Jobs in the ad world
In order to succeed in advertising, one has to have competency laced with diverse talents. The copywriter, the visualiser, the art director and the studio technician have to work in tandem.
Advertising - the art of selling a product, service or an idea - is no longer a necessary evil. Even as it is used as an effective marketing tool, it helps educate the consumers about product features and the choice available to them.
The commercial world is today witnessing intense competition, thanks to the advent of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation.
Competition has assumed larger dimensions that call for more effective strategies in advertising.
It was Stephen Leacock who once said that advertising was the science of arresting human intelligence long enough to get money from it.
In our country, global advertising agencies partnering with their Indian counterparts have opened up greater career opportunities. The Indian advertisement business is estimated to be worth Rs. 10,000 crores annually.
A message to attract potential consumers of goods or services is designed and put in an appealing format in words, pictures, or multimedia. The genius of an advertiser rests in his ability to optimise the effectiveness of his message through its clever design and the identification of the effective medium for advertising.
An advertising agency should know the requirements of its client (often referred to as an `account' in the advertising world), select the most suitable medium, prepare the content of the advertisement to the satisfaction of the client and buy space or time in the media. It should ensure the best results for the client.
Essential traits
In order to succeed in advertising, one has to have competency laced with diverse talents. The ultimate objective of a good advertisement is to build a strong bond between the product and the consumer.
The backbone of the advertising industry is the ad agency, though the nutrients come from the advertiser.
Advertising has evolved over the years, passing through several phases such as personal selling, product, sales, consumer, value marketing, introspection, quantum advertising, and so on.
An ad agency
In a large advertisement agency there would be different departments such as Copy, Art, Media, Client Servicing and Research & Development Departments. In small units, various functions may be carried out by one department.
Client Servicing Department
This department analyses the client's needs and financial capacity, as well as the potential of each media. The department also keenly keeps a watch on the various options like newspapers, magazines and periodicals, professional journals, radio, television, cinema slides, short films, Internet, hoardings and billboards, personal mail, and house-to-house campaigning.
Creative Department
Proper conceptualisation is the key to success. The copywriter, the visualiser, the art director, and studio technicians have to work in tandem.
The qualities of the product should be put forth in the best of phrases - brief, terse, succinct and catchy phrases, slogans and jingles.
The concept may vary from product to product. A copywriter should have an excellent command over the language and has to be familiar with social trends, current affairs, and tastes of the consumers.
Skills in lettering, photography, videography, sound recording, and other studio operations are also necessary.
Media Planning Department
This department is involved in the identification of the best medium and meeting deadlines.
The functional distribution in an advertising agency may be as follows:
Account Planning: Learns the characteristics of the target population and ensures the relevance and utility of the advertisement.
Account Management: Gathers the needs of the client and conveys them to different departments within the agency. Links the agency and the client. Supervises the production so as to confirm that the product satisfies the customer. Skills in public relations would be of a great help.
Creative Services: Copy and graphics
Media Services: Studies the cost and reach of the various media. There are independent formations known as `Agencies of Record' that render the media services to different agencies.
Traffic: Meets deadlines.
Job opportunities
Job opportunities in an advertising agency include that of account planner, account executive, copywriter, visualiser, creative art director, animator, multimedia expert, photographer, printer, TV producer, media planner, media executive, buyer/marketing professional, web designer, web developer, etc.
The nature of work and the competencies or qualifications required also differ greatly. Those qualified in Commercial Art have ample opportunities in the creative department. MBAs with specialisation in Marketing can play a major role in the client servicing and media planning departments of large agencies.
Often, personal qualities count more than academic degrees for succeeding in this profession.
Those who have been trained in sales, marketing, journalism, public relations, computer animation, etc. have opportunities.
Professional courses
Some of the professional courses in advertising are:
Post-graduate courses:
Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi - 110 067
Mudra Institutute of Communications,
Ahmedabad - 380 058
Bhavan's College of Communication & Management, Andheri West,
Mumbai - 400 058
Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communication & Management, Mumbai - 400 007
Sophia B.K. Somani Polytechnic, Mumbai - 400 026
School of Communication and Management Studies, South Kalamassery, Kochi - 682 033
Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune - 411 004
Degree courses
University of Bombay, Fort,
Mumbai - 400 001
There are Degree courses in related subjects, in colleges under various other universities including Bharatiar (Coimbatore), Karnataka, and Madurai Kamaraj.
B.F.A. (Applied Art / Commercial Art)
College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, Mavelikara, Tripunithura, and Thrissur
Government College of Arts & Crafts, Chennai - 600 003
Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan - 731 235
M.S. University, Vadodara - 390 002
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi - 110 025
J.J .School of Art, Mumbai
Faculty of Fine Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221 005.
****
Brand Management Careers
General is passé, ‘niche’ is in— not only to make a style statement but also to mark your worth in the management world. Ask the corporate recruiters and many will tell you that they are on the look out for ‘special’ skills in their potential employees. It is now a proven fact that companies prefer mbas in several key positions including marketing, finance, it, supply chain, hr and most other areas. Even in technical areas engineers with mbas are treated preferentially compared to engineers without the management qualification.
A large number of specialist mba courses are being developed of late like rural management, forest management, retail management, advertising management, telecom management, business communi-cation, supply chain management, civil aviation management, brand management, etc. Most emerging areas belong to the service sector which contributes more than half the gdp.
With the floodgates of the indian market being opened due to lilberalisation, the indian customers have a large number of choices because foreign companies have started wooing them in order to promote their products. These products include a wide range of electronic goods for household use to automobiles to cosmetics to clothes and so on. But the big question is — what should be the right price and which segment of the consumer should be targeted? Welcome to the most fascinating but intriguing world of brand management.
Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product’s perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity. Marketers see a brand as an implied promise that the level of quality people have come to expect from a brand will continue with present and future purchases of the same product. This may increase sales by making a comparison with competing products more favorable. It may also enable the manufacturer to charge more for the product. The value of the brand is determined by the amount of profit it generates for the manufacturer. This results from a combination of increased sales and increased price.
A good brand name should be legally protectable; be easy to pronounce; be easy to remember; be easy to recognize; attract attention; suggest product benefits (e.g.: easy-off) or suggest usage; suggest the company or product image and distinguish the product’s positioning relative to the competition.
Types of brands: a premium brand typically costs more than other products in the category. An economy brand is a brand targeted to a high price elasticity market segment. A fighting brand is a brand created specifically to counter a competitive threat. When a company’s name is used as a product brand name, this is referred to as corporate branding. When one brand name is used for several related products, this is referred to as family branding. When all company’s products are given different brand names, this is referred to as individual branding. When a company uses the brand equity associated with an existing brand name to introduce a new product or product line, this is referred to as brand leveraging. When large retailers buy products in bulk from manufacturers and put their own brand name on them, this is called private branding, store brand, or private label. Private brands can be differentiated from manufacturers’ brands (also referred to as national brands). When two or more brands work together to market their products, this is referred to as co-branding. When a company sells the rights to use a brand name to another company for use on a non-competing product or in another geographical area, this is referred to as brand licensing.
The branding process begins with the evolution of a new product together with a comprehensive plan to make it an integral part of a consumer’s life. But before the process begins, a market survey is conducted to assess the consumer sentiments. The next step is to assert the brand identity by telling consumers as to how the brand (product) is going to fulfill their needs. The whole process is rounded off by aggressively promoting and campaigning with the use of various media forums and otherwise, to create an awareness among the consumers. Brand management is all about refining and dressing up a particular product so that it finds a permanent place in the consumer’s mind.
The genesis of any brand lies in the identification of a selling idea. The advertising agency assists the company in connecting to the consumers with the help of images and symbols. Brand management is also about delivering various strategies and techniques necessary to sustain the product.
The job of a brand manager essentially revolves around effective co-ordination with the other departments and beyond. In addition to co-ordination the brand manager is also responsible for support to the sales teams, dividing the overall brand strategy and budgeting. In fact, he is the person responsible for flawless functioning of activities such as formulation, productions, packaging and distribution. Further, a brand manager needs to be aware of the trends in the market, must know the effective art of man management and should also be receptive to new ideas. The key to success as a brand manager is practical thinking and always being on the toes.
This is one of the most challenging professions where scope of stagnation is almost nil. To be in the profession you have to learn new things on a regular basis. Moreover, the co-ordination work keeps the brand manager in constant touch with almost every department thus giving him the feel of the whole organization.
To become a brand manager, you should preferably have an mba degree with specialization in brand management. But, you cannot become a brand manager overnight. People generally begin as a part of the sales team. After a sustained good performance for two to three years in the core sales unit team of an organization, only the best and the brightest are promoted to assistant brand/product manager and ultimately to brand manager. The competition is so tough that from a team of about ten people, only a couple make it to brand manager.
Employers who generally provide brand management jobs are- consumer goods corporation; companies specialising in industrial goods; fmcg, pharma-ceutical, diagnostic companies; automobile industry, advertising companies, kpos, financial service companies and banks.
The remuneration of brand managers varies from organization to organization and generally depends upon the experience of person and the company itself. Freshers can earn anywhere between rs. 10,000 and rs. 15,000, whereas those with a couple of years of experience in fmcg industry can earn between rs. 25,000 to rs. 30,000. As the markets in india have become very competitive, the establishment of brands has become extremely important. As a result, the need for brand managers is more than ever before.
Institutes : indian institute of management - kolkata, ahmedabad, bangalore, lucknow and indore; indian institute of science and management- pundag, ranchi – 834004; symbiosis institute of management studies – 15th lane, prabhat road, pune – 411004; sp jain institute of management and research – munshi nagar, dadabhai road, andheri (west), mumbai – 400058; xavier institute of management and entrepreneurship– seva sadan campus, 3rd block, koramangala, bangalore – 560034; institute of management bhubaneswar – gyan vihar, rasulgarh, bhubaneswar – 751010; mp birla institute of management – 43, race course road, bangalore – 560001; indian institute of planning and management – iipm tower, c-10, qutab institutional area, new delhi – 1100016; indian institute of social welfare and business management- management house, college square (west), kolkata-700073; bharatiya vidya bhavan – block fa, sector iii, salt lake, kolkata-700097, and 77, ashutosh mukherjee road, kolkata – 700025.
No comments:
Post a Comment