Despite the common misconception, the advertising profession is not just one set of skills. Most people view those in the business as being either artists, copywriters, account executives (in the case of agencies) and others. This is only part of the truth of what advertising people do and the backgrounds they come from.
What’s an Ad Man?
Despite their dramatic portrayals in such television shows as Mad Men, the advertising business is made up of a group of people with very diverse skills. And while it might be true that the most commonly heard of are the copywriters, artists, account executives, and others, there is also a large group of those providing support services, the most notable of which is marketing, which is responsible for providing the research and other necessary data upon which advertising campaigns are built. Further, marketing functions to take surveys to determine the effectiveness of campaigns both during and after campaigns are completed.
In the strictest sense of the word, marketing encompasses all of the skills involved in positioning a product or service for sales. As a result, marketing people are shrewd at analyzing the trends that can propel a product or service to greatness, and they understand how to manipulate what they say to get others to buy, whether the consumer needs it or not.
Skills of a Different Sort
The advertising profession is one in which the gift of persuasion will get you practically anywhere you want to go. Unlike many other professions, advertising requires no tools to be a specialist in, just your gift for gab and lots of charm.
Advertising people normally begin their careers in the traffic department of agencies or an in house department handling all sorts of responsibilities, especially in market research, a natural application of a marketing degree. This background is also useful if a person with a marketing degree is able to arrange an internship with a related firm while still in college. Besides a degree, if you have specialized training from an art school or similar institution, you could probably get a job as an assistant art director or some other technical position. Of course, these requirements vary from firm to firm, and depend heavily on the size of the firm in question.
Ad is What Ad Does
Advertising is a unique business, much like many others. The truth is, talent comes in many different forms. The people who make up the advertising business are often very skilled at what they do, but they don’t necessarily come trained in the advertising business. In fact, sometimes receptionists become copywriters, gophers become art directors, etc., just because they felt like they had a knack–and not necessarily the education–for it.
It is worth noting that Jerry Della Famina, CEO of Della Femina Travisano & Partners, one of the largest and most successful advertising firms in the world does not have a degree. Neither did Henry C. Rogers, the late chairman of Rogers & Cowen, the so-called PR Man to the Stars. What both of these legends had in ample supply was the courage to try, both beginning as copy boys at newspapers.
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