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.