ROLE:  Account Director

REPORTING:  Managing Partner

DISCIPLINE:  OgilvyOne

DEPARTMENT:  Account Management

AGENCY:  Ogilvy Africa, Ghana

LOCATION:  Accra

SCOPE:  In- Market

 

OGILVY AFRICA – COMPANY OVERVIEW

 

Ogilvy Africa is the largest network agency on the continent catering to more than 40 countries with a team of 900 people across Central, East and West Africa. Our regional office is based in Nairobi – Kenya, where we house a portfolio of over 100 brands for clients such as AB InBev, Airtel, Bajaj, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Equity Bank, European Union, KFC, Mastercard, NCBA, Nestle, Philips, PWC, Total Energies, UNICEF, Unilever and WWF amongst others.

Our distinctive positioning and proposition are key for times, when clients desire a partner to help them realize their growth ambitions or to get back to growth. No one knows Africa like we do, with a footprint to deliver in countries that matter to our clients.

This proposition is anchored on true shared value, what our world needs now, creating human (societal) value, employee value and commercial value. This proposition cuts across our key mega-businesses ABC (Advertising, Branding and Content), Experience (including CRM and e-commerce), PR & Influence and Media (focussed on performance marketing).

In addition, we’ve created proprietary marketing products in areas such as real-time marketing, social intelligence, performance marketing, e-commerce enablement and content hubs. Our unique operating model, One Ogilvy, allows clients and brands to cut the complexity of agency structures and create seamless omni-channel experiences for their consumers, across touchpoints. Fuelled by the holy trinity of content, data, and technology; Ogilvy Africa strives to be the best-practice agency model, for Developing & Emerging markets.

In our 20+ years in Africa, we have won the highest number of regional and global awards for the region including Cannes Lions, Clio awards, Dubai Lynx Festival, SABRE Awards (Global and Africa), Loeries and WARC, to name a few.

Ogilvy is a leading global network of WPP. Launched by David Ogilvy over 75 years ago, it is referred-to as the Agency of Giants, by several industry experts. 2023 WARC rankings named Ogilvy, the #1 creative network in the world.

 

JOB PURPOSE – SUMMARY

An Account Director provides leadership on their accounts, inspiring the highest standards in all team members whilst directing the agency’s longer-term relationship with the Client. As an Account Director you are responsible for developing strong and enduring client relationships by acting as a partner in developing marketing strategy, adding value to the Client’s business

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES

Knowledge Areas:

• Must be able to articulate knowledge and demonstrate through understanding of digital ecosystem, performance ecosystem and digital adaptive marketing.

•  Digital and technology understanding, and experience is essential, to scope out a project providing the client with initial estimates before speaking to the internal Digital project team. Scope out the actual need from the client; map out the functions required, provide an estimate of hours and ultimately budgets to the clients.

•  Understands all of the dynamics operating in the market and the consumer’s relationship with the brand.

•  Understands challenges facing Client’s business in the short to midterm and knows all aspects of competitive activity.

•  Applies innovative thinking to the development of insightful communication strategies and a longer-term brand vision.

•  Be a sound judge of creative work, able to coherently argue the case for or against creative work based on the brief and factual accuracy, both internally and with the Client.

 

Task Areas:

•  Be the Client’s point of contact on strategic, creative and resource issues.

•  Provide digital direction and strategic ideas on migration from paid to owned and earned territories including walking clients through ever-changing programmatic advertising in both open and closed platforms.

•  Work with Senior Management on the Integrated Marketing Strategy.

•  Responsible for driving organic and new business growth. Represents and merchandises the Client’s business within the Agency.

•  Works closely with Media team to produce inspiring and unusual media strategies that offer the most effective use of Clients media budget and provide a showcase for the agency’s creative work.

•  You will quickly be able to identify possible digital + traditional opportunities for the client, including communication, acquisition, tracking and monitoring, analytics in all digital + traditional areas such as Offline media, social, mobile, technology and search

•  Ensures the Agency allocates sufficient and appropriate resource to complete tasks effectively.

•  Oversees and provides support to the Account Manager so that all projects are completed to the highest standards, on brief, on budget and on time.

 

Talent Management & internal Relationships:

•  Has positive and constructive relationship with other departments and offices and takes responsibility for these relationships.

•  Demonstrating professionalism in dealing with members of their team, coaching and motivating them to deliver their best.

•  Responsible for the team junior team member’s career development, including the regular completion of performance appraisals, where appropriate.

•  Forms strong and enduring relationships with all team members.

•  Is honest, respectful and professional in dealing with members of their team, coaching and motivating them to deliver their best, taking responsibility for their career development including the regular completion of performance appraisals where appropriate.

 

Client Management:

•  Ultimately responsible for the smooth running of the account -operationally, creatively, financially – and is answerable on these points to client and to the General Manager.

•  Builds strong and enduring relationships with clients, professionally and socially, giving them the confidence to buy brave ideas.

•  Regularly seeks our ways to add value to the client/agency relationship (e.g. joint speaking appearances at conferences; effecting introductions to other competencies who are not part of the client team, agency presentations or broader industry issues).

•  Has a deep understanding of the clients’ business and of the key broader factors and trends shaping their markets and categories. Continually enhance knowledge of the client’s brand, products and marketplace.  Looks for opportunities to engage in broader business dialogue with clients.

•  The client’s first point of contact on all main strategic, creative and resource issues. Responsible for setting the strategic direction in conjunction with the key team members.

•  Involves the General Manager appropriately on all relevant issues, client satisfaction, status of business, financial forecasting and achievement of financial objectives, brand health, creative projects, timings etc. Ensures Client understands the creative development and production process, negotiating sufficient time and budget for the Agency to deliver its best work.

•  Represents/merchandises the client’s business within the agency.

 

Commercial Management:

•  Contributes to good financial management of the business, improving profitability and maximising revenue, wherever possible.

•  Monitors all billing procedures carried out, alerting management to any likely changes in billing or income and any potential write-offs etc.

•  Is responsible for maximising the account’s billings and/or income and for seeking out additional income opportunities.

 

Creative Management:

•  Responsible for setting the creative context on the business: knowing what type of communication the brand needs, understanding what the client needs.

•  Is an excellent judge of creative work and assumes responsibility for the quality of creative ideas that are presented to the Client

•  Provides an overall vision and direction for the creative work and ensuring it is set in the correct business context.

•  Gives serious consideration to the best way to sell creative work through the Client – and then does so with total conviction.

•  Takes overall responsibility for client approvals, ensuring that the client is managed effectively through the process.

•  Actively seeks to inspire creative team from the outset through innovative briefing techniques, providing an overall vision and direction for the creative work, ensuring it is set in the correct business context.

•  Ensure Creative teams remain motivated and enthused from the moment of briefing to the final stages of production.

 

PROFESSION, TECHNICAL SKILL AND PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Required Experience:

•  Account handling experience working in an agency, in Account Management.

•  Experience at AD level.

•  Experience of introducing cross-channel thinking.

•  Experience of Global and Local clients.

•  Previous line management experience of a team.

•  Experience of preparing and delivering presentations / proposals of a strategic nature.

•  Excellent oral and written presentation skills.

•  5-7 Years of relevant experience.

Desired Experience:

•  Will have managed and run digital marketing projects from strategy to implementation.

•  Will have a good understanding of measurement techniques and be able to use this knowledge to develop successful test and learn strategies.

 

 Required Behaviors:

•  Passion for Advertising, Technology, Digital, and Social

•  Exceptional client management and communication skills

•  Fastidious organizational skills with a high attention to detail.

•  Great communication skills, both written and verbal.

•  Great project management skills.

•  Proactive and able to self-motivate.

•  Good team player.

•  Clear thinking and flexible.

 

 Required Attributes:

•  Will need to have strong strategic thinking, possessing energy and creativity. Applying fresh thinking and new approaches to meet Client’s expectations.

•  Will need to develop and demonstrate real leadership qualities and an evident mastery of the full raft of account management skills.

•  The AD’s leadership role on their business should also contribute to the department in a positive manner: by setting an example of best-practice account management skills.

•  The AD will need to be a strong team worker. Possessing great people management skills.

•  Will have strong project management skills. With a strong strategic ability for scoping and planning projects.

•  Identifying alternatives, options and new and different ways of looking at issues and problems. Must be cool under time pressures which occur in a agency environment.

•  Is expected to build excellent relationships with clients – extending into social situations – and with all members of the agency team for whom they are responsible.

•  Clear evidence of business development skills and negotiation skills.

•  Strong written and presentation skills.

 

HOW TO APPLY

If your career aspirations match this exciting opportunity, please apply as follows.

•  Complete this application form and submit

•  Share your resume separately in PDF format (strictly) via our recruitment email address. [email protected]. Ensure that your resume bears your first and last names.

•  In the email subject, strictly quote the job title and location (Job Title – Location). For instance, if you are applying for the Finance Controller position based in Kenya, then, I will quote the subject Finance Controller – Kenya with your resume attached. Do not add anything else in the email subject

Please note that completing the application form is mandatory for consideration alongside your email application where you share your resume in PDF (strictly).  Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Ogilvy Africa is an equal-opportunity employer that believes in diversity as a competitive advantage. We are committed to a fair and inclusive hiring process. To minimize unconscious biases from our hiring process, we’ve taken on an initiative to #RightTheCV (find out more by clicking here)

 

Closing Date: 10 Nov 2024