Creative Director

What is a Creative Director? A creative director is the glue that holds a marketing team together. You’ll be the difference between a confusing mish‑mix of thoughts and a well‑thought‑out, organised approach to a campaign. Creative directors work closely with creative designers, copywriters and other directors to decide what ideas are worth pursuing. You’ll determine whether the smoothie packaging design idea from your design director is compatible with the copywriter’s tone of voice, and whether the marketing director’s idea for a giant billboard campaign across the country makes sense with a new smoothie flavour. You’re the keeper of the keys when it comes to turning ideas into reality, and your salary reflects that worth. Responsibilities While the overall role of a creative lead is fundamentally the same across agencies and brands, actual responsibilities will vary depending on what project you’re overseeing. Here are some key responsibilities you’re likely to see in a creative director role: Building (and often line‑managing) a team of creatives within a company. Sustaining good lines of communication between different creatives. Identifying current trends within the industry and ensuring campaigns fit within them. Facilitating and leading meetings between different departments. Being responsible for keeping to a brand’s vision, philosophy and values throughout all projects. Keeping track of the budgets given for a creative project and ensuring different departments don’t overstep them. Liaising with clients or senior directors to keep them informed of how a project is going. Pitching final marketing plans to clients (if you’re an agency) or directors (if you’re working for a brand). Salary A creative director is a senior position within an organisation, so you should expect to be paid accordingly. Pay, as with many jobs, will be location‑dependent. A creative director salary in London will pay more than those in smaller cities. Salaries will also depend on the size of your company or agency. The bigger the company, the higher the salary. A marketing executive can expect to receive a salary of £25,000 to £35,000. This, or a similar junior role, would be a necessary stepping stone to achieving the higher salaries you see in creative lead roles. The average creative director salary sits at around the £40,000 to £60,000 mark. As you progress and show your abilities, you can expect to reach higher salaries of £80,000 to £100,000 and more. Qualifications As creative director jobs are senior positions, the onus here is on experience and prior performance, as opposed to qualifications. However, in order to reach a senior position like this, you’ll likely need to have been a graduate when you started. While current creative directors may have reached the top without higher education, the competitive job climate of 2022 means a degree will really make you stand out. There are two routes to a career in creative direction. Firstly, is one beginning in junior levels of marketing, which would usually require a marketing, business or humanities degree: Advertising degrees Business Management degrees Communications degrees Digital Marketing degrees English Literature degrees Fashion Marketing degrees History degrees Marketing degrees PR degrees Alternatively, many creative directors began work within a particular creative discipline, eventually building up leadership experience and taking on a director role. This could be the case with degrees such as: Creative Writing degrees Digital Design degrees Graphic Design degrees Journalism degrees Product Design degrees Training and Development Once you start on your career trajectory towards creative direction, your training and development will come through your company. The trajectory usually begins with a junior role, leading to specialising in a particular area like social media or design, leading to a team leadership or