Advertising and Marketing

What is Advertising?

Advertising is a form of marketing communication used to persuade an audience to take or continue some action, usually with respect to a commercial offering, or political or ideological support.

Advertising agencies handle a broad range of marketing tasks requiring people with experience and ability in overall management and specialized skills. In all agencies, the jobs usually fall into five categories:

• Account Management
• Account Planning
• Creative
• Media
• Interactive Marketing

Some of the Major Advertising firms

• Adam & Eve
• Amaze
• Barrington and Johnson Lorains
• Bartle Bogle Hegarty
• BETC London
• Draft FCB
• Fallon
• Intro
• Langland

Creative Advertising

The creative department of an advertising agency is responsible for developing the ideas, images, and words that make up commercials and ads. While many people in the agency contribute to the process, the invention and production of advertising is mainly the responsibility of copywriters and art directors.

The positions include:

Chief Creative Director - Manages the whole creative function of the agency. 

Creative Director - Responsible for the quality of all creative work produced by the agency for all clients. 

Assoc. Creative Director - Supervises and guides the total creative effort of one or more creative groups. 

Creative Supervisor - Integrates art, copy, and production functions and guiding overall creative effort of assigned general advertising creative groups on one or more accounts.

Copywriter - Generates concepts/ideas and highly targeted copy on one or more accounts. May adapt to changes in format, media and/or Clients' strategies.

Art Director - Responsible for the visual creation of general advertising campaigns on one or more accounts. Coordinates the design and reproduction of the copy with the art and production staff. 

Illustrator - Prepares a variety of illustrations for one or more accounts. May design, select layout materials, prepare interpretive drawings from written plans. 

What Positions In Creative Advertising are of interest to me?

The positions of Art Director and Illustrator are of interest to me as I have a big imagination so I could come up with some interesting ideas and concepts. I also enjoy making a visual outcome in response to an idea.

Degree courses that could help me attain these careers:

• Graphic Design
• Fine Art
• Art and Design
• Illustration
• Photography
• Creative Advertising
• Advertising

 

The Careers Fair

On Wednesday 23rd July, the school held a careers fair. This was to give us an insight into the potential universities or colleges we could go to after we leave the school. We also were given the opportunity to meet, participate in workshops and have talks with individuals who have careers in performance and creative industry. We were given a selection of workshops or talks to choose from, but despite the selection i felt most of them that were aimed at VAD students were mainly fashion based. This didn't seem entirely useful to me as I don't wish to take a career path in fashion. In the end I chose a workshop with a lady from Fashion Retail Academy and a creative industries Q&A session with past Brit School students and other individuals working in the industry.

There was a university fair held in the OBIE Theatre, where we had the chance to find out about and meet representatives from universities and colleges that are especially good for the arts. There was a wide variety of schools such as Goldsmiths, LCF, Bath Spa, Ravensbourne, Falmouth and many more. This was very useful as we were able to find out about the schools and the courses first hand from students who attend them. Through talking to some of the university representatives I gained a wider understanding as to what type of course i needed for my favoured career path. We also received prospectus' and dates for open days. The universities I liked the most in order were Falmouth, Bath Spa and Ravensbourne as they each had the courses I was looking for.

Next, we had a talk with a lady from Middlesex University about writing our personal statement. She started of by showing us examples of a good, a mediocre and a bad personal statement. We were given advice and tips on how to write an exceptional personal statement and the do's and don't's of writing one. The Lady gave us the deadlines we needed to meet for our applications and certain requirements such as how many characters and roughly how long it should be.  

The talk was followed by a workshop session with a lady from Fashion Retail Academy. It started out with the lady giving us a brief insight into FRA and to what the school offers. We then moved onto an activity where had to go into groups and make a garment out of paper, using words we picked out of a hat. I enjoyed making the garment and getting creative. However, on a whole I felt that the workshop did not benefit me as i don't intend to pursue a career in fashion.

The day ended with a Q&A session with people who work in the creative industry. There was also former Brit school students there who are now working in the industry. Each of the speakers started by introducing themselves and what they do, also if they were ex Brit students they informed us which strand they were in when attending the school. What I found really useful about this session was how they gained a career in the industry and what they needed to do in order to land the opportunities they did. I also loved the fact there ex Brit students there, as they were once in our shoes and have experienced life after Brit. We told about how they used there time at the school to benefit them in the future and how the school helped them gain success. I found that each if their experiences and stories were all very different but the common link to there success was perseverance and determination.

Overall, I found the day quite helpful when it came to the university fair, the personal statement talk and the Q&A session. They were informative and also helped in making my decision as to what course and potential uni choices.