Yahoo! Young Media StarsThree media planners to watch
In the advertising world, so-called creatives---the designers, photographers, cinematographers and writers who develop ads---seem to get all the love. But a lot more goes into developing successful campaigns than pictures and words. It takes strategy.
That's where the media planner comes in. This too-often unsung agency hero works with everyone---clients, creatives, finance, tech and sales---to develop the best possible strategy for getting targeted messages out to the right markets.
That's why this year at Advertising Week, Yahoo! is recognizing several Young Media Stars, media planners who exemplify the art and science of the advertising. Yahoo!'s crack sales team nominated a number of exceptional media planners whom they work with and we narrowed it down to three to receive the honor. (Believe us, it wasn't easy. Everyone nominated was a superb example of the discipline.)
As part of their recognition, the winners will each get a trip to Advertising Week in Manhattan next week as a guest of Yahoo!---and all the networking they can handle. If you're going to Advertising Week, you may, with luck, run into one of them.
More detailed interviews with each will appear here in the coming days. Also, be sure to look for their comments as they blog on Yahoo! Scene and follow them on Twitter using the hashtag #MediaStars.
Caitlin Hegarty, Digitas
Working with Digitas in Chicago, Hegarty notes, "The media planner is the expert in the field of media, both inside their company and with their clients. Working in the often fast-paced world of advertising, media planners need to provide flexibility and the ability to multi-task the demands of their brands active and upcoming campaigns."
Natalie Gengaro, OMD
Gengaro, who works as associate director for digital at OMD in L.A., likens the media planner to the architect: "Both fields represent a mix of the arts and sciences, whose end goal is to meet the requirements given by the client and provide an output that meets their objectives. Architects and media planners inspire, mentor and encourage."
Lauren Stein, MediaVest
As an associate media director at MediaVest in New York City, Stein is especially hip to the power of being social---not only social media, but being social in person. She offers this advice: "Stay involved, take meetings, go on social outings, and get to the know the people you are working with, because it's a lot easier to do business with people you have a good relationship with." Amen.
Congrats to our winners! We look forward to seeing you next week!
--- The Team
