Advertising as a Career Option

Advertising is a service industry geared towards the communication of information and ideas to and on behalf of others. It is 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.

Advertising plays a significant role in today's highly competitive world. A career in advertisement is quite glamorous and at the same time challenging with more and more agencies opening up every day. Whether its 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. The salary structure in advertising is quite high and if you have the knack for it one can reach the top. It is an ideal profession for a creative individual who can handle work-pressure.

Educational Qualifications
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.

There are also specialised courses in advertising/mass communication at diploma level and post graduate level for which basic qualification is graduation. However, advertising is also offered as a subject for the graduate degree course in mass communication studies at certain institutions for which minimum qualification is 10+2. In addition there are also certificate courses for which 10+2 is enough.

Personal attributes Required
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 team, mental and physical toughness to be able to withstand high pressure and criticism, must be sociable and have 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.

Main areas of work in advertising field
Advertising is handled by advertising agencies that vary in size and scope. Soem large companies have set up seprate departments to handle specialized areas liek market research, film, video production etc. Advertising serves three basic purposes:

• Sales Promotion: To persuade people to buy a particular product or service.
• Public Relations: To create a positive image of a company.
• Education: To influence social attitude on matters of general concern and inform people about welfare schemes through public interest campaigns inititated by government or private organizations.

Following are the main areas of work in the advertising field:
• Client Servicing
• Creative Department
• Media Department
• Production
• Television and Film
• Photography
• Market Research
• Exhibition and Event Management
• Promotion and Direct Marketing

Job Prospects in Advertising in India

Career opportunities in advertising include 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 organisations etc. One can also do freelancing.

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

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