Advertising is a service industry geared towards the communication of information and ideas to and on behalf of others. It is the main arm of marketing, involved in the communication of information and ideas to and on behalf of others for promoting goods and services in order to optimize sales or levels of awareness. An advertising is not an end in itself but a means to builda relationship between the product and the consumer.

Advertising plays a significant role in today's highly competitive world. A career in advertisement is quite glamourous and at the same time challenging with more and more agencies opening up every day. Whether it's brands, companies, personalities or even voluntary or religious organizations, all of them use some form of advertising in order to be able to communicate with the target audience. The salary structure in advertising is quite high and if you have the knack for it one can reach the top. It is an ideal profession for a creative individual who can handle work-pressure.

Main areas of work in advertising field
Advertising is handled by advertising agencies that vary in size and scope. Soem large companies have set up seprate departments to handle specialized areas liek market research, film, video production etc. Advertising serves three basic purposes:

* Sales Promotion: To persuade people to buy a particular product or service.
* Public Relations: To create a positive image of a company.
* Education: To influence social attitude on matters of general concern and inform people about welfare schemes through public interest campaigns inititated by government or private organizations.

Following are the main areas of work in the advertising field:

* Client Servicing
* Creative Department
* Media Department
* Production
* Television and Film
* Photography
* Market Research
* Exhibition and Event Management
* Promotion and Direct Marketing

Eligibility for advertising career
Eligibility for most of the advertising postgraduate courses is graduation in any descipline with a minimum of 50 percent marks. Admission to most of these courses is based on an entrance exam and/or interview. Some colleges also offers BA courses in advertising, for which they need students who have cleared class XII.