Creative director vs brand manager

The differences between creative directors and brand managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a creative director, becoming a brand manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a creative director has an average salary of $137,779, which is higher than the $97,789 average annual salary of a brand manager.

The top three skills for a creative director include graphic design, creative concepts and creative direction. The most important skills for a brand manager are brand management, digital marketing, and customer service.

Creative director vs brand manager overview

	Creative Director	Brand Manager
Yearly salary	$137,779	$97,789
Hourly rate	$66.24	$47.01
Growth rate	4%	10%
Number of jobs	11,610	127,429
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	40	39
Years of experience	6	10

What does a creative director do?

A creative director is an individual who creates and maintains a vision for a company's products and branding through digital, print, and film installations. Creative directors supervise and innovative staff team such as graphic designers and artists to discuss and plan the vision's layout and visuals. They also meet with clients or marketing and advertising departments to create designs and make the necessary changes to the systems. Most creative directors must have a bachelor's degree in fine arts and should build work portfolios while starting their careers as graphic designers or photographers.

What does a brand manager do?

A brand manager is an individual responsible for adapting a brand strategy that targets the potential market for a company's product while maintaining its integrity. Brand managers assist in developing products while managing budgets for the advertising and promotion of their new products. They usually work under the supervision of marketing managers or chief marketing officers (CMOs) to implement and execute their marketing initiatives. Brand managers also provide an analysis of sales forecasts and create reports on product sales.

Creative director vs brand manager salary

Creative directors and brand managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Creative Director	Brand Manager
Average salary	$137,779	$97,789
Salary range	Between $82,000 And $228,000	Between $72,000 And $131,000
Highest paying City	Menlo Park, CA	Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ
Highest paying state	California	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Apple	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Manufacturing

Differences between creative director and brand manager education

There are a few differences between a creative director and a brand manager in terms of educational background:

	Creative Director	Brand Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Business
Most common college	Harvard University	University of Georgia

Creative director vs brand manager demographics

Here are the differences between creative directors' and brand managers' demographics:

	Creative Director	Brand Manager
Average age	40	39
Gender ratio	Male, 64.7% Female, 35.3%	Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 7.8% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	11%	10%

Differences between creative director and brand manager duties and responsibilities

Creative director example responsibilities.

Manage designers and lead entire in-house healthcare creative department.
Manage all social media outlets and create Youtube channel.
Create, direct, and produce engaging videos and manage Instagram page.
Manage staff including designers, producers, HTML designers, creative writers, and developers; interview and select candidates.
Manage multiple social media profiles (corporate twitter accounts and blogs) to strategically increase readership and draw website traffic.
Develop and manage business-to-business PowerPoint presentation service that create new business opportunities and increase revenue for the company.

Brand manager example responsibilities.

Direct and coordinate photo shoots; conduct live training sessions; manage marketing asset library; CRM strategy.
Manage paid search campaigns including keyword generation, ad copy testing, landing page optimization, PPC and SEM.
Manage global product development teams with cross-functional oversight for manufacturing, sourcing, finance, design and supply chain management.
Manage POS merchandising and distribution of promotional items.
Develop and manage new health brand strategy including creation of healthcare professional/dietitian program.
Obtain certification through a cheese and wine class.

Creative director vs brand manager skills

Common creative director skills

Graphic Design, 6%
Creative Concepts, 6%
Creative Direction, 6%
Video Production, 5%
Photography, 5%
Digital Marketing, 4%

Common brand manager skills

Brand Management, 8%
Digital Marketing, 7%
Customer Service, 5%
Project Management, 5%
Brand Marketing, 5%
Product Development, 4%

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Creative Director
Creative Director vs Brand Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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