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.

The advertising industry with an estimated turnover of Rs 25,000 crore by 2010 has grown by 14 per cent. TV advertisement in India has grown by 13% in 2004-05 at Rs 4,860 crore, from Rs 4,300 crore in 2003-04. Print media advertisement has risen by 14.6% in 2004- 05 to reach Rs 5,450 crore from Rs 4,752 crore in 2003-04. The largest growth has been in Internet advertising, though, perhaps due to the low base. In 2004-05, online advertising has recorded 100% growth to Rs 900 crore. Radio advertising has registered a modest growth rate of about 3 per cent.

Global advertising spending will increase at a robust 5.9 percent CAGR during the 2005-2009 period, rising to $477 billion in 2009 from $358 billion in 2004. Television advertising is projected to expand at a 6.4 percent CAGR during this period, boosted by new channels and an expanding multi-channel household universe. Television remains the largest advertising medium, rising to $186 billion in 2009. Internet advertising is the fastest-growing advertising medium with a projected 15.8 percent compound annual increase to $32 billion globally in 2009.

According to the PwC report, advertising, which contributed US$ 4.75 billion or 38 per cent to the revenues generated by the media and entertainment industry, grew 22 per cent year-on-year in 2007.

According to an Economic Times survey of 100 large private sector companies, the aggregate spending on advertising by these companies grew by a huge 22.4 per cent last year over the previous year. More than four-fifths of the sample companies have witnessed a rise in sales turnover in 2007-08 following higher advertising spend.

The advertising industry recorded a robust growth in the current financial year. The advertising volume of radio channel promotions in print was double the advertising volume recorded in the first quarter of last year, whereas TV channel promotion grew by 43 per cent during the same period. Moreover, print advertising volumes grew by 5 per cent during the first quarter of 2008 as against the same period in 2007, according to a survey by AdEx India.

According to the latest projections by Media Partners Asia (MPA), a leading international media research agency, the CAGR of India’s advertising industry between 2008 and 2013 will be 12.8 per cent.

Growth by Region - U.S. Remains Largest but Slowest-Growing : The U.S. remains the largest E&M market but is projected to be the slowest-growing region at a 5.6 percent CAGR, reaching $690 billion in 2009. While U.S. economic conditions will generally remain favorable, rising interest rates and higher energy costs will lead to slightly more moderate growth rates during the next five years. After several years of sluggish growth, the EMEA region will recover, growing at a 6.5 percent CAGR to reach $572 billion in 2009.

Asia/Pacific will remain the world's third-largest region: It is projected to average 11.6 percent CAGR increasing to $432 billion in 2009. Latin America's E&M market is projected to rise at an 8.2 percent CAGR to $47 billion in 2009. Canada is projected to expand at a 6.0 percent CAGR to $37 billion in 2009, fuelled by double-digit increases in video games and the Internet.

Television Networks (Broadcast and Cable): Digital television will add to the number of outlets and fuel multi-channel advertising, which will be the principal driver. Public TV license fees in EMEA and Asia/Pacific will continue to be slow-growing components of the market. Spending will increase at a 6.0 percent CAGR annually to $204 billion in 2009 from $152 billion in 2004.

Television Distribution (Station, Cable and DBS): Subscription TV household growth will drive spending in Asia/Pacific, Latin America, and EMEA, while saturated markets will dampen growth in the United States and Canada. VOD and pay-per-view will contribute to growth in the United States, EMEA and Canada, but piracy will remain a problem, particularly in Asia/Pacific and Latin America. The market will reach $210 billion in 2009 from $146 billion in 2004, a 7.4 percent compound annual increase.

Video Games : After a drop to single-digit growth in 2005 as the current generation of consoles enters its last year, growth will ramp up in 2006 as the next generation of console hardware is introduced, leading to a new round of console game software spending. Online and wireless will become important distribution channels for video games, helped by growing broadband penetration and new mobile phones that will be used as much for entertainment as for communication. Overall, the video game market will expand at a 16.5 percent CAGR to $55 billion in 2009 driven by growth in Asia/Pacific, the largest market.