Advertising as a Career in the USA

Careers in advertising may involve working for advertisers, media, advertising agencies, or suppliers and special services. In opinion of American specialists, at most, only 35 colleges and universities in the USA have effective programs of advertising education. Fewer than 10 offer any truly significant amount of graduate work in advertising. However, advertising draws people from a variety of educational backgrounds.

Advertisers. Most companies that advertise extensively have advertising managers, or brand managers. Because these people help to coordinate the company's advertising program with its sales program and with the company's advertising agency, they must have aptitudes for both advertising and management.

Media. All media use salesmen to sell advertising space or broadcasting time. Media salesmen must be knowledgeable about business and skilled in salesmanship.

Advertising agencies. A variety of specialists is required in an advertising agency because it develops advertising programs, prepares advertisements, and places them in media. Those interested in advertising research and fact gathering should know both statistics and consumer psychology. Competence in media planning and evaluation is essential for a career in media. The media buyer must identify and determine the most effective media in which to expose the advertising messages, and pur­chase space or time in these media.

Copywriting requires creative writing skills and ability to visualize ideas. The copywriter is a developer of advertising ideas and messages.

Layout, typography, and visualization are essential for those in art, both for print advertising and for television commercials. Print-production specialists must know printing, photoengraving, and typography.

Experience in "show business", dramatics, photography, music, playwriting, and allied fields are excellent backgrounds for the television producer.

Besides, every agency needs the account executive to be a mediator between an advertiser and an agency who should have accountant background and managerial skills.

Supplies and special service such as marketing research organizations, television and radio producers, film producers, art studios, photographers, producers of display materials, typographers, photoengravers, and product and package design­ers support advertising.

Job prospects. More than 0.1 % of the U.S. population work in advertising, but their numbers are expected to grow rapidly. Opportunities for rapid advancement are generally greater in advertising than in most other industries. How rapidly a person moves up in responsibilities and pay is based largely on his own efforts, more than on age or length of employment. For women, opportunities in advertising — at least in advertising agencies and in retailing — tend to be greater than in most other business enterprises.

In general the rate of pay is comparable to that of business executives and professional men, such as physicians and lawyers in the same community.

Exercise 1. Translate the combinations «noun+ noun».

Consumer psychology, media buyers, pur­chase space, television commercials, print-production specialists, show business, the account executive, accountant background, graduate work, brand managers, sales program, media salesmen, display materials, product and package design­ers, business enterprises, business executives.

Exercise 2. a) Write out jobs in advertising mentioned in this text.b) Make a plan of the text for speaking aboutcareers in advertising.

Exercise 3. Read this advertisement and write other ads for specialists required in an advertising agency.

TVWA \ RUSSIA & TEQUILA\ ADVERTISING AGENCIES are looking for: · ACCOUNT MANAGER Male / Female Good experience in the advertising / marketing field Computer literate Fluent English Ability to work full time & under pressure For consideration please fax your resume to 933 76 59 or e-mail: [e-mail]

Exercise 4. Read and discuss the text. Can you read between the lines?

Learn to read between the lines. We are fond of not quite saying what we mean. This is often because we want to make something sound more attractive than it really is. This happens in a lot of job advertisements. Here are some aids to understanding the secret code.

1. This is a position of responsibility: you will be doing two people’s work if you accept the job.

2. Small friendly office: theroomis so small that those who work together are all packed into it like sardins.

3. The successful applicant must enjoy hard work: you will have to stay late every night, never take holiday, and work at home at week-ends.

4. Opportunity for training on the job: this will give us the opportunity of bossing you around mercilessly and paying you a tiny salary.

Text 3.

Advertising in the Russian Media

The U.S. Information Agency and the Russian group Okno-Reklama held a meeting at an international conference, whose aim was instruc­tion and exchange of experience. The problems were merely outlined — and it is clear that most publications face a similar set of such problems.

In Russian periodicals, as Prof. Obermeyer of the United States pointed out, line ads, or personal an­nouncements, are almost non-existent. By contrast, newspapers in the United States earn up to 50 percent of their pro­ceeds from line advertising.

The "expulsion" of private advertisers from our newspapers started quite a while ago, in the days of financial pyramids, when it was far more profitable for a pa­per to print ads from Khopyor Invest, MMM, and similar bubbles. There was no room in the papers for ads from pri­vate individuals who could not afford to pay for them. Khopy­or and others of the same ilk vanished in the end, but the private advertiser never returned to the general political newspa­per, having got used to special advertis­ing weeklies like “Iz Ruk v Ruki “(From Hand to Hand). Not because announce­ment can be placed there free of charge, but because the private individual knows that many more people are likely to see his announcement in an advertising tab­loid than in a serious paper.

Serious papers, however, do not have the knack of working with big-time ad­vertisers, who help many of them to survive, either. The advertiser tends to get cross when there are no phone calls from readers of the paper in which he has placed his ad. The trouble is that the newspaper has a good designer, but lacks a good copywriter, as he is known in the West, that is, a professional who brings home the ad's message, making it psychologically palatable.

How do matters stand with Russian newspapers? If the advertiser is Russian, the paper will painstakingly reproduce the ad's original text to the last comma. If he is a foreigner, the paper will make a primitive word-for-word translation of his ad, like this one: "Our shampoo is for healthy hair." Does this imply that it is unsuitable for unhealthy hair? Wouldn't it be better to write "This shampoo will make your hair healthy"?

Actually, most of newspapers' and periodicals' advertising-related problems stem from copywriters' lack of profession­al skills. The common belief is that no special training is needed here — you can pick up the necessary skills as you go along. Here is a real-life example: One ad leaflet dropped in private mail boxes reads: "Poverty-stricken students will take up any kind of work — railroad car un­loading, rubbish disposal, entrance hall cleaning, ad campaign organizing."

While a newspaper can afford to send its advertising agents somewhere for training, who is expected to teach the editors to take seriously their ad service? A blank wall still exists between the editorial staff and the advertising agents. Editors scold copywriters, blaming them for the failure to attract advertisers. The copywriters retort: "They don't come because you don't make a good job of the paper. What you print is not interesting."

If such discussions were face-to-face, there might have been some positive re­sults. But what we have is behind-the-back attacks. Simply Russian newspaper editors are not in the habit of discuss­ing the paper's creative concept with its ad service. It is only right and proper that such impressive conferences should teach peo­ple who already work as copywriters how to put ads together. But they would also do well to teach others, so that the paper might be widely read and the ads pay off.

Exercise 1. Read and translate the text. Learn these word combinations.

To hold a meeting; exchange of experience; to outline the problem; to face a problem; Russian periodicals; by contrast; line advertising; quite a while ago, to get used to; free of charge; serious papers; word-for-word translation; the common belief; the editorial staff; to make a good job; creative concept; to do well.

Exercise 2. Discuss the problems of the text using the following phrases:

I doubt that…; quite to the contrary…; it’s interesting to note that…; what strikes me here is that…; I might as well add that…; I’d like to draw your attention to...; it must be emphasized that…; it goes without saying that…; it is common knowledge that…; needless to say…; it explains why…; the matter of fact is that…; now I begin to see why (how)…; I think you underestimate (overestimate)…;

Exercise 3. Findtwo typical advertising texts in English and in Russian. What peculiarities of advertising are presented here? Choose the words creating the positive image of the advertised product. Make groups of verbs, nouns, adjectives. Compare them with «the Russian advertising vocabulary».

Exercise 4. Translate these sentences from English into Russian.

1. I'd give them a high rating.

2. The product appeals to the 25-35 age group.

3. There were banners stretched between the houses advertising the festival.

4. The launch was very successful.

5. There was a display of the latest research at the trade fair in Frankfurt.

6. As part of the promotion we are offering pre­paid coupons.

7. There's not much demand for these products.

8. Classified ads are advertisements which are grouped together under certain headings, e.g. property, personal.

9. Label is a small piece of card or material attached to product to show name, price, etc.

10. Advertisements are most expensive at prime time.

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