Are these the most unique jobs in marketing and advertising?

Beyond those seasonal trends, there’s a rich diversity of jobs and an almost equally varied range of titles to describe those jobs. For this week’s edition of Agency Advice, we’re celebrating that rich tapestry with accounts from the coalface of some of adland’s most idiosyncratic roles.

Clare Deacon, provocation director, Born Ugly: “As a provocation director, I’m here to stoke, poke, provoke and challenge the status quo. Our ‘Auftragstaktik’ (mission) is to challenge the conventions that stand in the way of meaningful change. Our work centers around delivering brilliant, human-centered ideas and creative strategies for our clients that challenge the norm to make category-defining results. This involves asking the difficult questions that get to our clients’ ugly truth and ensures we can go beyond the brief, challenge and opportunity. The pace of change is relentless, so the modern brand needs to invite people to participate, deliver more than a badge and go beyond the product economy. Ultimately, the enemy of our work is indifference. And it’s my job to make sure our clients’ customers are never ignored.”

Alex Macqueen, head of humor, Kitchen: “When I was growing up, the adverts on TV were the best thing about it. They were clever, funny, naughty and impish and something a lot of actors wanted to be part of. I’m really delighted to be given the chance by Kitchen to mix some of those qualities back into the advertising food chain. With my acting experience in the likes of The Inbetweeners and The Thick of It, I hope I’m bringing a fresh perspective to the traditional agency creative department. I want to push ideas further and think differently about what makes people laugh. In an increasingly AI-dominated world, it’s our job to make memorable work that truly stands out. Something magical happens when we laugh – endorphins fly around the body and it creates a strong connection with other people.”

Martin Magner, international pop sensation, Sounds Fun: “In our industry, career paths are often linear – junior to senior, creative to director. But I don’t follow a set trajectory; I carve one from lived experience. Right now, my job title is ‘international pop sensation’ because I believe in total immersion. Fantasy isn’t just something you create; it’s something you become. By stepping inside my own mythology, I make it real, and when people believe in the fantasy, it ceases to be fiction. My approach to creativity is fluid, unbound by traditional roles, weaving together pop music, performance and brand storytelling into something visceral. Whether crafting campaigns or crawling through the sonic dirt of my latest track, my work is about world-building – selling not just a product but an entire feeling. I am both the architect and the experiment. My job title today may change tomorrow, but one thing remains: I am the proof of my own concept.”

Katherine Pisarro-Grant, associate director, verbal identity, Wolff Olins: “‘Verbal identity’ is both the best cocktail party fodder and the worst foundation for explaining my job to grandparents. In the first case, I’d define it: I help brands shape how they talk. I could go into more detail: I do it through voice (how a brand communicates), messaging (what they say) and naming (blessedly self-explanatory). In the second, if they really just wanted to know how I spend my days, I’d unpack ‘associate director’: I write, read, synthesize, storytell, brainstorm, riff and act as the go-to colleague to answer grammatical questions (please never let AI take this from me). In other words, I help build and support our verbal identity practice at Wolff Olins and I also make the elements of what that practice is. It’s a balance that lets this 13-syllable job title roll off the tongue. Almost.”

Ashley Rudder, chief creator officer, DNY: “Different from a traditional ‘chief creative officer’ job, this position focuses on actionable, innovative approaches to content creation and building a team that consistently taps into the cultural zeitgeist so our work is more relevant for our brands. My background is as a self-taught celebrity makeup artist turned brand builder. I’ve helped shape trends backstage at global fashion weeks and built brands’ social presence. Now at DNY, we’re working to redefine how brands, creatives, platforms and creators collaborate through culture-driven innovation.”

Jason Schoonveld, warehouse manager, The MX Group: “Unlike most agency talent dressed in fashionable attire, I arrive with rolled-up sleeves. I’ve managed our warehouse, a 10,000-square-foot on-site facility for mailing and fulfillment services, for over 20 years. I’ve shipped everything from event booths to sales literature and dimensional mailers including product samples (think grease or pipe samples). The most unique shipment over the years has to be sledgehammers. Every day, I handle planned, random and urgent requests and maintain accurate inventory. I make sure items arrive undamaged and on time. It matters in marketing. Clients know it’s all being done in-house and that they can trust us.”

Django Weisz Blanchetta, chief executive hero, SuperHeroes: “I’ve noticed the inflation (and often dilution) of agency job titles. Everyone’s a ‘guru’ or a ‘ninja,’ but what do these labels actually mean? Here, we took a different approach: our titles are designed to reinforce our flat organizational culture while celebrating the unique superpowers of our team. By incorporating ‘hero’ into our roles, we recognize both the collective and individual strengths of our people. It’s not about hierarchy; it’s about impact. A ‘strategy hero’ isn’t just a strategist; they’re a problem-solver, a creative thinker and a force for innovation. This approach keeps us agile, removes unnecessary layers and fosters a culture where talent shines over titles. Job titles should be more than labels; they should inspire, empower and reflect the true skills of those who hold them.”

Izabela Blach, chief happiness officer, Good Apple: “HR roles have evolved from being administrative and paper-pushing to being centered around developing and supporting employees. As a chief happiness officer, I’m responsible for the emotional wellbeing of each ‘Apple,’ ensuring their psychological safety by creating growth opportunities and caring for and empowering everyone. I’m committed to refining our programs to be the best they can be. Making people feel valued means crafting a holistic approach to employee wellbeing. To foster employee engagement, we implemented a creative solution with quarterly global coworking tours, enabling a new approach to building team synergy with cultural education and appreciation we can’t get in-office. As a small agency, we can prioritize the individual versus treating employees like numbers by addressing growth plans, interests and goals directly.”

Ella Barnard, junior partnership and content executive, GBM Group: “The job title might not sound all that unique, but how I got here and what I do is far from normal. It all started with making silly TikToks as an M&S employee for the Stockport store… to now making silly little memes for M&S as a client. How the tables turn! I was spotted through my organic content for M&S store social media, jumping on trending products and cultural moments. GBM saw this as a strong example of understanding brand tone of voice and Gen Z marketing. Memes are now a marketing essential and my team is who brands call when they want to launch new products, run taste tests or simply get people talking while keeping it funny and relatable.”

Brian Rubin, vice-president of strategy and comms, NVE Experience Agency: “OK, the job title might not sound completely unique, but what I do is not that common: experiential PR. I ensure our experiential campaigns are rooted in strategy, ownable to the IP/brand, resonate in culture, and are optimized for engagement before, during and after activation. It’s important that we meet consumers where they are, with the right message at the right time on the right channels with dedicated call-to-action. The earlier we integrate our campaigns with amplification in mind; we can unlock opportunities for earned media coverage, talent participation and dedicated social content that breathes life into our experiences and tells a story.”

Willem van Haeren, SFX master, and Leonardo Grassi, SFX senior, Chuck Studios: “At our food-specialist creative production agency, we ensure that any imaginable food shots can be executed in real life. Burger drops? Liquid swirls? Explosions? Flying veggies? Beer waves? At Chuck, this isn’t CGI; it’s all created by us and our team. Our main job is building rigs, robots and other constructions that are timed to perfection to nail every food shot. Find us in our SFX lab, experimenting and developing new techniques to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. We also do model-making – the endless quest of striving for perfection to replicate the actual product because food productions often can’t work with the real product, especially if it’s chocolate or ice.”