Studies & Degrees in Advertising
Advertising Study Programs
Job positions for Advertising:
Graphic Designer
Advertising agencies rely mostly on their creative staff and creative department to produce superb products for their clients. These teams are composed of different careers and positions, each contributing to the eventual success of an ad campaign. One of the members in this department is the Graphic Artist. Graphic Artists or Graphic Designers are concerned with all the visuals that are involved in an advertisement. They plan, analyze and produce the needed visual impressions from the client’s input and objectives. They are the artistic producers of the advertisements and they ensure that the message of the product or service is delivered by utilizing the proper colours, animation, photos and illustrations. They develop the layout and design for publications, magazines, newspapers, billboards and other printed media. They are also involved in making logos, brochures, flyers, packaging designs and other signs and signage systems for business and government use. Graphic designers are also involved in television, wherein they are responsible for making short animations in movies or in TV shows. A number of graphic designers also work in web design, where they are most needed for designing web pages, advertisements in web sites and other multimedia projects.
Graphic designers prepare their work by using computer software or by drawing. They carefully select the most preferable choice of colours, images, illustration, and sounds that would best depict the message of the client’s product or service. They are aware of the target market and consumers and are able to create an ad that would impact on these prospective consumers. It is essential to identify the consumers and their needs in order for the graphic designer to come up with a relevant advertisement, and this explains the need of graphic artists to frequently discuss plans and strategies with the client before coming up with a final design. The graphic artist usually suggests a number of designs, from which a client will now choose and plan on the next objectives. Graphic artists must then have presentation skills, much like any other member of the advertising team. They must be able to clearly explain their ideas and approaches in order for the client to relate it to their needs. For Graphic Artists who run their own businesses, they must know how to handle administrative jobs, such as managing and supervising activities of their employees, acquiring new clients, interaction with current clients and selection of new equipment.
A Bachelor’s Degree or an Associate degree in graphic design is usually required for graphic designers to get the job. Most companies also accept those with degrees in Advertising and Fine Arts, or most courses that include visual arts, drawing and design. Entry-level designers are usually trained for 1 to 3 years before they are eligible for higher positions. Experienced Graphic Designers usually land positions like Creative Directors or Creative Managers, while some, prefer to be in the academe to teach their profession.
Advertising Account Manager
Advertising careers are usually grouped in teams and each member has a different contribution. These teams are also called departments, each assigned with a different task to accomplish and each are under the command of different executives. One of the most important departments that serve as the backbone of an advertising agency is the account services department. This department is responsible for acquiring and managing accounts of clients in the advertising agency. The person responsible for this department is the Account Director. The primary role of the Account Director is to supervise the whole advertising process. This includes assisting the client in working and improving the preferred marketing strategy and overseeing the finished ad campaigns. Account directors maintain the connection and coordination of the client with the agency, making certain that the client’s objectives are met and that all the input from the different departments of the agency are balanced. They are well informed of the client’s products or service and the market and consumer’s to which it is directed to, through this, the necessary adjustments and fitting advertising strategies are made. They also understand the marketing objectives of each client regarding sales and competitor products, to make sure that clients have the upper hand in the competition for sales. The Account Director briefs all the departments involved to see to it that the stages of production are accomplished. They assist the client in solving marketing problems and makes sure that the advertisements and campaigns are on time and on budget. Account directors do not only have responsibilities concerning the clients, they also have tasks that keeps the agency running, such as making sure that the account is profitable and is running well, and ensuring that resources are always on hand. They must stay alert for opportunities to grow clients and the agency itself. An Account Director always aims for superior performance from the team as well as superior products for the clients.
As an Account Director, one must be a strategic thinker, resourceful, meticulous for detail and has outstanding communication skills. They must learn how to present marketing strategies and production work in front of groups of clients and they must be convincing enough when they introduce the capabilities of the agency to fulfil their objectives. This career requires a lot of collaboration and cooperation and team leading skills are a preferable to be able to run the whole team in an account. This position requires a business or management degree and usually account directors are offered the position after proving their capability in handling clients. This career is one of the highest paid positions in an advertising agency accompanied by a greater probability for promotions.