In the first season of Mad Men, ad executive Don Draper explains what advertising is: “Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It s freedom from fear. It is a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is OK.” Advertising courses teach about the fast-moving world of the ad industry.
A bit about the art of selling through advertisement
Don Draper may not be the most impartial judge on the matter, or the most optimistic. However, his words ring true. If a product or service is going to win you over, it must make you feel that buying it will benefit you. In short, that it will make you happy. This may sound like a relatively easy thing to do, but it isn’t. The most successful campaigns are carefully planned and well designed. They are also streamlined for high impact and rapid absorption. Advertising courses teach you how to promote ideas about products to the public. Therefore, it must evolve in line with current social trends to be pertinent and fresh.
Account managers
There are a variety of careers within the ad world. Account managers oversee entire advertisement campaigns. They work across the various company departments, ensuring that the agency meets the client’s needs. This means account managers should be highly-organised and diplomatic. The need to get the most from agency employees as well as from clients.
Creatives
On the other end of the scale are creatives. They are responsible for the eye-catching words and images. Copywriters and art directors work side-by-side when preparing campaigns. They focus on the interplay between images and text. The idea is to make sure that both work together in an arresting and memorable way. Ads must be clear, informative, and, above all else, appealing. It is no easy task to unite these elements. Creative need to be enthusiastic, comfortable with deadlines, and capable of generating original ideas.
Other roles in advertising
There are plenty of other important roles in advertising. These include strategic planners, media planners and production teams. They all share in the success or failure of a campaign. Advertising is very much a team-oriented endeavour.
An introductory course will teach you the basic principles. Once you have developed a solid grounding, you can do an Advanced Diploma in advertising. There are further options from here if you find that you have a particular aptitude for the work. Who knows where work may one day take you? Advertising is the lever that motivates commerce and industry: wherever there are consumers, there is advertising.
