A career in advertising...

Advertising Spend in Press Media A popular career choice for graduates, there is a lot of competition for advertising jobs in the UK. Although a career in advertising can be intense and high-pressure, they are also exciting and require individuals to be creative and quick-thinking.

According to figures from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), there were 19,077 people employed in the body's 261 membership agencies as on September 1st 2007.

This was an increase of 9.2 per cent compared to the year before. The IPA's figures also revealed that staff turnover had decreased in 2007 compared to the previous year.

More recent research by Creative and Cultural Skills, which also included non-IPA agencies in its study, showed that there are 26,500 people working in the advertising sector. Of these, 70 per cent work in London, and the sector as a whole contributes £1.46 billion to the British economy.

Types of Agencies

Advertising agencies are of two types. Media agencies advise clients on how and when to spend their advertising budgets and through what media the campaign should reach the target audience. On the other hand, creative agencies develop the campaign through words, illustrations and graphics on behalf of the client.

Creative and Cultural Skills' research suggests that 80 per cent of agencies are creative-based, while 17 per cent are a combination of the two kinds. Similarly, advertising jobs can be of two types, offering both creative and commercial opportunities in advertising.

The creative side, as the name suggests, is responsible for the creation or production of the advertising campaign which has been ordered by the commercial side.

Creative Careers in Advertising

Creative careers in advertising include jobs in copywriting and art direction/graphic design. Copywriters are in charge of writing the words that accompany the main image, while the job of art directors and graphic designers is to develop the illustrations, colouring and layout of the advertisement. Art directors also need to see how the copywriters' words fit in with the illustrations and how the two look together.

As a result, creative opportunities in advertising require a lot of imagination, ingenuity and original ideas. The ability to work long hours and do whatever it takes to meet deadlines is also a must.

Commercial Careers in Advertising

Commercial careers in advertising involve planning the advertising strategy and an analysis of markets and targets. Media management and market research are the main strands here.

Media managers or strategy planners use data available to them through the market researchers to construct the marketing plan. Skills needed are common sense, numeracy and an ability to tap the consumer mindset. Once a plan has been made, it is passed to the creative department.

Routes into the Advertising Industry

It is not always necessary to have a degree or qualifications for advertising careers. More important is creativity, quick-thinking, an outgoing personality and the ability to keep up with regular deadlines. In short, recruiters tend to look at applicants' characteristics rather than qualifications or training.

However, this is being challenged at the moment, with critics saying the industry needs to be more structured. Recruitment methods tend to be very informal and a number of those looking for opportunities in advertising begin with undertaking low-paid or unpaid placements.

Useful Links

http://www.ipa.co.uk/
The UK’s trade and professional body for advertising, media and marketing communications agencies.

http://www.adassoc.org.uk/
Advertising Association: a federation of trade bodies and organisations representing the advertising and promotional marketing industries including advertisers, agencies, media and support services.

http://www.allourbestwork.com/
Set up by the IPA, AOBW gives its members the ability to upload their portfolios, showcase their best work and comment on the work of others

http://www.brandrepublic.tv/
BrandRepublic.tv is an online video channel for shows aimed at people who work in the advertising, media and marketing industries.

http://www.diagonalthinking.co.uk/
Test whether you have what it takes to succeed in a career in advertising.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Explore_job_sectors/Advertising__marketing_and_PR/overview/p!elpkXe
Graduate careers website.