Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović, ekrem@www.media-marketing.com
Today we are publishing a column Why should you work in advertising? by a British author Dan Wilks. I am grateful to Adnan for finding and translating this text, so that we can all read it. An excellent article on the importance of advertising in today’s society and the fact that everyone values advertising as an industry more than we ourselves do. Is it true? Yes! Why? I have no idea, and I think few people do, because if we knew why, we would probably change that attitude.
Many industries important for humanity today live mainly from advertising. Let’s take for example the media industry. Apart from public service broadcasters, all media live from ads. The fact that newspapers are sold at newsstands brings almost no money at all to publishers, since the costs of sale amount to around 50% of revenue (commission kiosks, distribution, return of unsold copies …). Subscription also doesn’t bring profits. Just look at how big discounts publishers offer for subscription. In addition, they have to pay the postage or salesmen in order for the newspapers to arrive at your front door. Sales at newsstands and subscriptions bring ad money. More copies sold and more subscribers means more circulation, and more circulation brings in advertisers with better advertising prices.
Culture and art would hardly survive without sponsors, especially in recent years as state budgets for culture are in a sharp decline. In the developed countries sponsors’ spending for culture and art is on the rise. Sponsorship doesn’t directly contribute to increased sales of products or services of the sponsor. That’s what advertising is for. Culture and art enrich people’s lives, make society happier and automatically people become better consumers. That’s where the sponsors see their interest, and through sponsorships they indirectly contribute to their own well-being and overall welfare of the society.
Professional sport also couldn’t cope without sponsors and advertising. Sponsors finance top athletes, their teams and national teams. Continental and world championships, including the Olympic Games, could hardly reach today’s level of organization and results without sponsors. Without advertisers, TV stations wouldn’t have the money to finance expensive broadcasting rights for the coverage of large sporting events.
There are many more areas of life where sponsorship and advertising play a very important role. Without them, things just wouldn’t work.
Everyone can see that, except those who work in advertising. They deal with communication, yet they don’t communicate. They make ads for clients, record TV spots, organize events. They work for everyone but themselves. Everyone is buckled down on the task in front of them, but there is no collective synergy of the industry, there is no promotion of advertising, there is no communication. Now and then, when you win a prize, you send a statement, and that’s all. The new generation of creatives is NOT knocking on the door industry. Young people have increasingly less desire to work in advertising, and the industry is doing next to nothing to promote itself and thus attract young, educated and creative people to join it.
Read the column which we publish today, and think a little about what that man says. It would pay off.
Monday, as every other Monday… but strangely enough, quite a lot of news came in.
Sarajevo, 16 May 2016.