Need for studying advertising from communication perspective

Continued from my previous post:

Another important problem with advertising programs is that they are often seen as a specialty programs and not inherently central within the paradigm of the traditional university faculties such as pure sciences, natural sciences, management, commerce or arts. So the question arises here is that in which academic discipline should advertising be taught? Or a separate need of faculty of communication is there within which advertising education must be fitted. In such a case, the purpose of this advertising division must be to:

1.      encourage the study of advertising as an integral part of our communication and marketing system.

2.      encourage the study of advertising as it relates to other institutions in society.

3.      encourage its members to bring to their teaching and research as a conception of the whole of advertising and not just its individual parts.

4.      provide liaison between its members and scholars in other areas who are interested in advertising and its role in society.

5.      stay abreast of current research; recent publications and research grant opportunities through its regular newsletters, conferences and periodicals.

6.      incorporate diversity in curriculum.

7.      maintain consistency in the content and title of such programs.

Charles H. Sandage once humorously explained the early history of advertising in his book, ‘Advertising as a Social Force’, 1998. He wrote:

From these early beginnings what has become recognized as an academic discipline of advertising was born. The father of this child was psychology and the mother, journalism. It might, therefore, be said that advertising education was sired by psychology and damned by journalism ... The child was abandoned by its father at an early age, but business-marketing moved in as a sort of stepfather to share with journalism the task of rearing the child in its formative years. There was some conflict in the family as to how the child should be brought up. One parent thought it should be nurtured on a diet of creativity, while the other recommended a menu closely related and subservient to the marketing aspect of business. Both parents viewed the child as chattel and directed its life toward serving the particular interests of journalism and business.

....to be continued.

Need for studying advertising from communication perspective

It is more than 100 years now that Advertising as a subject got introduced in education system. There have been two approaches to advertising learning- one from marketing perspective and the other in journalism schools. In both the cases it is looked at as a part of a larger system wherein advertising as a field has the capability of being studied as a separate stream. The academicians need to understand these differences in approaches of advertising education as neither of the approaches offer best platform for the teaching-learning process of advertising.

Can advertising sell? Well, the answer is-No. The ultimate objective of all the marketing programs is sales. Advertising is a small yet important aspect of the marketing mix. It supports the sales process but cannot sell on its own.  Advertising primarily influences and persuades target audience. My argument here is influence or persuasion studies fall into communication studies and therefore advertising education should be given more importance as compared to what it is given now with vigilant exclusion of sales from advertising studies.

Advertising education, as with most other types of professional education, has had its ups and downs in the 100 years it has been a part of curricula. Also, during this period diverse academic interests have created diffused patterns of curricula and emphasis. It is difficult to obtain a clear picture of the extent and scope of advertising education in India. Following issues can be observed in advertising education:

·         Which academic divisions teach advertising courses?

·         And, what courses are included in various advertising curricula?

·         What do various educational institutions call these programs?

·         What advertising courses are taught by the institutions with advertising programs?

·         What institutions offer advertising courses on the graduate level? How extensive are these programs?

·         In what way do advertising practitioners and organizations cooperate?

·         How many and what are the backgrounds of the faculty members who teach advertising courses?

·         Too many advertising students are enrolled in various advertising programs? How many of them are oriented towards learning advertising and taking it up as a career?

What is the level expected by the industry? Are they fulfilling the criteria? Are there enough job opportunities for these graduates?

·         Should advertising education be accredited by its own peers?

·         What do advertising educators think about the future of advertising education?

Most of these journalism or business programs have small components in advertising. In some cases it is clubbed with public relations wherein both Advertising and PR have the capability of being studied separately and independently. Some of the programs do offer a specialized degree in advertising but even these programs have various small components like media planning, event management, public relations, integrated marketing communication etc. These subjects are also important but in order to accommodate everything these courses fail to understand the core of the degree and deviate from advertising as a subject.

....to be continued.