From the Digital Advertising Industry to a PR Company! Why I, a Former Media Planner, Switched Careers to Become a Communication Planner at SUNNY SIDE UP

Hello! I’m Hasegawa from the Account Planning Division. My main responsibilities include proposals for acquiring new projects, as well as developing overall strategies and plans for PR communications and marketing.

In 2024, I transitioned to SUNNY SIDE UP from a position as a digital media planner at an advertising agency.

Some of you currently working in the digital advertising industry may be considering expanding your scope of work or taking on new challenges while leveraging your existing expertise. For those individuals, I hope my experience of transitioning to a different role will serve as a helpful reference, which is why I’m writing this article.

In this article, I’ll share the reasons and motivations behind why I started working as a communication planner at SUNNY SIDE UP, a PR company!

How I Learned About SUNNY SIDE UP

I had been interested in advertising communications since my student days, and after graduating, I joined a digital advertising agency where I handled ad operations. Later, I gained experience as a media planner focusing on digital at a group company of a general advertising agency and at a foreign-affiliated general advertising agency before joining SUNNY SIDE UP.

Since I had been working in a related industry, I was already aware of SUNNY SIDE UP’s existence and had a rather vague impression of it as “a bright, cheerful, and fun-looking company.”

However, I never imagined that I, having always been involved in advertising media planning, would work at SUNNY SIDE UP, a PR company. I had received several interview offers through job sites but never took any action on them.

So Why Did I Join SUNNY SIDE UP?

The digital advertising industry is currently on an upward trajectory. Some may wonder why I would move to the PR industry. However, precisely because I had been in the digital advertising field for so long, I felt a certain frustration.

From my second company onward, I was positioned as a digital media planner within general advertising agencies, which gave me many opportunities to plan “digital advertising within the context of overall communication,” including offline channels. Against this background, I consistently held the belief that “while the influence of digital media is growing year by year, it is merely one means of conveying a message.”

Additionally, rather than specializing deeply in one area, I’m the type who prefers to expand my range of capabilities. I began to think, “I want to be able to envision the overall picture of communication myself, not just limit myself to planning media as an output method.”

Of course, advertising agencies also have departments that handle communication planning, including PR. I consulted about an internal transfer, but it was difficult to make an immediate move without experience. Even if I were to switch to another agency, the positions that would match my profile would be in digital media-related roles where I already had expertise and where the industry was short-staffed.

As I felt limited in my ability to change roles within the advertising industry, I began to think, “If I want to step away from being a media planner and gain a bird’s-eye view of overall communication, perhaps stepping outside the advertising framework is the quickest path.”

That’s when SUNNY SIDE UP came to mind. This time, I reached out to request a casual interview myself. In the subsequent interviews, I honestly shared my past experience, the frustrations I felt as a media planner, and the challenges I wanted to take on moving forward.

The division head’s powerful words—”I think you can do everything you want to do here! Even if you don’t have PR experience, you can develop it from now on!”—and their open-mindedness gave me the push I needed to decide to join the company.

Working Here in Reality

It’s been almost a year since I joined, and I’m amazed at how quickly time has flown by…

Just as I imagined before joining, the atmosphere is bright and energetic, yet I feel this is a team that takes pride in being PR professionals, sincerely engages with clients and society, and works with dedication to achieve real results.

While media planner and communication planner share the word “planner,” the content is completely different. Media planning involves combining optimal menus from within digital media, whereas communication planning has no set framework—any method is possible depending on your ideas! Every day is filled with learning as everything is new.

I still face challenges, but there are so many opportunities to take on new things. I’ve been entrusted with proposals across a wide range of industries and fields, and I’m in an environment where I can truly achieve the “expansion of my scope” that I was seeking.

Moreover, there are increasing opportunities to leverage the digital advertising knowledge I’ve cultivated. For example, when proposing PR plans to companies that provide digital advertising technology, or when proposing coordinated timing for SNS and PR communications to local governments, my past experience and expertise were directly useful, and I felt a strong sense of fulfillment.

I also share information across the company to combine digital marketing expertise with PR and communication.

The Potential of SUNNY SIDE UP

Today, there are many competitive pitches where we compete with advertising agencies, and SUNNY SIDE UP is increasingly being asked to provide integrated communication proposals that include advertising and marketing domains. Meanwhile, in the advertising industry, a “PR mindset” equipped with a societal perspective is becoming more important for effectively delivering messages to consumers, and the boundary between PR and advertising is becoming increasingly blurred.

In this context, demand for talent with digital expertise is growing in the PR industry, and at the same time, a PR perspective is becoming essential for skill development as a digital planner.

I feel that SUNNY SIDE UP is a place where I can positively reframe the frustration I previously felt—that “digital media is merely one means of conveying a message.” I aim to become a communication planner who can effectively incorporate digital media into designs that maximize the delivery of messages based on the PR mindset that SUNNY SIDE UP excels at!

At SUNNY SIDE UP, there are many members who, like me, joined mid-career from the digital domain, and even without experience in the PR industry, they are thriving by leveraging their previous careers. It’s the perfect environment for those who want to fully utilize their expertise while incorporating new perspectives and growing!