Banun Erkıran Çıtak, President of the Advertisers Association, who was a speaker at the talk titled "The Future of the Advertising Industry" organized by the Advertising Club, shared her experiences with the students who are the future of the advertising industry. The talk was moderated by Muhammed Enes Tanır, a member of the Advertising Club Supervisory Board, on Wednesday, 11 May, between 11:00 and 12:00 on Google Meet.
Çıtak started the conversation by emphasizing that advertising is to introduce the message to the consumer. The conversation proceeded through Çıtak explaining how he stepped into the advertising industry and the Advertisers Association, and also talking about the purpose and activities of the association.
Emphasizing that the Advertisers Association is a media agency, Çıtak recently stated that the Advertisers Association, Interactive Advertising Association, Outdoor Advertisers Foundation, National Radio Broadcasters Association and Mobile Media Research, Marketing and Advertising Association prepared by the independent consultancy Deloitte. He stated that the Advertising Investments Report was published. Çıtak stated that Turkey has caught up with Europe in terms of advertising budget and the sector is growing day by day. Çıtak announced that as an association, a new research on Socio-Economic Status (SES) Groups will be published in the future and this research will guide the sector.
Çıtak talked about the Effie Awards and Crystal Apple, one of the most prestigious advertising awards in Turkey, organized by the association, and gave general information about the competitions and emphasized that the competitions were organized in many categories.
Emphasizing that the Advertisers Association works in connection with many associations in the sector, Çıtak also emphasized that the association has a foundation called the Advertising Foundation and that the foundation organizes trainings for the sector. Çıtak stated that it would be beneficial for students to attend these trainings, and at the same time suggested that they follow Marketing Türkiye, Mediacat and The Brand Age magazines.
Emphasizing that the advertising industry is a fun industry in the interview, Çıtak stated that there is no concept of working hours in the industry, that it is busy from time to time and that they work in a home office during the epidemic. Stating that the advertising business is suitable for home office work, Çıtak stated that there was no regression in the advertising sector during the epidemic period, unlike other sectors.
Talking about the fields and agency structures of the advertising industry, Çıtak emphasized that there are many types of agencies and departments, and that students should choose the department they want to work in when they graduate, emphasizing that it will be very useful for students to do internships in their student life and choose the right department when they graduate. Çıtak emphasized that there is a huge employment gap in the advertising sector and that they have difficulty in finding qualified personnel, and stated that if the students improve themselves, they can reach very good points.
In the last parts of the talk, Çıtak answered the questions from the participants:
Çıtak answered the question asked by Emrah Asal, a student of the Department of Advertising Design and Communication, about the placement of advertisements in the Metaverse world; When İrem Çakır, a student of psychology, who is interested in the advertising sector, asked about which field she can work in the sector, she said that customer relations and strategic planning departments can also work; Gizem Sever, who is a student of the Radio, Television and Cinema department, was asked about gender inequality in advertisements; When Mertcan Aslan, a student of the Department of Public Relations and Publicity, was asked whether any computer program, camera training or course certificate that we should know in the industry apart from our graduation qualifications is required, he said that he should follow the Media Agencies and that he can improve himself in the institution by progressing in the field.
After the questions from the participants were answered, the event ended after the moderator Muhammed Enes Tanır thanked Banun Erkıran Çıtak, President of the Advertisers Association.
After the event, Aslı Songül Özbay, President of the Advertising Club and Muhammed Enes Tanır is member of the Supervisory Board, who moderated the conversation, visited the Advertisers Association and presented a plaque of appreciation to the Association President Banun Erkıran Çıtak for their participation.
Prepared by Muhammed Enes TANIR
