Behind the Scenes of an Ad Agency’s Traffic Department
There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of an advertising agency which client’s typically don’t see. Similar to a movie in which there are several people involved behind the camera, an advertising agency is comprised of many departments all working together ensuring the best quality work. One of these departments is Traffic.
The Traffic Department’s primary goal is to ensure efficiency and profitability. To do this we manage a system that goes a little something like this:
Step 1 – Getting a Project in the Queue – In order for any project to get in the queue, a work order (or a W/O as us ad people like to call it) is submitted detailing the projects scope. A schedule is then backed out and a kick-off meeting meeting is set. It is during this kick-off meeting that the Account team and the Creative team will discuss the approved creative brief and the details surrounding the project. Work can now begin.
Step 2 – Routing for Internal Approval – Prior to any work being presented to a client, the Creative team must route it for internal approval. It’s here that the Account team reviews and provides their feedback. Once both the Creative team and the Account team have signed off, the piece(s) are ready to be presented to the client.
Step 3 – Implementing Client Changes – Client changes are addressed via a Change Request Form (or a CSR). The Account team will fill this form out with the clients changes and submit it to the Traffic department. All client changes must go through Traffic so that we can keep track of how many rounds we’re on. This helps with that whole profitability portion of the job.
Step 4 – Final Delivery - Just because the client has approved something doesn’t mean the project is done. A project isn’t considered completed until its been final delivered to either the printer or publication.
In essence, Traffic is in charge of making sure everything gets done, gets done well and gets done quickly. It takes many calendars, many excel sheets and lots of walking around to acheive this, but when we do our job well, everyone’s happy.
I hate your job. I really do.
Thanks for all your hard work. It makes my job easy and I will try not to give you headache.
[...] a recent post by our very own Traffic Manager, Heather explained how the traffic department at Bailey Gardiner functions. In her fourth step about final delivery, she makes an excellent point [...]
Hi… I’m a Marketing Assistant at Palomar College… and was asked.. to research about traffic coordinating.. as the department wants to implement a Traffic Coordinator position… Was wondering if you could help a girl out with some questions about how the traffic is handled… do you use a software manager.. or good old excel….
Thanks for your time…
Hi Dianna,
Thanks for taking the time to read my post. To answer your question, the accounting program we use here at the agency has traffic management tools built into it; however, I continue to rely heavily on excel. I’m a very visual person so the use of colors are extremely important for managing the different phases of a project. With excel, the sky’s the limit when it comes to building a spreadsheet tailored to your company’s needs. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have further questions. Best of luck!
Hello,
As a Traffic Director with over 15 years of experience and implementing a Traffic Processs in 4 Marketing Departments, I will say the having a Traffic role withing a Marketing Dept
Apologies.
Traffic is an essential role. We take on different responsibilities depending on the needs. I use an web based online program. Heather, by using a web based program you can usually format it in excel and color code after. The luxury of having a program is you don’t have to constantly update an excel doc. I use if for print, broadcast, and web jobs
For all the traffic people. I am a project manager or marketing specialist is my title. I work on multiple projects every day.. constantly sending to copy then back to me for review/back to copy or right to design. For me.. it is hard to keep track of all that.. i want to know where my projects are and when they are due back to me. with a lot of them it is hectic. Can anyone offer any sample templates or excel grids or anything you can send me to keep track of my jobs. I do keep a simple excel grid but just looking for something better or if excel.. maybe yours is in a better format. I also do tradeshows so any advice on those would be great too. thank you!! my email is ginacon64@aol.com