Careers in Advertising

Every day, jingles, television ads, and even printed advertising on toilet stalls assault Americans with tens of thousands of commercial messages. To capture a consumer's attention for sixty seconds, advertising firms have started a commercial battle with outrageously brilliant concepts and thorough market research. Working in advertising is like tossing a message in a bottle into the water and hoping it lands in the appropriate place. Thus, it's a puzzle as to why anybody would want to work in such a demanding, high-stress profession. Those in the business know the answer: ads influence people's behavior, thinking, and dreams.

It takes a lot of work to put up an advertising campaign. An ad agency's job is to know a company's goals, turn those goals into an idea that will convince customers to purchase it, and then choose the right medium to convey that message. This three-step process is known as strategy, concept, and execution in advertising lingo. In order to deal with this complexity, advertising professionals take on responsibilities that may be broadly divided into two groups: creatives and business people. Creating an ad requires the collaboration of several people in the creative services department, such as copywriters and graphic designers, as well as photographers and filmmakers. Entry-level jobs in production provide plenty of opportunities for networking, which may lead to higher-paying positions in the advertising industry down the road.

Account management, media, and account planning are the additional job paths in advertising that deal with the business side of things. Managers of accounts are known as assistant account executives, administrative assistants, or coordinators of accounts at the entry level. Their job is to make sure advertisements flow smoothly and quickly through the three-step procedure. These workers may be required to do marketing research or to travel to client meetings or ad shoots on occasion, so they must be flexible. Executives in charge of accounts serve as go-betweens, ensuring that expectations are fulfilled and ideas are conveyed clearly. Account manager, account supervisor, management supervisor, vice president, and director are the next rungs up the ladder from there. It's common for people in the marketing department to begin as assistant media planners, which includes doing research on consumer behaviors and mapping out target groups. Purchasing and monitoring airtime and advertising space are the responsibilities of assistant media buyers. People who start as media buyers or planners may advance to senior buyers or planners, as well as vice presidents and directors. Finally, account planners engage in in-depth focus and study groups to better understand and quantify customer purchasing patterns and preferences.

Nearly half of all advertising professionals work over forty hours a week despite this well-organized and specialized framework, spending many additional evenings and weekends at the office or on business travel. A lively, trendy, and exciting work atmosphere is said to make up for the long hours by allowing workers to wear jeans every day, bring their dogs to the workplace, and play foosball to become creative. The advertising industry's appeal to recent college grads is obvious. There is a lot of competition in the market, and companies are looking for individuals who are innovative, self-motivated, meticulous, good with people, culturally aware, stress-resistant, and analytical. This position requires applicants to have previous teamwork experience, understanding of marketing and research methods, be up-to-date on the latest technologies, as well as be comfortable managing numerous projects with competing time constraints. Training in advertising may be obtained via a bachelor's degree in the liberal arts (ideally advertising or journalism or public relations), as well as literature, sociology or philosophy and mathematics and creative design courses in marketing. Getting an internship in the sector will give you a leg up on the competition and provide you first-hand experience working in an advertising firm. A two-year degree from an art or design school, evidence of communication abilities, and a portfolio of sample ads are usually required before hiring a creative on the basis of their talent alone. If you're a mid-career professional seeking to get into the industry, plan to start from scratch and be ready to move from agency to agency to improve your career.

Fortunately, advertising expenditures are increasing as more businesses feel the pinch of increasing global competition. This bodes well for the future. The advertising sector is expected to grow at a higher rate than the overall economy through 2012. Making your way into the business won't be as difficult now that you've played your cards correctly. The money isn't great, but you have to be ready for that. Starting salaries for most advertising professionals are about $30,000, but when their campaigns succeed, they may expect to earn more. This industry's median advertising manager salary is $75,000, with the top 10% earning over $145,000. You can expect a career in advertising to be very rewarding with plenty of opportunities for advancement.