All of the major advertising agencies were once headquartered in The Big Apple, along well-known Madison Avenue in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district. If you watch the HBO show Mad Men (since acquired by some other network in syndication) you will see the fictional characters working at fictional companies on Madison Avenue, thus the term “Mad” Men. In the 50s and 60s the leading advertising agencies were all operated by guys and it was a total boy’s club that ladies weren’t allowed to enter, except as assistants or receptionists. These guys chain smoked at their tables the whole day and drank heavily each night while wining and dining clients at fancy restaurants and pubs.
Those days are long gone and many are glad for that, particularly ladies and minorities who at present play a much bigger role in today’s major advertising agencies. Things have changed dramatically in the last two decades. Graphic Designers were always dealt with like technical flunkies and were often not granted the opportunity to rise above Art Director position. All of the Creative Directors (CDs) came from the copywriting departments and once you were a CD, you could hope to make partner or V.P. with some years of extremely long hours and efforts under your belt.
Today’s major advertising companies are ones that have made it through in the period of the internet and have adapted their services to suit the cyber world’s big demands. Thirty years ago ad firms didn’t even have computers. Typesetting was accomplished by hand with press on type that you purchased at the Art supplies store. Typefaces were limited and you must be very careful that you did not screw up or else you had to start all over again. Lord forbid that the Account Executive or perhaps the customer changed the headline at the last minute. Deadlines were extremely tight in the former days and you needed to manually crank out 50 to 100 advertisements in a single day (and all night) for delivery the next morning to the newspapers.
Of course these days all the top advertising firms have cutting edge computers, mostly Mac but several PCs too. The employed small armies of Graphic Designers who make use of software like InDesign and Photoshop CS.
Most of the major advertising firms now also carry out online ads and that shows that the artists have to have proficiency in HTML, Flash, Dreamweaver, as well as other site building software. By being so technical several of the artistic side of the craft has surely suffered. But because the airwaves are slammed and stuffed with so many visuals and loud attention hogging banners, the leading advertising agencies have to be a little more imaginative than previously in their attempt to acquire their client’s message through to their target viewers. The majority of advertising campaigns cost a great deal that the ad agencies utilize focus groups to receive responses before spending any money.
Despite the fact that techniques and technologies have developed over time, the goal of major advertising companies around the world have stayed the same and that’s sell more products for their customers.
Social Media Marketing is indeed an incredible tactic to enhance brand awareness, opportunities and sales and profits of your business through social media channels and also by performing visual presentations such as Video Marketing, which induces attention regarding the business and its products and services.
