What does a group creative director do?
Group Creative Directors are responsible for leading the creative vision of a product or service for an organization. Their duties include creating promotional or advertising campaigns, conducting creative strategy presentations to management, liaising, participating in client needs negotiation, and developing creative storyboards. They are responsible for assessing project content, overseeing brand visuals, and monitoring project progress. Group Creative Directors also supervise writing scripts, direct TV and photoshoots, and facilitate external supplier engagements. They help in the recruitment process of the creative team.
Group creative director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real group creative director resumes:
- Direct and manage talent including, directors, directors of photography, editors, graphic artists, and composers.
- Lead and supervise creative teams and create award-winning advertising campaigns and programs that target physicians, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
- Develop the GUI / UX for presenting and categorizing the video content.
- Recruit and retain a high-performance team of strategists, designers, UX architects, and account managers.
- Slash company-wide expenses and improve production by bringing photography and pre-press design services in-house.
- Collaborate on the strategic development, design, copywriting and production of marketing communications programs for multiple clients.
- Work are case-studied in the Facebook IPO paperwork touting the power of the digital & social campaign.
- Collaborate with executive staff to develop content and produce photographic editorials.
Group creative director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Group Creative Directors are proficient in Client Relationships, Creative Direction, and Business Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Communication skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Group Creative Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Client Relationships, 13%
Collaborate with Account Executives to develop budgets, create project schedules and manage client relationships.
- Creative Direction, 8%
Provided creative direction and oversight for all TV and print marketing materials.
- Business Development, 6%
Participated on the new business development team by preparing creative strategies and making presentations at client meetings.
- Digital Marketing, 5%
Developed integrated digital marketing/radio promotional campaigns for the Museum of Science Boston that boosted ticket sales during key school vacation periods.
- Graphic Design, 5%
Facilitate design meetings to involve cross-disciplined team members, including copywriters, graphic designers, production artists and production coordinators.
- Creative Solutions, 4%
Research related to market/demographic conditions and industry trends to develop creative solutions specific to each individual brand.
Most group creative directors use their skills in "client relationships," "creative direction," and "business development" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential group creative director responsibilities here:
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a group creative director to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "art directors must be able to come up with interesting and innovative ideas to develop advertising campaigns, set designs, or layout options." Group creative directors often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "defined the user experience and creative offerings for the group and recruited and led top talent. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling group creative director duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "art directors must be able to listen to and speak with staff and clients to ensure that they understand employees’ ideas and clients’ desires for advertisements, publications, or movie sets." According to a group creative director resume, here's how group creative directors can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "directed creative team in developing direct response communication, from creative concepts through production across all media. "
Leadership skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of group creative directors is leadership skills. This skill is critical to many everyday group creative director duties, as "art directors must be able to organize, direct, and motivate other artists." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "played a strong leadership role in business development, senior client relationships, and agency management relationships. "
Time-management skills. group creative director responsibilities often require "time-management skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "balancing competing priorities and multiple projects while meeting strict deadlines is critical for art directors." This resume example shows what group creative directors do with time-management skills on a typical day: "project management; balanced multiple projects on tight deadlines hire, develop and motivate designers. "
The three companies that hire the most group creative directors are:
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Compare different group creative directors
Group creative director vs. Art consultant
A Senior Designer/Art Director is responsible for the execution and on-time delivery of high-quality creative materials. They determine how best to represent a concept visually and which photographs, art, or other design elements to use.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, group creative director responsibilities require skills like "client relationships," "creative direction," "digital marketing," and "creative solutions." Meanwhile a typical art consultant has skills in areas such as "art gallery," "fine arts," "contemporary art," and "art collections." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Art consultants earn the highest salaries when working in the internet industry, with an average yearly salary of $68,646. On the other hand, group creative directors are paid more in the media industry with an average salary of $201,427.art consultants tend to reach higher levels of education than group creative directors. In fact, art consultants are 5.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.4% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Group creative director vs. Assistant art director
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, group creative director responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "client relationships," "creative direction," "business development," and "digital marketing." Meanwhile, an assistant art director has duties that require skills in areas such as "adobe photoshop," "adobe illustrator," "mac," and "adobe creative suite." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, assistant art directors earn a lower salary than group creative directors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, assistant art directors earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $102,665. Whereas group creative directors have higher pay in the media industry, with an average salary of $201,427.assistant art directors earn similar levels of education than group creative directors in general. They're 3.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for group creative directors in the next 3-5 years?
Scott Foster
Associate Professor of Studio Art, Chair of Creative Arts Department, Siena College
Group creative director vs. Senior designer/art director
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a group creative director is likely to be skilled in "client relationships," "business development," "creative directors," and "creative vision," while a typical senior designer/art director is skilled in "web banners," "photography," "sketch," and "adobe photoshop."
Senior designer/art directors earn the highest salary when working in the media industry, where they receive an average salary of $113,063. Comparatively, group creative directors have the highest earning potential in the media industry, with an average salary of $201,427.Most senior designer/art directors achieve a similar degree level compared to group creative directors. For example, they're 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Group creative director vs. Co-director
Types of group creative director
Updated January 8, 2025
