Careers in advertising and marketing communications

So, you like the image of the advertising industry, its flamboyant celebration of The Idea, those long lunches and outrageous lifestyles? The trouble with image though is that it is just that and the reality is very different.

Forget what you've seen on television, in movies or on Youtube. The advertising industry is a demanding, rigorous business and its people are smart, tough and decisive. They work very hard at what they do, which is to help solve a client’s business problem through effective marketing communication.

Modern advertising, like the media it uses to sell products and services, is fragmented. It ranges from large full-service agencies within global networks, to smaller, often more specialised, locally-owned shops.

If you are seriously considering a career in this exciting industry then it helps to match your interests and skills with those of the key specialists. It also pays to do your homework. Read industry publications as often as you can and get to know the key sectors of the business. You will need qualifications but sometimes sheer imagination also works.  It also helps to have some idea of the various roles within the industry so you can see where you’d fit in…

Account Service

Account managers represent the client at the agency and the agency at the client organisation.   Account managers should know everything about the client's business and its key competitors. They should share this intelligence with the agency team and build strong internal relationships to ensure work is completed to the highest possible standard, on time and against budget. 

Account service people are highly organised with an attention to detail. They must be outstanding communicators who combine creative problem-solving with sensible decision-making.

Creative

Creatives usually come in teams – an art director and a copywriter. In the conceptual phase, they both generate verbal and visual ideas until they hatch a concept they want to develop further. Then their roles become more defined, the copywriter works on the words and the art director on the images. But both have a genuine feel for each other's work and can think conceptually in both verbal and visual terms.

Art Director: Art Directors conceive of a visual direction that not only expresses the qualities of a product or service, but appeals to the right audience and makes efficient, effective use of a short period of time, or a small space.  

Copywriter: Copywriters must be focused communicators, since most copy has to be brief, demanding discipline.

Both art directors and copywriters have to be constantly aware of popular culture, its shifts and nuances. They both feed off it and contribute to it with their own work. They literally must speak the language of the consumer, whether it's a parent buying a baby stroller or a kid buying a skateboard. 

Media 

Whether in a full service agency or a specialist shop, media plays a pivotal role in advertising. Media planners, buyers and researchers make the client's investment in advertising count by making sure the advertising is seen by the right people at the right time. They find the right viewers, listeners and readers - the 'target audience' - that might be receptive to the client's message and develop a cost-effective plan for reaching them. Then they negotiate deals with the media of choice for efficient delivery of advertising messages.

Media Planning: Media planners apply their knowledge of media markets to develop media plans, specifying which media the client should purchase to reach their desired target audience with their message. They recommend not only the appropriate mix of media but an advertising period and frequency that will get the message out while accommodating the client's budget.
 
Media Buying: Media buyers turn the approved media plan into reality. They reserve or 'book' the appropriate space and time and, in many cases, negotiate the most favourable rate based partly on estimates of how many people in the target audience the medium is expected to reach. They also monitor media to ensure that the advertising actually appears when and where it is supposed to and, with some media, that the audience is as large as anticipated.

Interactive/Digital Marketing

Display, Search, Email, Mobile, Social Media – opportunities in the interactive marketing field are exploding at present.  Interactive marketing requires account service, media, production and creative people, although the line between these traditional roles is often blurred in digital mediums.  Additional opportunities exist in design, data management and computer programming.

Production

Production is where the ads are put together, either in-house at larger agencies or externally at stand alone production companies. The major production areas are TV, radio, print and digital. The production team forever has its eye on deadlines while haggling with printers for the best deals or coordinating talent and camera operators for a commercial shoot.

It's a highly organised, fast-paced environment suitable for those who have an eye for detail and can work to tight deadlines.

Get out to get in

Get out of the house and beat the streets - sell yourself. But first, study the communications market in all its diversity, read the trade publications which interest you closely so that if questioned at interview stage, you can display an informed acquaintance with the industry. Build profiles of agencies you admire and, if possible, get as much experience as you can.

If it’s an account service or media position you’re after, make sure you check out the CAANZ Graduate Programme, and the CAANZ accredited industry recruitment companies.

If you are in the creative field have your 'book' or showreel ready to prove you have talent. Check out the deal with Creative Placements.

Career Services 

Career Services are a government organisation that aims to provide access to the best careers information, advice and guidance by promoting the importance of career planning at every stage of a person’s life.

Website: www.careers.co.nz

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