Ad-PR: Grabbing The Goal- IIMC

Manisha Dash is student of Ad-PR current batch and doing her internship in PR Department of IFFCO.

So this is the prequel!  The written test of the IIMC entrance examination. And before you really land up with your dream role in the Register rolls of IIMC, you need to give certain points a hit, and lest you miss it, let’s put them in bullets that strike your mind, neat.

Now that we are talking of getting into Advertising, creativity is no doubt a pre-requisite, at least in the entrance exam! Get the most out of your experiences. Recall the ads that struck you and analyse what made them click. And ask yourself how would you have approached the same, had you made it. Last year’s question paper carries a question on reframing the taglines of certain brands or products and giving valid explanations for the same.

Again, if you thought the Ad world was filled with creatives alone, welcome to reality. There is much more that goes  into making ads than just writing punchlines. (You will realize this as soon as you enter IIMC!) This year’s question paper is going to check your aptitude as well, with basic mathematics. Last year’s paper carried certain problems on mean, median and mode and basic statistics. Please expect a paper with a strict approach on numericals this year. Getting hold of RS Aggarwal Quantitative Aptitude book and just solving at max,five to six problems from each chapter would definitely give you a boost.(It was my Bible during the placement process of B.Tech!)

Even though ADPR paper varies greatly from EJ, HJ and RTV, a person is deemed selection worthy only if he/she is abreast of current  news. After all Public relation requires knowledge of the public! Nothing to panic if you haven’t been up-to-date all through the year. Get going now! Catch hold of any online newspaper site.(My personal favourite ‘The Hindu’.)And browse through its archives. The editorials give a fair  idea of the news and also help formulate opinions. (And should I let you a secret-I simply went through the Wikipedia  on India the night before the exam and the links provided in the bibliography ; it summed up the main events of the year ! However, jotting down  the important news at least a month in advance helps! )

ADPR requires not just news but brand news. To understand ,please refer the following:

I. Brand equity on ET( Wednesday supplement of Economuic Times)

II. Storyboard(CNBC)

III. Magazines like Business World, Business Today, Outlook Business.

IV. HT Sunday

V. Sites like www.afaqs.com, www.exchange4media.com

VI. Face off (by Vir Sanghvi) and Sunday Sentiments (by Karan Thappar J)

The information gathered from the sources mentioned above lend a meaningful insight to the way things work in the corporate, business and advertising world.

Going by the current trends, Digital media is sure to make some space in the question paper. Last year’s question paper carried a question on the role of social media in influencing consumer behavior. So, the sooner the better, you start observing digital market trends and read  certain articles or blogs on the impact that digital media is creating in the business world.

I believe the aforementioned bullets will suffice to hit the bull’s eye.

Just remember, "If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”

                                                                      -Albert Einstein

So, be your best. Implement your unique sense of writing and analysing. Rest assured, the sequel shall follow- “Life in IIMC”. All the best, IIMC aspirants!

P.S: I followed www.iimccounselling.blogspot.in sincerely for at least two months prior to the Entrance exam and I can’t thank  my seniors enough, whose blogs gave a direction to the preparation process and helped realise a dream called IIMC.