The role of a Chief Creative Officer is a dynamic and influential role in the world of marketing and advertising.
They are the mastermind behind a brand’s creative vision — the one steering the ship when it comes to storytelling, design, and messaging across every channel. From bold advertising campaigns to cohesive branding strategies, the CCO leads the charge in making sure everything a company creates feels intentional, inspiring, and unmistakably “on brand.”
But just what does a CCO do in a normal day to make it happen? In this blog, we’re diving into what a Chief Creative Officer actually does, why the role is so vital in today’s competitive market, and what makes the right CCO an irreplaceable part of your leadership team.
What a Chief Creative Officer Does Each Day
1. Managing the Creative Team
A CCO should demonstrate excellent leadership skills because a huge part of their day is spent on people management.
The CCO works closely with their creative team, which, depending on the company, includes creative directors, art directors, designers, copywriters, video production experts, and whatever other creative is involved in producing marketing assets.
The chief creative officer ensures that the content being created by their team maintains a high level of both creativity and quality and continuously aligns with the company's brand and messaging.
The CCO sets expectations, provides feedback, and fosters an environment where creativity can thrive. A good CCO guarantees that the creative department remains innovative, produces high-quality content, and consistently meets the company's objectives.
2. Shaping Brand Image
The chief creative officer is critical in shaping and maintaining a company's brand image and identity.
They work closely with their creative teams to develop the company's creative branding guidelines and then act as quality control to ensure that all marketing materials, advertising campaigns, and content creations align with those guidelines and brand messaging for ultimate consistency.
This includes carefully overseeing the development of everything from visual elements like photos, graphics, and illustrations to tone of voice and the overall look and feel of the brand.
A good CCO works hard to maintain brand consistency and ensure that the brand's values and promises are communicated effectively to the company’s target audience.
3. Overseeing Creative Department Operations
Another responsibility of a chief creative officer is to keep the entire creative department running smoothly and efficiently, like a well-oiled machine.
This involves supervising the content creation process, creating and managing budgets, allocating resources where needed, and setting ambitious yet achievable goals to drive the department’s performance.
They conduct periodic performance reviews of their creative department to ensure they consistently meet their goals and are often heavily involved in the recruitment process.
Another big aspect of running the creative department is keeping it staffed with talented and hard-working employees. CCOs can often be seen recruiting new talent, conducting interviews, and hiring new team members like creatives or directors to join the department as the company grows and more production is needed.
4. Cross-Department Collaboration
Chief creative officers are not limited to overseeing just their creative department; they are also integral to maintaining overall consistency and harmony within the company.
They collaborate with other departments to ensure the creative team’s output aligns with the company’s long-term goals, brand image, and messaging.
This often includes working closely with the senior leadership of various departments, such as marketing, sales, product development, and more, to guarantee that creative initiatives are consistent with the company's branding and values.
A company’s CCO plays a big part in helping a brand maintain a cohesive and unified approach to business strategies and achieving corporate goals.
5. Overseeing Advertising Campaigns
The CCO is also responsible for overseeing the creative direction and strategy of a company’s advertising campaigns.
They’ll meet with their team and other leadership to develop an advertising and artistic design strategy, decide how best to execute it, and then manage the campaign once the strategies are in place.
The CCO ensures that the creative department collaborates seamlessly with the marketing and advertising teams, creative directors, and other experts on staff to create the most compelling and effective advertising assets and help the company maximize its marketing efforts.
Because a CCO wants to keep their company ahead of the competition in creative output and marketing strategy, they also keep themselves updated on industry trends and new technology, implementing it when they can to enhance their team’s effectiveness.
How Much do Chief Creative Officers Earn?
Chief Creative Officers are among the highest-paid professionals in the creative industry and for good reason.
They’re responsible for big-picture strategy, high-stakes decision-making, and the overall creative direction of a brand. With that level of responsibility comes a competitive paycheck.
On average, a Chief Creative Officer in the United States earns between $175,000 and $300,000 per year, depending on factors like company size, industry, geographic location, and years of experience. At large agencies or enterprise-level companies, salaries can climb even higher — especially when bonuses, stock options, and profit sharing are factored in.
It’s a role that demands creativity, leadership, and vision — and the compensation reflects that.
Why a Chief Creative Officer is Important to Your Team
If your brand wants to have its marketing efforts and assets be as effective as it can and truly help the company achieve its goals, then you’re going to need a leader to make that happen.
The CCO acts as quality control, keeps everything consistent and on brand, and ensures that the creative department is operating efficiently and staying on budget.
When you have the right person for the job, your chief creative officer ensures that the creative department is getting the highest ROI it can on content creation and marketing campaigns.
How to Hire a CCO
First off, you’ll want to know the skills and qualifications any CCO candidate should have before they even walk through the door.
Someone who is looking to take on a chief creative officer position typically has a bachelor’s degree or higher in design, marketing, business, or any related field.
They also should have 10 or more years of experience working in the creative field, whether as a designer, a copywriter, or any other kind of creative position, along with years of experience in some kind of senior management position.
Because many of these folks have held positions like art director, graphic designer, or something similar, this makes them ideal candidates to manage a company’s creation team and oversee content creation to ensure that all marketing material and collateral is top quality, effective, and on brand.
Where to Look for Your New CCO
Once you know who you’re looking for, it’s a good idea to know where you should look. Here are some great places to put your feelers out and attract quality candidates:
LinkedIn or Other Online Platforms
Using professional networking platforms like LinkedIn or perhaps any industry-specific networking site is a great way to search for potential CCO candidates.
These sites are often full of experienced professionals with thorough profiles and documented work history to streamline your search. Either comb through potential candidates who are searching for a new position or create a job posting and let the candidates come to you!
Professional Networking
Many companies have an existing network and helpful connections in their industry. Put the word out that you’re seeking out a chief creative officer for your team and let your connections fill you in with insider referrals and recommendations.
If there are industry events or conferences coming up on your calendar, those can also be valuable resources to help you quickly fill your CCO position with the right candidate.
Recruiters
Or if don’t have the time in your day to dedicate to searching, you can consider partnering with a headhunter or other search firms or recruiters who specialize in filling creative and executive roles.
They have resources and connections that your company may not have and can quickly identify quality applicants for you to peruse. Often, their prices are reasonable, and the price is worth the time it saves you.
Post on Your Website
Another way to attract quality candidates without spending hours of your day networking and searching for applicants is to post the job on the Careers section of your company website.
This can save you some time and attract candidates who are specifically interested in your company and its culture, which would lead to a better fit than a candidate who is well-qualified but perhaps has never heard of your brand.
Internally Promote a Candidate
Before launching a full external search, take a moment to look within your organization. If you already have a team member with the right mix of leadership ability, creative vision, and strategic thinking, promoting from within could be the smartest move.
Internal candidates already understand your company culture, processes, and brand identity — meaning less time spent onboarding and more time hitting the ground running. Plus, promoting from within can boost morale, show your team there’s room for growth, and reinforce loyalty across departments.
If someone on your current team has been excelling in a senior creative role, it might be time to consider whether they’re ready to step up into a CCO position.
Or Stop Your Search Now
Alternatively, if you’re reading this article on Designity’s website, you may have already found the perfect place to hire your next chief creative officer.
Designity’s Creative Directors have all of the same qualifications as a Chief Creative Officer and their services can be acquired for just a fraction of the price it would take to pay the salary of an in-house CCO (approx. $161,500/ year, not including benefits).
Our Creative Directors have 10+ years of experience and are experts in design, marketing, project management and so much more.
They’ll source and manage the right Creatives (from our pool of the top 3% of US-based creative talent) for all of your marketing projects, ensuring that you have someone with the exact skill set your project requires to get you the final results you want.
With a Creative Director at the helm, you can be sure that the marketing material you need, whether it’s printed collateral or online ads, eBooks, or other digital media, is on brand, of the highest quality, and optimized for your success.
Check out our portfolio and see what we’ve been able to do for other brands just like yours and when you’re ready, give Designity a try.
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Signing up with Designity is simple!
Here’s how it works:
- Book your demo call. Designity offers all new clients a chance to try out our platform, our method, and our services with a no-obligation, two-week trial.
- We’ll assign you the Creative Director whose personality and skill set best match your brand and your creative needs.
- Schedule a Kickoff Call to meet your Creative Director and explain your company, your goals, and the scope of services needed for your marketing projects.
- Your Creative Director gets to work building out a timeline for all of your projects and sourcing the perfect creative talent to get it done!
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