Advertising Landscape: An Industry Filled with Opportunities

Written by Suzanne Aranha and Candace Correia.

A guest speaker from Google Canada could seem quite intimidating to students who have yet to step into the “World of Advertising”, however this guest speaker was far from it.  The speaker had some informative insights on the landscape of the Advertising industry, particularly on the “Buy Side”.  

A large part of this #Googler’s job involves educating clients and advertisers about the services that Google offers in order to meet the needs of various campaigns.  That was a great segue into his presentation, which focused on explaining the current landscape of the Advertising industry that is dominated by Holding Companies. Holding companies are parent corporations that own other companies.

6 Major Canadian Holding Companies in Advertising are:

·       IPG

·       Dentsu Aegis Network

·       Publicis Media

·       Omnicom Media Group

·       WPP

·       Vision 7

The speaker emphasized the importance of understanding how the landscape is structured, and the key players that are involved in it.  It was interesting to learn how creative and media agencies work in synergy to create holistic campaigns for clients.  He also explained the role of programmatic in the industry, and how it is essentially the elimination of paper-based contracts used to run a campaign.   

With a successful career under his belt, the speaker used his first-hand experience to inform attendees of the various jobs that are currently present in the industry, such as:

·       Account Coordinator/Executive

·       Junior Media Buyer/Planner

·       Positions in Programmatic Advertising

As students who are keen on ruling the ad-world, attending this seminar was a good starting point for our career planning.  It helped clarify where we see ourselves working, and how we would like to start our careers.  The speaker made it known that there are plenty of opportunities for students to gain meaningful industry experience but they needed to be:

·       Ambitious

·       Hardworking

Enrolling in the Advertising Account Management program at Sheridan College will give you a head-start in acquiring important skills for a successful career in this industry.  Keep in mind that these Industry Guest Speaker seminars are a great way to network with experienced individuals who could totally help you jumpstart your career!