Related Posts
Anyone with designation 'Associate Business Analyst' on Infosys? I recently got offer on a development position but the OL specified my designation as associate business analyst. Can someone confirm whether i would be mapped to the development role even though my designation is Associate Business Analyst. Infosys Many thanks in Advance
Please,needs a referral to Novartis. Thank you
More Posts
Which part of the world are y’all from?
Additional Posts in Advertising
Best work of 2019 so far?
Saturday night live is getting good again.
What agency is doing the new Twizzler ads?
newly-promoted ACD salary in NYC?
New to Fishbowl?
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.




I love being an ACD and don't know if I want to advance. It's the perfect mix of doing and overseeing.
I think a lot of agencies don't utilize ACDs correctly. They either treat the as a senior by another name or as cheap CD doing too much.
Agreed with this! I love being an ACD, and wouldn’t mind staying in this role for a while. However, I don’t want to seem like I am unmotivated and not growing. If anyone has any advice on that type of situation, I’d appreciate any insight on how to communicate that up.
I’ve been ACD at 3 agencies and the role in each agency has been totally different 🤪
Rising Star
This. Your definition of acd depends on agency.
Same same on the account side. Agencies throw titles at people as part of their retention strategy. Lots of people without nearly enough experience at the director level all around. And we wonder why client-agency relationships are where they’re at these days.
Pro
I was promoted to ACD because we had a raise freeze. I had no direct reports. And was still living life as a Senior Creative, not dealing with logistics of management, just focused on the work. Until I went to another agency. And my ACD role turned into what I only assume my EVP CD was doing in regards to managing an insane amount of projects and different teams, scoping, resourcing, etc. But also still having to do the work too. At least I finally learned the skills getting thrown into the fire.
I was promoted to ACD but got pulled into an account in which the CD contradicts what me and the rest of the team believe every step of the way.
We can’t pick up on predictable thought patterns and approaches with my CD so we can’t make safe assumptions independently. I am new, but damn. This fundamental mismatch undercuts everything I do and makes it impossible to lead confidently.
I’m pretty much in agreement w OP. ACD role is one of the hardest roles as you start to split between work and creative oversight but so many in the role are overwhelmed or not ready. I’ve always wondered how someone can be a Sr for 4 years, and ACD for 1 year, and a CD for 3+ years
Pro
I feel even the CD titles were not actually management level either. Until you got to EVP. I knew plenty of VPs who were not leading anything.
Rising Star
Just like CD1, I was promoted to ACD because they wanted to throw me a bone but they didn't have any money. These days I just freelance as a senior copywriter.
Problem is I’m doing ACD level work now, so looking for new jobs I’m kinda in between. I honestly don’t care that much about the title or the role, but I do care about the money. It’s hard to go to a sr role that pays me barely more or even less. So. Idk
Pro
I was making 124 as an ACD, then down to 115 as an ACD doing SVP management level work after a layoff during a previous economic downturn.
I learned recently I was making 40k less than some of my coworkers at the first agency.
OP, what is your definition of a proper ACD? Genuinely asking as someone who has spent the last year pushing for a promotion. Because as other commenters have noted, it’s a very different position depending on your agency.
An ACD should be both managing teams and contributing to actually doing the work. It's a stepping store to CD, usually senior creatives aren't doing much managing (unless they work somewhere where they will allow you to start overseeing people to prepare for the shift). An ACD isn't necessarily managing scopes, timelines or resourcing yet but they should be crucial in managing client relationships and protecting their teams creatives. They should also almost always be able to crack a brief, in the event the teams they are managing can't.
I’m a “proper” ACD, 2+ years into the role. I was absolutely awful at first and really have only found my footing as of late (~3 months ago). I was given a lot of grace and after shying away from managing people——I’m going to have three direct reports in Jan. 🫠
I’m doing the job of a CD
1 yr as an ACD with 8 direct reports (+20 indirect reports),2 big accts with lots of sub-brands, and consider myself very good at most of it. I love managing/guiding, which is rare for creatives to handle properly.
Feel free to ask any questions.