Career in Advertising Industry
There are four main categories of companies involved:
1. The Advertisers: who sell their products and services.
2. The Advertising Agencies: who produce advertising and place it on tv or radio, or in the press or with outdoor contractors; etc.
3. The Media: who provide the time or space for the advertisements, they include the tv and radio stations, the newspapers and magazines, the outdoor sites and the cinemas.
4. The Services: who provide technical skills to the agencies or directly to the advertiser
(market researchers, art studios, tv and radio production companies, PR companies, direct marketing companies, printers and many more).
All four categories can provide important job opportunities and a wide variety of people with different skills are required to satisfy the many disciplines. Designers, copywriters, artists, illustrators, tv and radio producers, media buyers, marketing experts, business organisers, market researchers, sales executives, statisticians, computer experts and others all can have a role to play. No one university degree will prepare an individual fully for all jobs in advertising.
This means that when the spectrum of the whole advertising business is considered, there are thousands of jobs involved, ranging from large companies to individual specialists and free-lancers. These notes concentrate on the careers in the advertising agency sector. There are appropriate organisations handling the other groupings and interests; some notes on them appear below
Advertising - NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED!
Advertising is a small world employing directly only the minimum number of people required, therefore a career in an advertising agency can be very demanding. Despite a glittering reputation, much of advertising is sheer hard work and long hours. Salaries can be quite modest at the start and work practices are often anti-social. Advertising is not for the lazy or those who expect a standard "9 to 5" job.
It is a truism that the majority of an advertising agency's assets get up each evening, leave the office and go home. This is a business of people and ideas. The "capital" resides in the minds of individuals and how they work together. So an interest in people, in working with others and in pulling together in an enthusiastic team are basic requirements for anyone who wants to succeed in advertising.
If advertising were a perfect science then every product launch, and every advertising campaign, would be an instant success. This is clearly not the reality; it means that a considerable amount of human skill goes into the creation of effective advertising. There is nothing of the "factory" about an advertising agency. Given all of this, advertising can be an immensely satisfying career. There is often a direct link between the amount of work put into a job and the financial rewards and job satisfaction that follow.
The classic advertising agency has three main functional units:
1. Creative Department
This is where the advertising is invented by writers (Copywriters) and artists (Art Directors), often working in teams. In larger agencies there may be many such teams and an overall Creative Director will be responsible for general standards. Art Directors usually enter through Art College or some technical artistic training. It is more difficult to identify the source for Copywriters, they may have an English degree or one in behavioural sciences; often it is just the ability to write short, memorable texts that will identify their talent, sometimes this is exhibited through an ability to write poetry where compression and vivid communication are demonstrated.
2. Media Department
This Department deals with the media - television, radio, press, outdoor, cinema and the like. It makes recommendations for the budget to be spent on the campaign and then manages that budget, ensuring that the advertising is booked as agreed. The Media Planner prepares a draft media plan for the Client; when it is approved the Media Buyers will place the advertising with the appropriate media and monitor the effectiveness of the campaign. Media requires a combination of the use of extensive statistical research data with personal bargaining skills, buyers have to negotiate the best prices for their campaigns. Media staff make extensive use of computer data bases and inter-active systems, so a good understanding of computers is a distinct advantage. For its size, Ireland has a sophisticated range of media research data available and a feel for figures is valuable.
In the large, international agencies so many people may be involved in an account that there is a need for one individual who concentrates on the research data and the brief, for this the role of Account Planner was created. This is the only really new function to be created since TV Production started - involving some media skills, some marketing skills and a lot of clear thinking. Some of the larger Irish agencies now have Account Planners and in other cases the task is usually undertaken by the Account Director in liaison with the Media Director.
3. Client Service
This department provides the interface between client and agency. The Client Service personnel act both as the sales people for the agency and as the client's "representative" within the agency. Their most important task is writing the advertising brief; a well-targeted brief can be the making of a good campaign. Client service also presents the agency's ideas to the client, ensures the work remains faithful to the brief, that it is ready on time and within budget. Agencies will have a client service team working on each account, at least comprising an Account Director and an Account Executive but, even within the small Irish market, this can increase in number depending on the complexity of the business involved.