Smart Skills
Of commercials and client servicing
Usha Albuquerque

Everyday, we are bombarded by messages in visual or audio form, coaxing us to buy a particular product or service. ‘No one can eat just one! Daag ache hai! Whether it is a brand of soap, a computer, the latest model of a car, or a service that transports you to exotic locations, the message always is that of persuasion. This is advertising. Yeh hi hai right choice!

Advertising is the means of informing people and persuading them to buy a particular product or service or to attend an event. Whether it is different brands of products, companies, personalities or even voluntary or religious organisations, all of them use some form of advertising in order to be able to communicate with the target audience. It also serves to create a positive image of a company, organisation or activity, and to inform people about certain matters of public interest, to create awareness, or to influence social attitudes on matters of general concern.

Advertising achieves these ends in many creative ways. This is done mainly through print – newspapers and magazines; audio-visuals – radio spots; film and television commercials, computer websites and CD-ROMs; and displays – like hoardings; exhibitions, market stalls, sponsorship of events and so on.

All advertising messages are handled by advertising agencies that are equipped to plan, create and launch a campaign. A number of disciplines within an advertising agency, handle the different jobs in an advertising agency.

Catering to clients

Client servicing is the marketing arm of an agency. Its role is to secure business for the agency. This department is responsible for liaising between the client and agency. In advertising jargon, each client's contract is called an ‘account.’ So, an accounts executive who works in the client servicing department must interact with clients, gather information, oversee research where necessary, gauge consumer attitudes and based on this, work along with the various departments of the agency to formulate the most appropriate and effective advertising strategy within the specified budget.

Some agencies further divide personnel in the client servicing department into accounts executives and accounts planners. Accounts executives interact with clients and co-ordinate campaign inputs. They assist in the handling of one or more accounts

Accounts planners take a more academic approach. They organise research; collate information; gauge consumer attitudes and accordingly draw up the most appropriate and effective advertising strategy within a specified budget.

Client servicing professionals then transmit this information clearly to other advertising departments involved, control campaign budgets, oversee research, creative planning and production inputs and, in effect, manage the campaign. They also keep clients informed on the progress of their work and ensure that time schedules are met.

So, a good accounts executive in client servicing requires basic business acumen, interest in social and economic trends, good communication skills, team spirit, ability to withstand the high stress levels of an extremely competitive environment, ability to work under pressure, tact and self-confidence, powers of analysis, synthesis and an imaginative insight.

Eligibility

Therefore, if you have what it takes to be an accounts executive you can join an advertising agency after graduation. Although fresh graduates are often taken in as trainees for client servicing, most advertising agencies prefer MBAs or those with a degree/diploma in marketing or mass communication. In small agencies, it is still possible to make an entry without formal training, and spend about six months to a year learning on-the-job and then move on to a bigger agency after a few years of experience.

Course clues

Very few colleges offer specialisation in advertising at the bachelor's level. However, elements of advertising such as media planning and client servicing are covered in mass communication courses offered at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Indraprastha College in Delhi University offers a BA in Mass Communication that includes advertising. Some colleges of Bombay University, including St Xavier’s College, also offer a bachelor’s degree in mass media that covers advertising.

Most of the advertising courses are for graduates from any discipline. Such programmes offer a general course in mass communication where advertising is one subject along with public relations and sometimes journalism too. Others offer specialisation in advertising and marketing. Some institutions offer students the opportunity of familiarising themselves with the work environment by placing them with an advertising agency or related organisation for a short period.

Some advertising agencies have also started their own training institutes. Other than the well established Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad, new entrants include RK Swamy/BBDO, Contract, and the Northpoint Centre of Learning which conducts courses in Advertising and Marketing Communications in association with the Lintas India Group of Companies.

Future scenario

Advertising is a dynamic industry that offers great scope for creative, career-minded people. Each year, new markets open up and communication channels become more sophisticated, reaching out to many more people, through different media. Today, advertising is the key revenue driver on the Internet. India's vast rural market is becoming the focus of agri-business companies, which look for advertising targeted at the huge rural market. Moreover, multinational agencies are using aggressive advertising to capture the enormous and rapidly growing consumer base of nearly 300 million Indians. Therefore, it is estimated that the Indian advertising industry will need over 6,000 trained professionals every year.

This means advertising specialists are required, who can work in advertising agencies, the advertising department of a private or public sector company, the advertising section of a newspaper, journal, and magazine, the commercial section of radio or television, or with marketing and market research organisations.

Advertising is not a glamorous profession as most believe it to be. Those who join must be prepared to work long hours and under much pressure and deadlines. So, if you are willing to take the plunge - Just do it!

Training talk

Some of the important institutions are listed as follows:

• Indian Institute of Mass Communication, JNU, New Campus, New Delhi, www.iimc.nic.in

• Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA), Ahmedabad www.mica-india.net

• Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai-www.nmims.edu

• National Institute of Advertising, Sainik Farms, New Delhi-110002 1(UT). www.nia.org

• Wigan & Leigh College, Sainik Farms, New Delhi, www.wiganindia.org

• Xavier's Institute of Communication, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai www.xaviercomm.org

• Northpoint Centre of Learning, Mumbai. www.northpointindia.com.

• Bhavan’s College of Communication and Management, Mumbai.

• Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Mehta Sadan, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi.

The writer is a noted career expert