Expert: Peter Gabany - 3/5/2010

Question
Hi Peter

I'm not sure how much you know about the South African market of advertising but I thought I'd give this a go nonetheless as there may be similarities everywhere.

I am currently doing my second year at university and I'm majoring in Media Studies and English Literature. I've had a very keen interest in advertising for about four years now and I know there's absolutely no other field for me.

My cousin majored in the exact same things as me in university and she is now in branding so I figured it wouldn't be too different for me too. What I am wondering is whether I am studying the right thing or not. After getting my undergraduate degree I plan on doing my honours in media studies but after that (and this is where the confusion kicks in) I'm not sure if it would be wiser for me to go to an advertising school and get a bachelor's degree in creative advertising or if I should stay in university and study towards a master's degree in media studies before looking for a permanent job. I know this is quite long and I do apologise:)

Answer
Advertising is a peculiar business. The creative aspects of advertising draw from life experience and keen knowledge of the marketplace. And while advertising holds an intrigue for many do not deny yourself the wider reality of communications. The ad world is changing ever so quickly. Facebook, Google, Twitter, on-line zines, iPad, Mobile ads are only a symbol of the possibilities on our doorstep.

Want to know what direction to take? I see two. You could take a regime of ad-centric courses and end up in a typical button down role in an agency making big coin. But if you really want to be an innovator in the field of communications, I would enter the liberal arts and get as well rounded a perspective on everything cultural that I could sink my teeth into. From social anthropology, literature, psychology and more. Mix this with applied type courses in communications, design, video, photography, even audio engineering.

This is me. This is what I (and possibly me alone) would do to best position myself for work in advertising. Agencies are in tremendous flux right now trying to determine who they are and what they want to be as they mature. They are grappling with the dynamic change the industry is experiencing right now… the last thing that they want to be saddled with is another status quo practitioner of methodologies that are dying on the vine as replacements take their place.

Diversity and flexibility. A willingness to innovate, a desire to embrace change will be the winners of the day in the communications industry - therefor embrace your passion for exploration and market that as your keyway to the industry of your choice.

Let me know if this helps and do continue to send good questions,

Pete