The field of advertising is becoming increasingly integrated with public relations and social media (Kim, 2012). As a result, many employers expect new graduates to understand how to navigate this from both an integrated and digital perspective in their new careers. The challenge is that some advertising courses may be taught from a theoretical…

This study examines leadership training in advertising. Interviews with U.S.-based agency professionals revealed the lack of a systematic approach to leadership development. There was a consensus among professionals that training (whether formal or informal) is needed. Despite need and benefits of establishing leadership training programs in…

The relationship between account management and creative is a complicated and ever-changing one. A common theme in the advertising literature is that account and creative teams sometimes struggle with intra-agency communication. This article looks at why communication is still an issue today and what knowledge modern account and creative teams…

To land a job as an art director, the presentation of a strong conceptualized portfolio is only part of the equation. What additional knowledge helps the novice creative not only during the initial interview but to succeed once they land the job? This study looked to identify what additional skills and traits working art and creative directors…

The purpose of this commentary is to: illustrate the challenges that Japanese advertising education faces; find the possible causes for the difficulties faced; and consider potential solutions to overcome the challenges and prepare students for a fast-paced global workforce.

Integrating the WMSF Case Study competition into a capstone course will create a whole new dynamic for students. The case studies provided by WMSF are valuable for students because they demonstrate that strategically selecting a target and creating a media mix that will communicate to the chosen target sometimes requires a flexible, human brain…

Ethnic diversity in the advertising industry could be a solution for culturally insensitive advertising. Insights from advertising professionals, obtained via in-depth interviews, reveal minorities are hindered by bias, resulting in low hiring ratios and lack of retention. Large segments of minorities may not consider advertising for a career.…

The changes in the advertising industry are rapid and dizzying. The advertising industry is going through structural change and advertising education faces a daunting challenge in keeping up with the real world. Advertising educators must recognize the urgency of revising the curriculum to address this challenge. If not, while the industry…

The continuing technological development of the advertising and public relations (PR) industry and increasing transfer of marketing expenditures from traditional channels to emerging digital media have placed a heavy burden on advertising and PR education. While it is not clear how educators are responding to the digital challenge, this study…

Providing students with employability skills is an important aspect of advertising education. However, as educators we must also be prepared to encourage students to think about a brand's responsibility and consider how advertising can help address important issues facing society.

As the use of social media continues to grow in practice and as an academic discipline, so too does the need for marketing students (and faculty) to develop and maintain a career-focused and current knowledge warehouse of information that is optimized to their own unique life situation--hence, the creation and use of what is described as a digital…

This article describes how a programmatic advertising course was developed and taught for undergraduate students. Depending on the resources available when the course was offered each time, different approaches were taken, which were the client-agency approach, consulting approach, and custom learning approach. The course content consisted of…

The question asked: "Where should advertising be taught? In colleges of communications or colleges of business?" The answer becomes obvious when you realize the question is greater than the teaching of a course. To be on a college campus requires that it be assessed by more than the schedules for a course with the advertising title.

In a national survey, advertising students rated themselves overall as above average on media literacy knowledge and attitudes, though 43% said they often are confused about the quality of news and information. Students exhibited higher degrees of understanding of and interest in the media literacy dimensions of "Messages and Meanings"…

As a communication tool, the creative brief should seamlessly blend business goals with creative vision. This article investigates the role the creative brief plays as an internal communication tool between account and creative teams. Two data sets were collected. Two open-ended e-mail surveys gathered responses from 33 agency account management…