Sale away

Advertising account executives put ideas into action

Story by Kelly May
Picture from J. Walter Thompson

All of you will be familiar with the work of J. Walter Thompson without even realising it. It�s on the television, it�s on billboards, it�s on the Skytrain and it�s even there when you buy an ice cream.

J. Walter Thompson is the biggest advertising agency in Thailand and it�s the company's job to grab your attention when it comes to consumer products. Orange, Nestle, Scott Tissue and Kleenex are all J. Walter Thompson clients and have had the agency create eye-catching advertising campaigns.

Wissara Kuntonthong (May) and Piyanee Kusolsongserm (Nuch) are two account executives who play a crucial role in each campaign. They�re the middle women, coordinating the needs of the client with the creative team that designs each campaign.

�We bridge the gap between the creative team and the needs of the client. Sometimes the two sides have very different ideas about how to market the product and it�s our job to act as the negotiator,� explained Nuch, who has been with the company for a year. 

One step ahead

Clients will give Nuch and May a brief detailing their product and any ideas that they may have on how they would like to advertise their product, which could be anything from shampoo to mobile phones.

The ladies then discuss with strategic planners the best plan to take to create the most effective advertising campaign.

The ladies also need to be aware of their clients� competitors so that they can remain one step ahead and create bigger, better and more effective advertising campaigns. �We act as brand police, continually monitoring the market. It�s important that we remain up to date so that we don�t create something that has already been done. J. Walter Thompson has an excellent reputation and we have to deliver beyond the client�s expectations every day,� May said.  

Qualities

Each day the ladies are communicating with the client to inform them of the progress being made. �In advertising, everything is always urgent and needed right away. The pressure to meet deadlines and deliver clients� expectations can be quite stressful sometimes. Coordinating several teams makes the work process slow and frustrating at times. You never work in isolation, you�re always working with other people and need excellent interpersonal skills to ask for things to be done as soon as possible. You can find yourself working 16 hours a day,� May commented.

Learning from mistakes

Attention to detail is mandatory for an account executive as Nuch explained. �One client�s brochure went to the printers without my final OK. The inside page was printed upside down. It was my job to inform the client and as you can imagine they were furious. It would have cost far too much to have the brochures reprinted so we made a sicker to put over the mistake. The client had to pay for my error, but I learned from my mistake and now double check everything.�

Analytical skills are also a must to allow account executives to know which advertising campaigns will be successful. A foundation in marketing is useful but not essential. Both Nuch and May graduated in communication arts. �You need to be critical about your work and think about what you did and you achieved what you set out to achieve. You need to keep an open mind and welcome new ideas from your colleagues and clients,� Nuch said.

Vocabulary

familiar (adj): knowing something very well
grab (v): seize
consumer (n): person who buys goods or uses services
eye-catching (adj): immediately noticeable because it is particularly interesting, bright or attractive
bridge the gap (idiom): reduce or get rid of the differences that exist between two things or groups of people
negotiator (n): person who is involved in formal political or financial discussions, especially because it is their job
strategic (adj): done as part of a plan that is meant to achieve a particular purpose or to gain an advantage
reputation (n): opinion that people have about what somebody/something is like, based on what has happened in the past