CAREER IN ADVERTISING: Dr A K Puri

Do you love to see and enjoy interesting ads on television or in newspapers. Some of the ads are really enjoyable as they contain a story and a message communicated within a very short time of a few seconds on television or just a visual in the print media. Put yourself in the shoes of an ad maker and imagine how you would have created your favorite ad from scratch. 

Welcome to the creative and fairytale world of advertising. Business of advertising is creative, challenging and rewarding. The Indian advertising industry has evolved from being small-scale business to a full-fledged industry. It has emerged as one of the major industries in tertiary sectors and has broadened its horizons - be it the creative aspect, the capital employed or the number of personnel involved. 

Advertising is the means of informing as well as influencing the general public to buy products or services through visual or oral messages. Advertising is a form of communication for marketing used to encourage or persuade an audience as viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group, to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as blogs, websites or text messages.

The three basic component of advertising can be described as Sales Promotion, Consumer Education and Public Relations. In sales promotion, the main job is to persuade and convince people to buy the product when the company has brought out, and continue buying it. This cannot be done overnight with a magic wand, but can be achieved only through a sustained effort in a campaign with promotional drive. In sales promotion, the first thing that one tries to do is to gather more and more people and explain the benefits of the product and convince the buyers to purchase it repeatedly. In Consumer Education, the public at large is taught the various benefits of a particular product or service so that people get attracted to it. In such a procedure, campaigns are designed and splashed in various papers; posters are hung and hoardings painted. Door-to-door campaigns are also organized where the benefit is even greater and the reach more effective. In public relations, the objective is to create a positive image of the enterprise by organizing various activities, press meets and articles published in newspapers and magazines. This also helps in building a strong brand message through effectiveness of the media.

New areas are emerging within advertising like event management, image management, internet marketing etc. Event management involves activities wherein events are marketed, Image management involves a particular profile of an individual or an organization that is projected in a positive way. Internet marketing has also brought about a lot of changes in advertising as Internet is the means through which one can cater to a select group of audience.

Advertising careers are diverse and can run across a variety of departments, offering positions in the fields of creative departments, production, media and research. The ultimate goal is to meet the client’s goals of increased sales as much as possible. Public relations services are often involved with businesses, governments, and institutions and can help them make effective decisions. Freshers in the field can pursue a career as advertising media planner, account executive, media researcher, copywriter, illustrator, production manager an public relations specialist.

 A successful advertising career is possible for candidates who are naturally driven, optimistic, creative, and can handle multiple projects at a time. Human skills are essential because the work requires understanding what a client needs and making effective decisions as a result. Degree or diploma from an advertising school or management institute can help, though not necessary for the gifted, in training and development of professionals to learn skills such as strong communication, creativity competitiveness, working under stress and pressure, presentation management, persuasiveness, confidence, being a team player and effective online communications.

A career in advertisement is  glamourous and at the same time challenging with more and more agencies opening up every day. Whether it is brands, companies, personalities or 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, can reach the top. It is an ideal profession for a creative individual who can handle work-pressure. There are umpteen examples of advertising professionals who are also commercial cinema directors and producers. May be you will be one of them in future! 

(Author is Director General at Institute of Technology and Science and a renowned Career Counselor. He can be contacted at [email protected])