Farewell Advertising Manager

Has the rationale for the role of “advertising managers” run its course? Is it time that we put this quaint, old school notion out to pasture and get with with the new program? We think so.

Many of the clients we are working with today have moved, or are moving, away from this outdated mentality. The old advertising (or communications) manager role was to get ads made, secure paid media to expose them, and then hope for successful interruptions.

Together we’ve been busy reorganizing internal job descriptions and responsibilities to pivot to more publishing and community centric efforts. Their old advertising manager role is fading away and being replaced by Brand Editors and/or Community Managers.

Brand Editors are tasked with cultivating, curating and creating branded content that can be distributed through any number of channels….websites, blogs, social platforms, events, fleets, apps, collateral and in some cases, even the occasional ad. It’s about publishing a steady stream of stories and experiences versus executing on media and ad schedules. All of which offer opportunities for more engagement, interactive storytelling and ongoing measurement. Great brands have many stories to share….and this model ensures that those stories see the light of day.

Community Managers (or better, Community Ambassadors) are focused on the related task of fostering dialogue and relationships with their customer/prospect communities. By leveraging publishing platforms, live engagement and social media they spark, sustain and grow ongoing conversations that bring people together.

The good news is that most of the time internal team members are able to transition into these new roles. It just requires a different way of looking at the tasks at hand and different job descriptions and review criteria. Once that shift has been embraced, the tools and platforms are relatively easy to set up and drive.

Farewell Advertising Manager. It was a good run.