Careers in Advertising - Serena Kallian

The Indian media and advertising industry has come a long way in terms of its creativity and business value. According to media reports the Indian advertising industry was estimated to be worth a whopping $ 6.4 billion in 2009. Well known advertising agencies like Mudra, Ogilvy and Mather (O&M), Mccann Ericsonn, Rediffussion, Leo Burnett are among the top destinations for any advertising aspirant in India. These companies have had a phenomenal growth from a small- medium company to an internationally recognised brand. With the onset of the economic meltdown the ad-world did indeed experience its set of jitters as companies tried to cut down costs on their marketing and brand management revenue. But 2010 seems to be looking up in terms of a better and bullish business environment for advertising companies. The advertising field is also known to be extremely dynamic and prone to high attrition rates. Telecom and FMCG companies usually tend to have high expenditure on advertising and so most opportunities circle around companies of this sector.
In its basic definition advertising is essentially salesmanship with a creative twist. It is an effective way of conveying to the target customer/consumer the features of the product. A tool that helps marketing and building a brand for a company and its products. Creativity is only one side to the business of advertising. It relies a lot on qualitative and quantitative research. A good advertising professional would need to have an insight into the market, the consumer trends, assess competition, have set goals and a budget, be creative, be a good judge of the media needed to convey the message etc.

Opportunities for work in advertising are available in many avenues which includes 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, as freelancers etc. The work is usually segregated into two sides one being the executive end and the other being the creative end. Client servicing, market research and media planning/ research form the executive side of the business. The executive end usually employ MBAs or people with relevant work experience. The creative department include copywriters, visualisers and photographers.

Getting initiated into a career in advertising can be en route a good undergraduate or postgraduate programme in mass communication/advertising, through an MBA or good work experience. Domestically India offers many academic options to an advertising aspirant mainly at the undergraduate and at post graduate diploma levels. General MBA graduates with a focus on marketing usually opt for roles within advertising.
There are few business schools which offer specialised management programmes with concentrations in advertising. The Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) is one among the top management institutes which do offer such courses.
MICA offers students concentrations in brand management, account planning and management, marketing research, media management and the emerging disciplines of public relations, and broadcasting, design and retail communications. MICA also offers an online certificate programme in advertising management and public relations through the Hughes global education network.
Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communications (SIMC) Pune, offers various full time and part time programmes in advertising, media management, public relations etc. Apart from SIMC, Manipal University at its Bangalore campus offers a two year full time programme in advertising and marketing communications known as an MBA in advertising and marketing communications.

On the international front academic programmes are offered at the graduate, master's and doctoral level with a specialisation in advertising. Some of the state and other universities in the US which do offer these programmes include Arkansas state university, California state university Fullerton, Drake university, Emerson college, Florida state university, Michigan state university, Purdue university etc(this is not an exhaustive list).
2010 has been a very fruitful year for several of the advertising agencies with companies ready to spend. However, the stakes are going to get bigger for the companies and opportunities to reach a new high for aspirants in the future.