Advertising as a career field is very popular in India and even across the globe. It is one field that encompasses skill, creativity, recognition, money, rewards in ways not many career fields can boast of. Also, it is not a restrictive field in a way that students from across streams can aspire to enter into the world of advertising. There are various advertising courses that one can opt for after graduation or post graduation and get into this field. Combined with the right education and training, it is the soft skills of a person that ensure success in this career.
If you are also looking to take up an advertising course to get into this field, it will be good to get a realistic picture of what the career is all about, what the different fields are that one can pursue and what is it that one should expect after joining this field. It does look quite glamorous from the outside but those who work in it will vouch for the fact that the kind of hard work and perspiration that goes behind it is quite something. It comes with its share of fun and fulfillment that one may not be able to find in other career fields but all of it is earned the hard way. So, if you are also searching for the right courses in advertising to make a career in this field, this write-up will give you an overview of what advertising is all about.
Advertising is basically a service industry that facilitates the communication of ideas and information to promote products, services or even individuals to consumers. Since, the world and market demands are changing very fast, it is expected of the advertising world to keep coming up with the most creative and innovative ideas to promote a product. So, the value of and idea and then of course its execution is very important in the world of advertising. That way, it is very people oriented. Once the idea hits a chord with the consumers, it helps build a relationship between the consumer and the producer. What will work is a tricky thing to figure out. Depending on the product that is being promoted and the target audience, the advertising campaigns have to differ in flavour and content. Sometimes, very simple ideas work wonders and at times, grand ideas fail to enthuse the audience.
There are various big and small advertising agencies that take up assignments from clients and produce campaigns that suit their specifications. The campaigns are meant at promoting sales, to create a positive image of the product being promoted and also to educate the public about anything that needs to be communicated. Within advertising, there are various fields that one can work for. For instance, there is client servicing, creative department, media department, production, television and film, photography, market research, exhibition and event management. As per the skills, one can take up the field that one wants to work in. Those who are very creative obviously become a part of the creative department.
Usually, advertising courses are offered at postgraduate level. There are degree, diploma and certificate courses in advertising that one can opt for at government or private colleges. To pursue an advertising course, generally the eligibility is that one should be a graduate in any discipline with minimum 50 per cent marks. There would be an entrance exam or interview before the admission is granted. Some private institutes bypass this step and give admission basis the number of seats available.
In the curriculum of the course in advertising, a collective training of all aspects of advertising is given. There would be an overview of communications to understand the basics of communicating well an defectively. Then there is an introduction to research methods, combined with an understanding of marketing issues. Since advertising is primarily a wing of marketing only, it is essential to get a hold on what marketing is all about. Apart from this, the course would include financial and creative aspects of advertising; public relations; media planning and the required technical training in graphics and production. Since, graphics play an important role in producing advertising campaigns, it is essential to know the basic know-how of advertising.
One could either opt for a specialized course in advertising or a general course in mass communication, where advertising is taken up as a subject along with public relations and journalism. Since there are many career opportunities in this field, there is a lot of demand of this course too. One could work with advertising agencies, market research agencies and companies, advertising sections of radio, television and newspapers or join the marketing and advertising department of private and public sector companies. This way, advertising offers quite a promising career if one is willing to put in the required effort with loads of creativity.
Few useful links:
http://www.shiksha.com/
http://media.shiksha.com/getCategoryPage/colleges/media/All/All/Advertising