What makes Advertising a Lucrative Career Choice
By Ronmi Bora
Advertising can be regarded as a means of communication with the users of a product or service. Advertisements are messages paid for by those who send them and are intended to inform or influence people who receive them, as defined by the Advertising Association of the UK.
The History of Advertising
Advertising goes back to ancient Greece even before radio or television was invented where people wrote “For Sale" on the sides of their houses if they wanted to move. In the Middle Ages merchants hung wooden signs in front of their stores to show people what they were selling. The invention of the printing press in the 1440s had a big effect on advertising and by 1600 newspaper ads came into being. The invention of the radio in the 1920s and television in the 1940s revolutionized advertising. More recently the Internet and e-mail have led to the development of new advertising strategies.
In today’s digital era, internet is the most popular advertising medium. This is not only because the cost is reasonable but because the reach cannot only be large but it can also be very specific. Search engines like Google and social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are able to use data to place advertisements which are supposed to be relevant and interesting to the user. The company then pays Google, Facebook or LinkedIn a fee each time someone clicks on the advertisement.
A company that needs to advertise itself or its services and products hires an advertising agency. The agency is then given a brief on the brand, its imagery, the ideals and values behind it, and the target audience. The agency’s job is to convert the ideas and concepts to create the desired advertising message to be conveyed to the target segment. A team of professionals like copy editors, brand managers, visualizers, researchers, creative heads and designers are primarily responsible for executing the advertising campaign in the market as per client requirements. Once the client approves of the ad campaign, the ads go on air according to the bookings done by the agency's media buying unit. WPP-owned media agency GroupM forecasted in its report ‘This Year Next Year (TYNY)’ that advertising expenditure in India is expected to touch Rs 69,346 crore in 2018, growing at 13% over 2017.
"A Diamond Is Forever" - These four iconic words probably became one of the most remembered of the 20th century, De Beers and their agency created demand for diamonds by monopolizing the market, changing Americans' social attitudes, and convincing people that a marriage isn't complete without a diamond ring. This simple, memorable, copywriting ultimately made De Beers one of the most recognizable jewellery brands in the world. Despite its massive success with this campaign, De Beers decided to take on a new one as the 21st century arrived, one firmly rooted in “Me”-cycle values emphasizing upon women empowerment. Hence, the advertising agency for De Beers launched its “Raise Your Right Hand” campaign. The idea was to encourage women to empower themselves by buying diamonds to express their individuality.
Pros & Cons of Advertising
“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.” – Steuart Henderson Britt. On the contrary also, sometimes money spent on advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. What’s the use if she can’t even notice the efforts?
There are both pros and cons of advertisements. Advertising can help a brand educate consumers about new products and services which can help them improve their lives. It also helps the economy and creates employment opportunities. Social and moral issues can be promoted at ease. On the other side, the results for advertising are never guaranteed though it costs time and money. And it is very easy for the wrong message to be consumed.
In advertising, there's a big difference between pushing the truth and making false claims. Many companies have been caught out for peddling mediocre products, using wild claims like "scientifically proven" with "guaranteed results." Like for instance many fall prey to big claims of fake advertisements and tend to incur huge financial loss. There are consumer grievances forum to address such issues.
As Indian audience we have witnessed landmark campaigns for Fevicol, Asian Paints, Cadbury and several others brands but the 20-year-old iconic “Dhara Jalebi” ad still gives fodder to creative writers. Amul Utterly Butterly Delicious is indeed the taste of India which always focuses on current topics and makes innovative ads with witty liners.
Advertising campaigns to promote travel destinations has always been very popular and the advertisers may include both private entities as well as governments who share the intended goal to boost revenue from travellers. For instance, Incredible India which includes several campaigns endorsed by popular celebrities like Khushboo Gujarat Ki is the Gujarat Tourism advertisement campaign by Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan. The resultant was domestic tourist arrivals in Gujarat have ramped up considerably, with an almost 33% rise in the numbers from within the state, a 50% rise from other parts of India and from NRIs, and an almost 100% increase from foreign tourists. With recent “Awesome Assam? campaign by none other than winner of People’s Choice awards, Quantico star, Priyanka Chopra, our desi girl and of course the billboards of Muga Silk of Assam created quite a stir in many cities and impacting Assam to leave footprints on the global map of tourism.
With advent of digital media, there are several ads that are breaking gender stereotypes, addressing non-binary relationships and same sex couples. For instance, The Titan Raga ad upholds motherhood as a choice not sacrifice. Their another popular ad starring Katrina Kaif encourages women to get married for the right reasons and not because of societal pressures. As Katrina says in the ad, "Get married when you find the one who deserves your time."
Career in Advertising
In the advertising industry one can build a lucrative career as a copywriter, art director, ad sales, managing accounts of client portfolio and earn good perks.
Institutes like IIMs, MICA, SPJIMR, NMIMS, Welingkar, Symbiosis offer good media and advertising courses in the country. Individuals aspiring to make a career in advertising must opt for internship in reputed agencies which will further enhance their career prospects. For instance, my 10-week MBA summer internship with Lowe and Partners Worldwide in Bangkok location was a great resume pointer. Leading universities overseas like Michigan State University, Leeds College of Art, University of Florida, IED Milan have well-structured coursework and great exposure in multi-culture environment.
To conclude, “The greatest product or service in the world won't make money unless consumers know it exists”. Hence, even if hit by recession, the existence of advertising industry is inevitable and it supports global culture.
About the Author:
Ronmi Bora holds a Double Masters, MBA (Marketing & Strategy) from Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand – XLRI and Mcom(Management) from the University of Mumbai. She completed her Bachelor of Commerce & Economics, University of Mumbai. A marketing professional, Ronmi is a poet at heart, traveller, dancer and a passionate writer having published with several media houses.
