subsidise them.

In fact, our recent research shows that financial barriers, such as re-locating, living and commuting costs, have prevented a staggering 77% of our community working in advertising and PR from even applying to jobs. Anecdotally in this research, numerous people from low-income backgrounds explained that they would be unable to live if they took on an unpaid internship and even some paid internships as the salary is so low. Many also said they struggled to find an entry-level salary in the creative industries on which they could survive living in London. 

Paying your employees a fair and living wage is not only a way of attracting a breadth of talent which might not usually be able to join your organisation, but shows potential employees that they are valued. In entry-level positions, this is key for gaining confidence and providing a helping hand into what can be an unknown world. 

Young people from working-class backgrounds cannot afford to make the jump into advertising unless they are offered job stability. Internships or contracts that last only 3 months do not offer this. Yes they provide experience but they make financial and living situations too precarious and people from lower income backgrounds cannot risk taking on a role with such little job security, especially without the promise of being offered something longer-term afterwards. 

Value your employees’ time and work. Are there long-term internships, entry-level training positions, or mentoring opportunities that you can offer them to help them progress? How can you ensure that employees from working-class backgrounds progress into more senior levels? Are you able to provide support with re-locating, living or commuting costs such as the Career Development Bursary, Creative Access offers in partnership with McLaren Racing. 

Analyse your data. Figure out which demographics are under-represented and why and develop specific initiatives or processes to tackle these in the long-term. Stop hiring by word of mouth, which excludes people who do not have networks within advertising. Instead recruit across a range of platforms. 

Ensure your recruiter roster is fit for purpose. Do your recruitment partners have a strong enough network amongst under-represented groups? Are their own teams diverse and representative? Are they incentivised just to ‘close’ a role or to think creatively and look for talent via different networks and communities? And when you do advertise a role, make sure to state the salary. Transparency with contracts and payment is key for potential employees to gain a clear picture of the role. 

There are ways that you can ensure different social backgrounds feel comfortable and confident within your organisation. At Creative Access, we offer a wide-range of employer training that can benefit all staff, from senior to junior levels. We conduct training on unconscious bias, class and inclusive leadership with expert professionals, such as clinical psychologists, lawyers and diversity experts. 

Being outnumbered in a work environment can be a very lonely experience. Employers must instil in their employees that their differences are not a point of contention, but a point of a celebration. Supporting your current staff helps retain them, showing potential employees that your organisation takes diversity seriously.  

Across the advertising industry, not enough is being done to ensure that diversity in social backgrounds, ethnicity and disability is improved. We need to break down the barriers that make any industry difficult to enter, but advertising specifically will improve with a broader range of backgrounds, experiences and ideas. Diversity fuels creativity, and how can you speak to a diverse audience without an inclusive team? 

You can find out more about Creative Access positive-action schemes, paid internships, diverse recruitment and training here. 

Four creative professionals working for The Guardian across advertising and journalism shared their career journeys with the Creative Access community in a wide-ranging Masterclass chaired by Creative Access alumna Jacqueline Otagburuagu.

Adam Foley, Director of Advertising, UK, spoke about his journey from a small town in Devon to The Guardian, via a range of roles in food, magazine publishing, music advertising, and media agencies. As one of the first in his family to go to university, he spoke about his passion for the intellectual challenges of using the sum of his experiences to gain a competitive advantage in a very challenging and fast-moving advertising landscape. He cited the ability to speak truths, and “challenge lazy thinking” as one of the key qualities that has enabled him to succeed in his career. Speaking of the importance of diversity of thought and experiences in the advertising sector, he said:

Imogen Fox, Executive Editor, UK Advertising, shared her experience of attempting to break into the fashion industry with no connections. For her, this involved working for free for two years (whilst working on the side as a cleaner). Her own perseverance and resourcefulness opened up opportunities to work on fashion shoots, and eventually took her around the world. She arrived at The Guardian on their fashion desk, but has since found that her editorial experience is valued in the commercial arm of the business, where she now works with brands and their branded content. Speaking of moving from one area of expertise to another, she said:

Joseph Harker is a long-time friend of Creative Access, as a member of our Advisory Board. He has seen journalism in the country change since the 90s, but is still adamant that more change is needed, even in relatively liberal organisations like The Guardian. When he started in journalism, he noted that “there was no interest in bringing in outside voices”. Now, as The Guardian’s deputy opinions editor, he is responsible for bringing fresh, insightful voices on emerging or established issues to readers. When asked why opinion columns are needed, he explained:

“News happens, but how we interpret the news is what’s important. [Other voices] are important parts of how we form our opinions on what we’re told is news. For our own safety, but also for our general knowledge of the world and knowing what’s going on, it’s important we give voice to people from all different backgrounds.”

Our very own Creative Access alumna Jacqueline Otagburuagu led the discussions. She has worked at Guardian Labs for the last year as a multimedia producer. She brought her own energy and experiences to the conversation, allowing a wide range of topics to be explored. She shared her own journey from her days as a Creative Access intern at BBC History, and the employment and moral challenges she has faced as she has navigated a career across several creative sectors. Speaking of what’s driven her to where she is now, she spoke of her compulsion to explore the unknown:

We are very grateful to Jacqueline, Adam, Imogen, and Joseph for sharing their experiences with us. If you are interested in a career in advertising or in journalism, don’t forget to check out our current opportunities. We also thank all those who attended and contributed to the discussion by asking questions to our panel.

You can watch the full Masterclass here.

“Being a creative has its ups and downs, but, it can be a really exciting career. It allows you to really push, pull, and stretch your imagination as far as it can go.” Rohit’s dream was to work in advertising and with a bit of help from Creative Access, that dream became a reality…

I work in advertising as a ‘creative’.

My mum will tell you I’m a graphic designer.

My dad will tell you I’m not a doctor.

And my friends will tell you I’m the devil and the reason they all have Ad Blocker.

What the hell is a “creative”?

This rather pretentious sounding title is indeed a real career. The creative’s job is to solve the client’s business problems. Whether it’s creating a TV ad to increase sales or a social campaign for brand awareness, they use imaginative thinking to help the client.

Creatives typically come in a team of two; an Art Director and a Copywriter. Art Directors are responsible for the visuals and overall look and feel of a campaign, whereas the Copywriter concentrates on the written elements like writing the scripts, headlines, etc. From brainstorming ideas to working on shoots, Art Directors and Copywriters work insanely close together. We’re almost joined to the hip, like those twins from The Shining except with nose piercings and the occasional face tattoo.

Working at Ogilvy

I work for Ogilvy London as a Junior Copywriter.

It’s not a bad place to call your office. Situated by the River Thames, the view alone is absolutely gorgeous.

I mean, it’s easily better than my current office, working from home in a house share of six tenants and one working toilet.

But make no mistake, the office can be a very dangerous place. Like Ogilvy, most ad agencies are notorious for being dog friendly so make sure you’re ready for any of these fluffy hounds trying to maul you into a 15-minute belly rub.

Here’s a picture of me next to a dangerous beast I’ve managed to overpower with my bulging muscles and fearfully intimidating energy.

How I got into advertising

Ironically advertising is one of the least advertised careers out there, so it was only once I started my psychology degree at university where I finally stumbled upon it. And by that point, I was in so much student debt it made no sense to drop out.

My journey into advertising was long. Instead of spending more money to go to Ad school, I started a well-balanced diet of poorly paid internships and sleeping on as many friends’ floors and sofas as possible, whilst slowly assembling a portfolio. It was a friend who recommended Creative Access to me and Anoushka from the Creative Access team kindly prepared me for some of the internships I was applying for.

I was desperate to become a creative in advertising because, in all honesty, it’s a very fun career where you are literally daydreaming silly or thrilling ideas and thinking of new innovative ways to get people to listen to you. Here’s an example of some work we created for Argos. We made these Spotify ads that targeted what type of music you were listening to, which fortunately won us an award and got us featured in Campaign Magazine.

Diversity in advertising

Advertising is an amazing industry filled with the most talented people you’ll ever meet. However, when it comes to diversity, particularly within creative departments, we’re very much behind. Luckily the industry has recognised this and now there are more schemes trying to open the doors to people from different backgrounds. One of these is ‘The Pipe’ from Ogilvy, which is a brilliant way to fast track your career into the ad industry.

Getting into advertising

Being a creative has its ups and downs, but, it can be a really exciting career. It allows you to really push, pull, and stretch your imagination as far as it can go.

Your qualifications really don’t matter in this job, what matters is your passion to solve problems with innovative thinking. After all, it definitely beats staring at a spreadsheet all day (ew).

You can follow Rohit on Instagram: @rohittharakan.

We caught up with former Creative Access intern Olivia Crooks to hear a bit about her journey in the world of advertising, from BBH, to Vice Media, via Google and Grey…

So I am a 24-year-old Londoner – born and bred. I studied English and American studies at the University of Leicester and for those of you that don’t know what that means – it’s English literature, American literature and American history, or in other words a bundle of reading and about a million essays.

Before uni, I’d really wanted to take a gap year because I was exhausted after my A levels. But it was the whole go straight away at £3k or leave it a year and have to pay £9k palava: I went for the £3k option. Anyway, this culminated in me throwing my hands up at the end of the second year and requiring some time out of the ‘lecture – coursework – exam’ hamster wheel. I have to say it was one of the best decisions I could’ve made as it totally shaped my career. Prior to that year out, I was fully on track to become a broadcast journalist. Well, by on track I just mean that that was my ambition.

I don’t know how to say this in any other way than I would totally recommend taking time out of uni – do whatever you fancy but it is the perfect time to do it. You’re already enrolled, you have two years of your degree under your belt but what you do need is work experience. If you have chosen to study humanities like me, I really encourage you to do this as it can be hard to get a job after graduation. I don’t see any justifiable reason why you would not put yourself in the best possible position after university unless of course, you’re worried that you won’t go back. I can assure you that it is not all fun and games in the real world! It will be remarkable just how quickly you want to go back to Wednesday night raving, not having to jump out of bed like some sort of Sim and dash to work or deal with day-to-day work politics … then again, maybe that’s just me!

Because I am a bit of a lunatic when I did get back to Leicester I decided to do an internship at Google whilst battling my dissertation – anybody who knows me understands that I can’t keep still and feel the need to constantly put myself under pressure, I think it’s how I know I am working hard enough. That was a lot of work but I met some amazing people and it allowed me to expand my network.

In fact, the mentor Creative Access matched me with at BBH has had an amazing impact on my career, even going on to help me land another job and being a constant source of advice. I remember meeting him for the first time at the assessment day – gosh it was so scary. I was 19 and there were people aged on average between 24 to 30 also trying to get onto the internship scheme. Nevertheless, I managed to get a spot and he ensured my time there was useful. One thing he did instil in me was that networking equals drinking; what he meant was that you need to find a way to connect with senior members of staff on a social level, a personable level, on a level that they can get to like you and you will feel cool talking to them in a meeting or around the office. By no means do you need to make yourself feel uncomfortable or force yourself to drink if you don’t want to.

Networking as we all know is crucial but as time has gone on I have realised that one of the issues with many ‘networking groups’ is that they are way too lateral or peer-to-peer focused. I get that we are millennials and it’s great to know each other but the truth of the matter is how much can Sophie who is also trying to get her foot in the door help you? The people you really need access to, the mentors, those who are going to progress your career or help you set up that business tend to be older or at the very least, in more senior positions in the workplace; it’s one of the reasons I set up Madland Hack.

It’s funny, there is a huge push to get people into the creative industries but I feel there is little focus on keeping them there! Madland Hack is a Facebook group that I created last year to support BAME talent throughout their time in the industry. I semi got the idea from the Creative Access alumni group. It’s great to know people across publishing and TV production but I wanted to focus on advertising and marketing, hence the pun on adland – Madland. At first, I imagined a nepotistic group where we could post all of those jobs that get sent around on internal company emails or that recruiters share on LinkedIn statuses. But after a while, I shifted focus from relentlessly posting interesting jobs to sharing articles that are relevant to our industry. Importantly, support is not only about helping each other get jobs but also support in the community sense, where people can get feedback on a portfolio, post interesting articles (and debate!) or even just talk to other people about the irritating things that happen or pose questions.

You can find Olivia on LinkedIn here.