By chance, I heard about an event hosted by the CNM (Communications and New Media) department at NUS.  There, I spoke with a woman who has long worked at one of the major advertising agencies in Singapore.

The business of advertising, as Mandy explained it, lies in the selling of ideas to a client or company.  These ideas are then implemented by said client or company in a bid to capture the attention and interest of potential consumers.  In other words, the agency works to solve business problems with creative solutions, informed by data.

Advertising deals in the creation and marketing of ideas.  The agency, then, is divided into three main branches: Brand Management, Strategy, and Creative.

The Brand Management group acts as a bridge between clients and the advertising agency.  They focus primarily on business strategy, managing client accounts as well as communicating client needs to the agency staff and vice versa.

The Strategy team handles market analysis, relying on a combination of branding instincts and hard data to develop a brand strategy for the client.  The strategists are in tune with the culture, and their articulate research and insight into writing.

The Creative group does everything involved in its title, developing creative solutions, informed by Strategy’s work with data, to solve a client’s case.  Creative work encompasses art direction, design, copywriting, content, creative technology, and media arts.

In the modern age of information, Mandy highlighted the challenge of advertising as a competition for attention.  Instead of putting as much focus on print or physical advertising like billboards or posters, the agency has shifted its attention to social media campaigns, video, and other publicity stunts.

In our conversation, Mandy was admittedly frank, cautioning that work at an ad agency can be quite demanding of both time and energy.  Often hidden behind the visual excitement of an ad is an extraordinary level of coordination, research, production, and back and forth that can take months to prepare.  According to Mandy, many people struggle with the extended timeline of any single advertisement project, and how long it can take to see results.

The final output, Mandy said, must inspire you as an employee, and your drive has to come from a real passion about the work that the agency produces.  Another aspect of working at an ad agency that she pointed out was the opportunity to work creatively within a business setting. While a business environment structures life at the agency, the work produced and much of the process along the way is creative.