Advertising by Zack Little

Advertising

If you have been watching any television in the last couple of years, you might have stumbled across a program by the name of Mad Men. Set in the 1960's at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency, it follows the story of Don Draper, a creative director. But what does Don Draper do while at work? If the show is any indicator, he's simply there to consume as much scotch and as many cigarette's as he can fit into a workday. Oh an occasionally he finds time to pitch a good advertisement to a big client in order to save the day. It all sounds like a cool job if you ask me. But is this the real world of advertising? Let's take a look at what advertising has to offer to the world and you.

Public Relations: Why Not

     What is an English Major? What can a person do with an English Major, besides teaching, or going to graduate school? Honestly if you have the determination you can do anything with it. Some of the great skills and qualities that an English major has, or that anyone can have, is the knowledge of writing, using words to create a voice that can be understood by everyone and, having a way of putting language together which can be passed to others. Then there is the knowledge of knowing how to read, and how to read fast, which is an amazing skill that is gained through years of studying literature, but there is also knowing the skill of knowing how to skim read, or just being able to look at a piece of writing and picking out the parts that are the most important. These are very useful skills in any kind of business field and any business owner would love to have someone with these skills on their team. Also being able to multi task which is something that is picked up along the way through many long years of studying, having this type of particular skill at hand is very useful in any type of business field. Lastly just being willing to teach yourself a new skill when it’s required, and not turning anything down by just being willing to jump in and take a chance to see what is out there. All of these skills, and qualities, are great aspects to the business world no matter what your major is, if you have any of these skills you can go anywhere you want in the world.

Shakespeare and the Brand: Why English Majors Understand the Psychology of Branding

Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven is thick inlaid with patens of bright gold. There’s not the smallest orb which though beholdst, but in his motion like an angel sings, still choiring to the young-eyed cherubims; such harmony is in immortal souls, but whilst this muddy vesture of decay doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.

—Lorenzo, The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene 1 

T

he way you say something makes a difference in how your message is received. Consider Lorenzo’s words in The Merchant of Venice. He could have said, “Hey Jessie, the stars are hella bright. Check out Mars moving backward.” (That is, if Mars was currently in retrograde motion.) But instead he calls them “patens of bright gold,” and threw in music and angels for good measure. Much classier. I’m sure his words gave Jessica pause, and made her think about just what kind of a man she had lying beside her on that grassy knoll. Or perhaps she went straight on to swooning, with no time for thought. Regardless of which effect his words had, the fact remains that the way Lorenzo tells her to look at the stars influences how Jessica hears him. 

So, what does Shakespeare have to do with the psychology of branding, you ask? All this beautiful speech has got me confused. Relax, I reply. I’m going to explain.

Image Consultant

As an English major, you know all about language. You have analyzed works in the English language, perhaps considered translations from other languages, or even looked at the components of language in related fields like semiotics. Language has become such an integral part of your life that you may have forgotten it is a skill--one that many people do not possess, and subsequently, one you can sell to them.

As an image consultant, you can capitalize on your knowledge of language, and use it to excel in the field of personal branding. Personal branding involves indentifying and creating a visual brand language, similar to that used by a company, for an individual.

Think of it like writing a book report: pretend your client is the novel, and you are describing the things they do well or poorly. Clarity, coherency, consistency--all qualities present in good writing--must be presented by your client in order to help him be successful in his field. You provide him with the service of analyzing and then explaining aspects of his personal brand that work well, and other aspects that are ineffective.

The Art of Smarm: Public Relations, Yeah!

The field of Public Relations is one of confidence. A job in Public Relations would entail being the public face of an entity, which could be a nonprofit, an organization, or even the government. It is a very media-centric job that needs confident, communicative, outgoing people. You could help rebuild a politician’s career or launch a brand new company’s business endeavor. Public Relations has direct control of how the company or organization is presented to the rest of the world. Writing and language are central parts of the job because Public Relations specialists need to convince people, much like advertising.

Problem solving and interpersonal interaction are common on the day-to-day activities of a Public Relations specialist. Preparing press releases and contacting people in the media are also common. Expect to set up and lead meetings, press releases and other activities between your organization’s leadership or representatives and the public. Besides writing, specialists also have to make other presentations at meetings. A lot of public speaking is naturally involved and a specialist has to be comfortable saying what they write. Various goings-on of the organization might have to be reported to higher-ups and government associations. Any new projects the organization wanted to do would require miscellaneous proposals to investors, the government, chambers of commerce, neighborhood associations, what have you. Advantageous majors would be Public Relations, communications, journalism and advertising.

Copywriting?

Picture it: Along with thousands of your similarly aged and similarly qualified peers, you are finally finished with your BA in English. So, now what? Being that you’re probably not going to spend either a) years in squalor in your parents’ basement or b) thousands of more dollars in going to graduate school, you’re going to have to find a (wait for it...) job. But not just any job. Nope, those entry-level, secretarial, paper schlepping part-times are no longer in your trajectory. So, what’s next?

Well, you have this document saying you are a literate, functional (well, let’s hope) human with a relatively decent grasp on the English language so why not put it to good use?

Beer Career

Did you know that beer is recession proof? It's true. In 2008, Budweiser rose 4.6% in sales--and this was during a recession. How can a person with an English degree get into this eternally growing field? There are a few options.

First is via marketing. English majors are great when it comes to marketing products. Companies desire someone who can be creative with word play, lettering design, and product descriptions to put on a website or the side of a box.