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Media planner : Salary and conditions

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Case studies

  • Range of typical starting salaries: £15,000 - £24,000 for junior, assistant and basic media planner/buyer positions.
  • Range of typical salaries with three to five years' experience and for managerial/team leader positions: £25,000 - £40,000.
  • Range of typical salaries at senior level vary enormously, but may be in excess of £50,000. Those in extremely senior positions may earn in excess of £80,000.
  • Starting salaries can vary and can be lower than comparable graduate jobs. However, progress can be fast, and there is potential for very high earnings based on results achieved within the job. Some areas command higher salaries, e.g. digital and TV. Moving around agencies on a frequent basis can increase salaries. Smaller agencies and those outside London will pay less.
  • Media planners usually work around 40 hours a week but this is not a nine to five job and employers require staff to have a flexible approach to their working hours. The role demands regular extra hours, for example to make new business pitches, often at evening presentations. Extra hours can also occur from client-led deadlines.
  • Some media agencies have started contracting out work or providing flexible work patterns. There is more scope for self-employed consultancy and freelance employment than previously, but these opportunities tend to be short-term contracts and require candidates to have a high level of agency experience. Self-employed consultancy and freelance work is, therefore, still not the norm.
  • Jobs are available in restricted locations. The majority of agencies are based in London with the remainder in major cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester. However, opportunities in other areas, such as large towns and smaller cities, are starting to increase.
  • Large media independents are increasingly international in scope. Many are part of a larger media and communications group whose parent company may be based in another European country or in the USA. Large agencies may represent not only regional and local clients, but also national and international clients. Some international transfer is therefore possible.
  • There are roughly equal numbers of men and women in this profession.
  • The atmosphere and dress code in agencies is usually informal, although a professional and business-like appearance is required for meetings with clients.
  • There is a high level of contact with clients. Contact with media owners (who provide the platform for communicating the brand, via newspapers and TV, etc.) is substantial and includes a degree of socialising.
  • This is a pressured, fast-moving and hard-working profession.
  • Media planners are office based but travel within a working day, occasional absence from home overnight and overseas work or travel are sometimes required, depending on the international standing of the company.
 
AGCAS
Written by Charlotte Haynes, University of Bournemouth
Date: 
January 2010
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