ADVERTISING

Advertising is the means of communicating and Impacting or influencing the general public to buy products or services through visual or oral messages. It is one of the concepts of Mass Communication. Advertising is the art of building brand for an organization by the way of effective communication to serve the market more competively than its competitors. A career in advertisement is glamorous and at the same time challenging with more and more agencies opening up every day.

Whether it might be brands, companies, personalities or even voluntary or religious organizations, all of them use some form of advertising in order to be able to communicate with the target audience. In the growing world of modern technology, advertising even has certain new emerging areas like Event Management, Internet Marketing which captures mass audience. Indian market is one of the fastest growing corporate hubs of the world. Various multi national companies prefer the Indian market for their rapid progress. Careers in Advertising and Public Relations might be one of the career options that one can choose in the fast growing Indian economy




Advertising is the most creative career opportunity. The jobs in this field can be categorized into two primary sections

• Creative


• Executive

Creative side mostly consists of copywriters, scriptwriters, visualisers, photographers and typographers.

Copywriters are generally known as the Creative Crew of a particular advertisement as task will be to produce 'copies' or written text for particular advertisements like printed advertisements, Hoarding, bill board and leaflets. The work includes creating jingles and scripts for commercials to execute in TV or Radio or any other media.

Graphic Designer: is one whose work is to analyze and determine the needs of the client, and then to produce the sketches and layouts which demonstrates the visualization of the design which could convey the message among target audience. Degree programs in Bachelors of fine arts combined with a little grooming is always preferred. Training like Studio Art, Principles in Designing, Computer Designing, Graphic Productions, Printing Techniques and website designing can be learnt.

Photography:
this is a unique and creative medium of self-expression or an art of creating still and moving pictures which demands aesthetic sense and expertise. As an Advertising photographer, one has to create a visual impact and impression of a product and its associated Lifestyle.

Visualisers:
The Visualisers are those who work on the visual concepts and decide how the ad shall eventually look. They do the overall layout of message including graphics, sketching, etc. Visualisers must be very artistic. A degree or diploma in commercial arts or fine arts as well as the knowledge of designing software like Photoshop, Pagemaker, Corel Draw, etc. are often the required qualifications. Executive side includes Client Servicing, Market Research and Media Research.

Client Servicing:
Client serving involves influencing the client to get the business for the companies by meeting prospective clients. This involves studying the product, market and consumer behaviors, their cost effectiveness, and a strategic plan to be presented to the client. For being an effective client-servicing person, the candidate has to have a thorough knowledge of the client's business and also know his weak points so that, through advertising and communications, the gap can be minimised.

Market Research:
Every good ad plan, starts with research. It involves a detailed survey of market and analysis according to the consumer preference for a particular product so that the information is clearly reached to the target audience especially for a new product.An MBA holding a degree in statistics or operations research is more suitable for this job.

Media Planning/Research:
The main responsibility of planning department in media starts at the point when the ad is complete. It is responsible for the planning, scheduling, booking and purchase of space and time (in newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, and outdoor hoardings). The formulation of media should be the most effective and economic advertising budget to transmit a campaign message to the target audience which would give good results.

Advertising Account Manager :
this is one of the most important tasks to be carried in the creation of an advertisement. As an account manager you are expected to maintain regular contact with the agency clients, discuss their ideas and then work on them with the advertising accounts director. Preparing cost estimations which are in relation with advertisement and presenting the advertisement ideas to the firm's clients.



Advertising serves as a diverse domain, and different specializations have their own set of schools and courses. One of the most well known educational institution that offers a range of courses in advertisement and media management is MICA, or Madras Institute of Communication and Management.

The most popular entry point to the industry is as a Copywriter. Though there are no set criteria for you to become a copywriter, advertising industry is becoming a highly competitive zone and most employers will prefer if you have a degree or qualification of a similar level. In India, copywriting is taught to be as a professional course in various institutes such as:

• IIMC, or Indian Institute for Mass Communication, JNU campus, New Delhi.


• The Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad.


• Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi.


• Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Being a medium of creative expression, Photography demands more of inherent talent rather than formal training. However, full-time photography courses are run at:

• Nationa Institutes of Design, Ahmedabad


• Indian Institute of Mass Communication, JNU Campus, New Delhi


• Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi


• Film and Television Institute of India, Pune,


• Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institue, Kolkata

Career opportunities in advertising mainly have openings in private advertising agencies; advertising department in private or public sector companies; in advertising sections of newspapers, journals, magazines; commercial section of radio or television; market research organizations, etc. One can also do freelancing. In a typical Ad-agency, there are various job options such as advertising manager, who administers creative, in-house accounts, and Media services departments. Career options in this area of occupation includes people as a Printer, Photographer, Illustrator, Commercials Director, Public Relations, Direct Marketing, Designer, Sales Promotion, Set Designer, Make-up Artist, Commercials Producer, Model, Voiceover, Sound Engineer, Typographer, Stylist, Brand or Product Manager, Market Research Analyst,etc.

Career opportunities in advertising include placements in following:

• Advertising Agencies


• Market Research agencies and companies


• Advertising sections of radio and television


• Advertising sections of newspapers


• Advertising departments in private and public sector companies

Top Recruiting Companies/Employers

• Ogilvy & Mather


• J Walter Thompson India


• FCB-Ulka Advertising Ltd.


• Rediffusion-DY&R


• McCann-Erickson India Ltd.


• RK Swamy/BBDO Advertising Ltd.


• Grey Worldwide (I) Pvt. Ltd


• Leo Burnett India Pvt. Ltd.


• Contract Advertising India Ltd


• Mudra Communications Pvt. Ltd Ahmedabad

As Advertising is the most creative and glamorous position, an expected level of salary would usually be higher than others in the market. Fresh graduates can expect salaries ranging from between 9000 and 15000 INR per month. This range would go up as accordingly to experience and expertise in the work. Ad professional are likely to draw salaries in excess of a lakh per month and there is more scope on improvement of performance.



Qualifications
Eligibility for most of the advertising postgraduate courses is graduation in any descipline with a minimum of 50 percent marks. Admission to most of these courses is based on an entrance exam and/or interview. Some colleges also offer BA courses in advertising, for which they need students who have cleared class XII.

Most advertising agencies recruit candidates with a formal management or advertising/mass communication qualification. Preference is given for MBA's for posts in the market research, client servicing and media planning departments.

In the creative department, on the other hand, a general BA with a command of the language of communication plus knowledge of designing packages like Photoshop, Coral draw or Fine arts is the requirement.



Basic qualities like creativity and flair for writing or ability to translate ideas into a visual format are required for making a successful career in this field. They should have insight into the interests of people from all walks of life, ability to work as part of a team, mental and physical toughness to be able to withstand high pressure and criticism, must be sociable and have a calm temperament. Market and media researchers should have an analytical and logical brain. Those in creative field should possess artistic abilities to make the ad appealing to the masses.

Advertising Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kasthurba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 1 Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kulapati K.M.Munshi Marg, Chowpatty, Mumbai - 600 007 Bhavan's Harilal Bhagvati College of Mass Communi cations, Race Course Road, Bangalore - 560 001 Bhavan's Institute of Communications and Management which is in Calcutta . Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, JNU New Campus, New Delhi - 110 067 Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai - 76 Mass communications Research Centre, Jamia Milia Islamia which is in Jamianagar, New Delhi - 110 025 Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Vile Parle (West), Mumbai - 400 056 Siddharth College of Communications, D.N.Road, Mumbai - 1 Somaiya College of Arts, Chowpatty, Mumbai - 7 Sophia College, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai - 400 026 University of Mumbai's Garware Institute of Career Education and Development, Kalina Campus, Santa Cruz (East), Mumbai-8 Specialised Advertising and Communications Management Programme which is offered by: Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA) which is in Ahmedabad . NMIMS, Mumbai - 400 056 Mindscreen Private Limited. P.G.Diploma in Marketing Management is offered by: Clarion College of Communication, Calcutta NIS, a division of NIS Sparta Ltd., a Reliance Sales Education Institute, with centres in all major towns of India Times School of Marketing, 10, Daryaganj, New Delhi-2

Advertising is a service industry which is geared towards the communication of information and ideas to and on behalf of others. Advertising is invariably the main arm of marketing, involved in the communication of information and ideas to and on behalf of others for promoting goods and services in order to optimize sales or levels of awareness. An advertising is not an end in itself but a means to build a relationship between the product and the consumer.