Advertising Industry Research First, you will conduct a research on the outlook of advertising industry. Then, you will search various job titles and requirements. Finally, you will research one advertising agency of your choice in detail. I hope that the process and outcome will encourage you to reflect on whether advertising is a right career for you, and if so, what you should look for in selecting your position(s). 1. Industry outlook Write a report on the outlook of advertising industry nationwide and in a specific local market you are interested in (e.g., Baltimore). You are required to use ABI/Inform database available through Cook Library Web site for the advertising outlook in general, and in some cases, for the outlook in specific local markets. Local newspapers and trade magazines (e.g., Baltimore Business Journal) are good sources for research on the local advertising outlook. Minimum of 2 pages. 2. Position of interest Select a position in advertising industry that is most appealing to you. It can be a position in an advertising agency, advertiser, media company, or supplier. Describe what educational background, work experience, skills, and personality might be most appropriate for that position. Also include a search results on the salary range for the position. Search the Internet for recruitment ads for that position to confirm your answers. Job ads may be found in such sites as Adage.com, Salary.com, and baltimore.bizjournals.com. 3. Agency Report Select an advertising agency that interests you as a potential place for an internship or entry-level position. Write a review of the agency including as much of the following information possible. Consider using the Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies (aka Red Book, LexisNexis Advertising Red Books Agencies) available in the Faculty Reserve desk at the Cook Library, the agency’s official Web sites, coverage of the agency in such trade publications as Advertising Age, Adweek, and/or any local media (e.g., Baltimore Business Journal for a local agency). - Agency name, address, phone number - Brief history & philosophy - Agency size: Number of employees, revenue, billing, etc. - Key clients - Specialization, if known - Agency’s expenditures for media, broken down by type (available for most of the national agencies and many local agencies in the “Red Book”) - The agency’s most notable (or your favorite) ad campaign examples: Describe the campaign and write your response. Print campaign is preferred to broadcast campaign. - Contact information for a person(s) to whom you can send your resume and cover letter for internship and/or an entry-level job - Contact information for a person(s) to whom you may request informational interview, if that person is different from the one above. You need to pick someone who is in a position where you would like to be within the next 5-10 years. - Reasons why you are interested in the company. What makes this agency unique? Consider this as an interview question. Such reason as “because it’s next to my house” is not a very impressive answer. References Use appropriate reference materials to obtain the information you need: Advertising Age (particularly their special annual “U.S. Agency Profiles” issue published each spring; also available in the Data Center at Adage.com); reference books (Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies, aka Red Book, LexisNexis Advertising Red Books Agencies); many web sites (Adage.com, salary.com. etc.) Writing Format • Five to six pages excluding the cover page and the bibliography page, double-spaced, 12-point font size with no more than 1-inch margin on each page. • Section on Industry outlook should be written in paragraphs. Sections on Position of interest and Agency Reports may be written in paragraphs and bullet points depending on the effectiveness of each format for the content. • Use in-text citations according to the APA Style • Attach a bibliography page at the end of the report following the APA Style. Evaluation Your report will be evaluated based on the coverage of each section, organization of the report, writing quality and format (including citation), quality of research, and any additional issues to be considered. **IMPORTANT** • Attach the photocopy pages from all sources. Highlight the parts you used from each source. Your work will be considered plagiarized without hard copies of the source material, thus will not receive any credit. **IMPORTANT** Please send me links of website(sources) so I can print out and turn in together. Or Scan can e-mail me- deuxwon@hotmail.com Position interest should be Production Manager of ad company. ******** Web Sources************ 1. www.adage.com 2. baltimore business journal website