For the person asking all the questions, Heather was nice enough to answer some of mine. Here’s your opportunity to get to know the person behind the planner survey. Thank you Heather!
Q: Tell me about your annual survey for account planners. What motivated you to start this survey? And what have you learned during the past two years of the survey?
A: I started the survey because it was time for my annual review and I had no idea if I was being compensated fairly. There are so many articles about women being paid 72 cents on the dollar compared to men and that women tend to take the raises and salary offers for new jobs that they are given rather
than negotiating for more. But there isn't a good source of information on planners - TalentZoo and AdAge don't go into the detail that I wanted. I also wanted to know how consistent title levels (junior vs planner vs senior etc) were with years of experience. I was pleased to find that women seem to be making the same as men, though a larger sample will confirm this as time goes on. I was most surprised to find that geography doesn't seem to have a big impact on salary - i.e. It's at least twice as expensive to live in NY as smaller markets, but New York planners are not making twice as much smaller market planners. They are all basically making the same, so in essence you as an employee "pay" a premium to work in NY.
Q: How did you become interested in advertising?
A: I was finishing up my undergrad at 20 and wasn't ready for the "real world." I had taken an intro to advertising class and enjoyed it so as I was about to start a double major, my roommate's dad convinced me that I'd be better off going to grad school. I thought at first that I wanted to be a copywriter having majored in English, but a few internships and a creative critique where a CD told me I sound like a planner convinced me maybe I should go that route.
Q: How do you describe your job to people who are unfamiliar with the advertising industry?
A: I say that I don't actually write or draw the ads but I help understand people so we know what to say that will be persuasive. I make a lot of powerpoint, I moderate focus groups, I get to go to Aspen for the X Games. They usually are envious of some of the places I've gone and the fact that there is a lot of novelty and fun in advertising that's absent from typical corporate America.
Q: Tell me about the story behind how you got your job at The Martin Agency?
A: I met Earl Cox, head of planning here, at a planning conference several years before. I was always impressed with the work coming from the agency and Earl's fun, spirited personality. When it was time to leave Boston and a recruiter told me they were looking, I wanted to talk to them. A few phone
interviews and a trip to Richmond later I was made an offer and I decided Richmond was where I wanted to go.
Q: What is your role as a planner at The Martin Agency?
A: My role depends on the account. I work on Discover Card, GEICO and X Games. Discover and GEICO are much bigger accounts, so I work with other planners collaboratively. With X Games, I'm the only planner. What I love about planning is that your job is constantly changing. So most recently, I've been working on a segmentation study for GEICO to help us get smarter about who we are targeting with each story line and what story line will be next. With Discover, we've been having a beast of a time getting to work
that meets all the criteria the client thinks they need to meet. So we recently convinced them to let us work without worrying about all the filters and seem to be at a great place so we can start making new work that will replace the "scissors" which were intended to be a teaser, not a long-term campaign. On X, we are shooting our first work for X Games Gear for kids this week and building a brand book that they can use to rally all of their constituents and let them know we are building X beyond just two games per year. Plus I work on new business when the need arises.
Q: What qualities do you feel a successful planner should have?
A: I think there are many skills and personalities that can make a good planner, but most share a sharp mind, a natural interest in all kinds of topics, good presentation skills, and an ability to work well with others.
Q: What is the best book about advertising you have ever read?
A: Perhaps this is lame, but Advertising by O'Guinn was the textbook we used in intro to advertising at UT. I took the class and then was a TA for two semesters so I got to know it pretty well and I think you have the most to learn when you first get in the business so the breadth and depth were really helpful for me at the time.
Q: What advice would you give to someone seeking a job as an account planner?
A: I'm assuming you mean first job. You can never give up and take a temporary job or an account exec job and hope to transfer to planning. I think that master's programs like UT and the Ad Center give you an advantage to get into the first job. I think that the books that the Ad Center has planners put together is really smart.
Q: What are some of those things you know now, that you wished you knew before you graduated from UT?
A: Hmmm. That getting married at 22 is probably not a smart idea? Ok, career related... I got lucky and was able to work briefly in Houston and then escape to Boston, but staying in Houston would have been really bad for my career. I think it's important to get the highest caliber experience early on that you can because it sets you up for success later on, so perhaps I should have just jumped right in and gone to a bigger market right after school and who knows where I would be now.
Q: What was the best advice anyone has ever given you?
A: Don't say uh-huh when you're interviewing someone - it ruins the quotes on the tape. Just nod your head so the person knows you're tracking.
You did a great job Sam.
Posted by: David Wen | March 21, 2007 at 05:13 PM