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Published in the Slovak Republic
Media Education (Mediaobrazovanie)
Has been issued since 2005
ISSN 1994-4160
E-ISSN 1994-4195
2018, 58(4): 56-68
DOI: 10.13187/me.2018.4.56 www.ejournal53.com
Media Competence in the Structure of Professional Characteristics of Experts in Advertising and Marketing
Oksana Kozlova a , * , Olga Tkachenko a, Natalia Anashkina a
a Omsk State Technical University, Russian Federation
Abstract
The modern media environment is undergoing changes, which occur quickly and are accompanied by the multiplication of information, the emergence of new and complex forms of its presentation. Information consumption is characterized by a superficial perception, reduction of the severity, oversupply, ignoring messages, lack of awareness of information needs. However, the audience of mass media, having access to information resources and opportunities for the distribution of media content, is learning effective interaction with the media environment. This leads to a change in consumer behavior. Experts in the field of marketing and advertisement are forced to look for new ways of communicating with consumers, which meet their needs and appropriate relevant and constantly changing state of the media environment. All this makes it extremely important to systematically revise the structure and content of competence-based characteristics of media experts. The article presents the results of a study conducted to identify the characteristics and professional skills of an expert in advertising and marketing that determine the content of his or her media competence as a professional worker in the media environment. A theoretical analysis of the problem area was carried out, there were derived and analyzed the empirical results of a survey of representatives of business and employers interested in such experts. To check the reliability of the research the collection of secondary data on the sites of search and the offer of vacancies for the various posts was held. The authors propose to consider media competence as a key in the structure of training of experts in advertising and marketing. The basis of its content should reflect the knowledge and skills for implementing strategic communications in the digital environment, the changeability and complexity of which require the development of wide range of skills and characteristics of this kind of an expert.
Keywords: media competence, media environment, media expert, advertisement, marketing communications.
1. Introduction
Life of a modern society cannot be considered without constant presence of the media that surround people literally everywhere. Representatives of various scientific fields indicate the formation of information society, information culture (media culture), and, generally, media environment as a result of the ubiquity of information and communication means. As a
* Corresponding author
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (O.A. Kozlova), [email protected] (O.N. Tkachenko), [email protected] (N.A. Anashkina)
consequence, mass media has got an integrating impact on society, changing not only the presentation of reality, but that reality itself, along with the ways of its transformation.
Many different types of modern human activity are realized in the framework of full or partial inclusion in the media landscape (media environment) and relationships that arise over the use, creation, conversion, transfer of media products. In response to the need for competent, effective and safe use of media, there is a need in media education. Academicians of media education emphasize the importance of the inclusion of this discipline in the educational process of a person of any profession and at any stage of his life.
The concept of media education is based on the integration of the educational process and media. On the one hand, a person receives information from the media for self-improvement and self-education, on the other hand, he or she supplements and modifies the content of the media. This process of interacting of media and individuality helps to the latter one to develop knowledge and skills to use media for the benefit of its growth and improvement of life. We are talking about the communication culture, development of creative and empathic abilities, formatting skills to interpret, critically evaluate messages, as well as the development of skills in acceptable self-expression using media technologies.
The result and purpose of media education is the formation of media literacy or media competence. Many authors give the definition of the concept, distinguish features, signs, structural elements. However, characteristics of media competence in the structure of the various activities and professional environments are researched rarely. The authors G.U. Soldatova and E.I. Rasskazova fairly notice: "The use of the Internet for communication, search, downloading and creating content for solutions to technical issues, purchases and payments - all these are different opportunities and, consequently, for their implementation different resources and competences of an individual are required" (Soldatova, Rasskazova, 2014: 30).
At the moment in modern scientific studies little attention is paid to the issues of the description of the characteristics of the media competence of the individual, which not only consumes, but actively involved in the creation and distribution of media texts (media messages), media content, media products. It is going about experts in marketing, advertising, PR, journalism, who are on a regular professional basis engaged in the work, monitor the effectiveness of its implementation and realize the results of its effect on the audience. A.V. Fedorov proposes to consider media education of future media experts (journalists, filmmakers, editors, producers, etc.) independently. Among other areas he calls media education of future teachers; media education as part of General education of pupils and students; media education in institutions of additional education and leisure centres; remote media education of schoolchildren, students and adults; independent continuous media education (Fedorov, 2009: 162).
More than a decade ago N. Jenkins wrote about new trends in the development of the media landscape: media companies are exploring opportunities to promote media content through different media channels with the aim of increasing markets and attracting new ways of influence. In their turn, consumers are embracing a variety of media technologies to enhance their control over the media and interact with other consumers (Jenkins, 2006: 6). Bilateral multiplication of information leads to the oversupply of the environment in which person lives and acts. This causes the problem when customers ignore primarily advertising information, which effectiveness of communication is drastically reduced. "An excessive amount of advertising makes a consumer become "blind" and "deaf". In this context, advertisement ceases to perform its main function -ensuring sales and profit, and therefore it is forced to seek ways of attracting attention and memorizing, to create setup for purchasing goods by new and untypical ways and means" (Anashkina, Tkachenko, 2017: 8). This trend is observed now and will be in the future. The prospects of transformation in the field of digital lead to significant changes in decision-making processes of consumers (Kozlova et al., 2018: 280) and necessitate the formation of new competence-based approaches in the training of media experts.
The media environment under conditions of media convergence, the emergence of new technologies and forms of representation of information is becoming more diversified. In this regard, the implementation of professional activities in media environment requires not only the development of media competence as an integrative quality of the individual specialist, but also the possession of some over professional characteristics and skills, which will be the basis of successful
work with the information that in turn will lead to achievement of the goals of particular organizations.
The importance of studying these processes is also caused by the fact that over the past three years there have been significant changes in the labour market in media technologies. There is a big discrepancy between the demands from employers and the proposals of the universities. A large number of new professions has appeared in the media environment and the demand for them continues to grow. The relevance of studying the expectations and needs of employers in the field of professional competences of specialists in advertising and marketing is defined by the current situation and the necessity of an interdisciplinary study of the concept of media competence.
2. Materials and methods
In this work, a study was conducted the object of which was to identify in-demand characteristics at present and in the future and skills of an expert in the field of advertising and marketing that characterize the content of his media competence as a professional worker in the media environment and personality, able to recognize the impact of media texts on society.
In this study we used several methods that allowed us to consider the concept and essence of media competence as well as to highlight certain practical requirements to it from employers. The complexity of the presented methods allows to take into account all the main factors determining the formation of media competence among professionals in the field of advertising and marketing and to provide the optimal solution.
1. Theoretical method of the research was aimed at defining the issue area of interest, clarifying conceptual questions and highlighting the main scientific discussions.
2. The study is based on secondary information collected on the sites to search and offer vacancies for specialists in advertising and marketing. This method was used for the purpose of validation and testing reliability of study while analyzing professional functions and qualities specified in the content of requirements for the positions.
3. Empirical research results are obtained as a result of a questionnaire survey of business representatives as well as employers who are interested in experts in marketing communications.
The study was conducted in the period from March to September 2018, on the basis of primary data collection with methods of survey and in-depth interview.
While preparing the study, a job description of an expert was initially identified and formulated as follows: the creation and placement of media messages with the aim of providing information, promotion, sales promotion of goods and services on a regular and professional basis with awareness and compliance with legal, ethical, and moral aspects. Such professional deals with design, organization and implementation of the communication process, study of the media environment, markets, consumer preferences, analysis of the effectiveness of communication activities.
The media environment is characterized by constant and rapid changeability: its structure, forms and formats of presenting information, ways of promotion get more complicated. To successful work in the area an expert should be able to offer a fairly developed and diverse range of skills and abilities, characterizing him as a generalist expert focused on realization of marketing tasks in the media environment. You need to understand that some of the competencies that are relevant today will not be needed in the future, other competencies on the contrary, will be the key to the successful work in that media environment, structure and condition of which now seem to be not realistic. It is important to recognize now the competency requirements and the request of specialists of the future. Understanding and awareness of the processes of transformation of the media environment leads to a change of current competencies in the structure of professional communications: obviously, for specialists of the advertising and marketing media competence becomes a key priority.
3. Discussion
The concept of media competence has sufficiently long been used in Western pedagogy. A German media pedagogue D. Baacke (Baacke, 1997) before others began to speak about a mass media user as a subject, who carries out targeted and active actions in the process of communication. In the frame of German media pedagogy an activity-based approach was developed, in which the audience is proposed to actively use the benefits of media for self-
education through effective perception and creation of media texts using a variety of audiovisual technologies. The main and promising task of media education is orientation in the media environment that is created by the awareness of the problems and possibilities of using technologies and various media rather than knowledge and skills of using a variety of media (Hüther, Podehl, 2005).
In the original understanding of the media competence of the personality we can build on the definition given by A.V. Fedorov: "Media competence of personality is a set of motives, knowledge, skills, abilities contributing to selection, use, critical analysis, evaluation, creation and transmission of media texts in different types, forms and genres, to the analysis of complex processes of functioning of media in society" (Fedorov, 2014: 25-26). The author identifies the following indicators of media competence: motivational, contact, informative, perceptive, interpretative/evaluative, practical and operational/ activity-oriented, creative (Fedorov, 2014: 2526).
The formation of media competence is a necessary element of a full existence in the modern society, the main pastime of which is concentrated in the media environment. As media, in general, people understand means of mass communication, i.e., various channels, using a specific technology for the transmission of media messages from source to recipient (press, radio, TV, Internet, etc.). The entire set of media channels combines within the media industry, the main function of which is to provide the landscape (environment) and implementation means of information processes. Events connected with the creation, distribution and consumption of mass media can be seen as a media landscape (the media environment). The media environment is also referred to as informational and digital that is associated with the prevalence of the use of digital technologies in processes of production, storage and distribution of information. In this regard, a number of authors appeal to the notions of information competence and digital competence.
S.V. Trishina considers information competence is one of the key and defines it as "an integrative quality of the personality, which is a result of the reflection of the processes of selection, acquisition, processing, transformation and generation of information in a special type of domain-specific knowledge, allowing to develop, make, predict and implement optimal solutions in various spheres of activity" (Trishina, 2005). In the structure of this competence the author also distinguishes the following components: cognitive, value-motivational, technological, communicative, reflexive. Information competence is implemented in the activity by performing the following functions: cognitive (gnoseological), communicative, adaptive (development in the digital world), normative (compliance with norms of morality and law), evaluative (orientation in information flows), developing (self-realization through effective organization of one's activities in digital environment) (Trishina, Khutorskoy, 2004).
Addressing issues of digital literacy, psychologists G.U. Soldatova and E.I. Rasskazova actualize the concept of digital competence, which is understood as "the individual's ability, based on the continuous acquisition of competences (knowledge, skills, motivation, responsibility) to select and apply information and communication technologies in different spheres of life (information environment, communications, consumption, technosphere) confidently, effectively, critically and safely, as well as his willingness to such activities" (Soldatova, Rasskazova, 2014: 29). Components of digital competence are knowledge, skills, motivation, responsibility and safety. Depending on the scope of their implementation the authors identify four types of digital competence: 1) information and media competence (content environment); 2) communicative competence (scope of contacts and self-presentation); 3) technical competence (technosphere, software and hardware security); 4) consumer competency (scope of meeting requirements).
The results of the research in the field of media education are reported in the works of such Russian scientists as A.V. Fedorov, I.V. Chelysheva, I.V. Grigorieva, Y.N. Khlyzova, O.P. Kutkina, A.V. Sharikov, A.V. Spichkin, Y.N. Usov, L.S. Zaznobina and others. Among the authoritative foreign researchers in the field of media education can be called D. Baacke, D. Bukingham, N. Jenkins, R. Hobbs, W.J. Potter, A. Silverblatt and others.
Analysis of theoretical ideas and research findings demonstrates that currently the extremely actual are the questions of media education of children and young people, as they carry out the major part of their educational, developing, vocational and leisure activities through the digital environment. Much attention is paid to media competence of pedagogical workers, which is justified by their initial orienting, goal-setting, regulatory activity in the educational process.
I.V. Grigorieva sets out her vision of media competence «as the ability of a personality to do culture activities on the material of the QMS (Quality Management System). As well as to conduct vocational and cultural dialogue and solution of professional pedagogical problems in the conditions of information society, that is, the ability to integrate media education in terms of subjects studied; to use media education technologies in the classroom; to acquire experience in the implementation of socially significant media projects; to acquire skills of organization of information-educational space of educational institutions and lessons" (Grigorieva, 2014: 6). An important aspect in the formation of media competence of a personality, which is noted by almost all authors, is active and purposeful self-education on the material of mass media, and in the process of performing various operations, and communications in media environment.
M.V. Zhizhina, exploring evaluation criteria of the results of media education proposed by different scholars, highlights the components of media competence, testifying to its maturity:
1) media erudition (profound knowledge about the media environment: the structure, content, forms);
2) development of media technologies and patterns of behaviour, the ability to communicate through media systems;
3) media protection (the ability to safely interact and to preserve one's identity, to prove one's point) (Zhizhina, 2016: 63).
At the moment issues related to the skillful manipulation of information (search, storage, usage, transfer); protection when immersed in media environment and communication processes; ability to use media technologies and a variety of tools to meet the diverse information needs are actively studied. As part of almost all approaches to media education understanding media competence does not only come to the amount of general user and professional knowledge and skills, but also to skillful use of information technology. We assume the formation of the ability to conduct effective activities in its implementation in media environment or using digital tools, as well as a personal sense of responsibility. In this case it is noted that in today's digital world media competence can act as a fundamental quality of an individual. Different authors conducting research in the field of media education naturally say that media competence is «a key competence in higher education, part of the professional subculture of all sectors, an integrative quality of the personality...» (Goncharova, 2012: 10).
V. Kacinová emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of media competence, the formation of which is integrated into the study of basic humanities (Kacinová, 2018).
Each new study of foreign specialists in the field of media education confirms the status of media competence as a key in the structure of professional education.
Currently, the special importance of the formation and development of media competence in the structure of bachelor training is emphasized. The effectiveness of this task depends on the creation of an appropriate educational ecosystem in which the student can realize their abilities and opportunities for self-development and build their strategy for further education (Álvarez-Arguietal, 2017). The authors R. Garcia-Ruiz , A. Ramirez-garcia, M. Rodriguez-Rose reveal the positive results of education in the implementation of projects focused on content and technology media environment (García-Ruiz et al., 2014).
In addition, a number of studies aimed at identifying aspects of the development of digital competence in the process of non-formal education (He, Zhu, 2017).
Thus, the concept of media competence alls into the focus of many diverse and interdisciplinary studies devoted to the problems of modern education both at the formal and nonformal level. At the same time, media competence is widely considered as a part of Digital Agency. "Digital Agency (DA) - consisting of digital competence, digital confidence and digital accountability - is the individual's ability to control and adapt to a digital world" (Shonfeld et al., 2018: 426).
However, as it was rightly noted by G. Jacquinot, the formation of media literacy depends on the context, has different forms in different educational and cultural environments (Cit: Zhizhina, 2016: 57). In this context we can speak about the importance to identify the specificity of media education in different professional fields and, primarily, those associated with the direct implementation in the media environment. The authors of this article addressed the problem of media literacy experts on advertising and marketing, who are directly involved in organizing the content of media environment and managing communications. "The competence of media worker
makes his ability to implement a communication exchange in different multicultural, national and multiprofessional environments" (Stepanova et al, 2014: 71).
Media is currently being considered, primarily, as an environment, rather than a mediator. This environment can be modified and updated with new information and endless copies of existing meanings, new medium and forms of representation of meanings. All this is possible due to the creative activities of subjects participating in information processes. On the other hand, media can be used as a «psychological weapon that is used to influence on the behaviour of certain target groups by means of the changes in their cognitive and emotional spheres» (Gaponova, Voskresenskaya, 2013: 89). Experts in advertising and marketing create and distribute media messages in order to influence on the consumer choice through information, persuasion and reminders. The nature of this impact can be based on obtaining mutual benefits by meeting needs, respect for the right to free choice or on attracting unscrupulous manipulative tactics that allow you to mislead the audience.
By media competence of experts in advertising and public relations S.A. Gaponova and N.G. Voskresenskaya mean the set of professional qualities that ensure successful activity in the sphere of mass communications: the ability to plan and control advertising and PR activities; creation of texts and documents distributed with the involvement of the media target groups; awareness of ethical aspects of modern media when thinking about moral and ethical issues related to the impact of media on people (Gaponova, Voskresenskaya, 2013: 89). The authors emphasize the problem of moral consciousness of specialists in these areas and their commitment to humanist values (tolerance, politeness, understanding, friendliness). Apart from acquiring media technologies to effectively implement information processes, it is also important to understand the social and psychological responsibility, critical and selective perception of media messages, development of skills of creating effective media addresses to the target audience. Wherein the writer and distributor of media texts are aware of the responsibility for the quality of the content of media environment, and may tend to convey the importance of this responsibility to the initiator of communication (the advertiser) and are able to work to his advantage. In this regard G. Tulodziecki associated with media competence "the ability to qualified, independent, creative and socially responsible action in relation to the media" (Tulodziecki, 1997: 120). S.M. Vinogradova, addressing the question of media competence of specialists in public relations, writes about the importance of developing skills of creative sending messages and critical thinking (Vinogradova et al., 2017: 136).
I.B. Arkhangelskaya reveals a different side of the content of media competence in advertising and public relations. Behind it is knowledge and skills of work with media space in general: analysis, evaluation, interpretation of messages; a critical attitude to information sources; the skillful selection of mass media and channels for making contacts with target audiences. "Teaching media competence is supposed to be the study of the basic theory of media and a number of sources, making tasks taking into account media preferences of students and, together with this, the expansion of their knowledge about printed and electronic mass media, and the use of well-known examples for discussing complex topics" (Arkhangelskaya, 2014: 313). In this context, there are aspects of training experts in the field of advertising and PR taking into consideration a media-oriented approach:
- "to teach to properly "read" a media text; to develop the ability to perceive and evaluate information reasonably, to develop independence in judgement, critical thinking, preferences, aesthetic taste; to integrate knowledge and skills, developing skills of journalistic creativity;
- to develop the ability to use information systems to solve professional and creative tasks;
- to give students knowledge of the functions of information in the system of mass media, modern technologies of acquisition, processing, storage and distribution of information;
- to help to master modern methods of obtaining information;
- to impart skills of writing journalistic texts in different genres;
- to master the methodology for monitoring media" (Vinogradova et al., 2017: 144).
Essential aspects of the characteristics of media competence of specialists, implementing the
communication function, in addition to the ability to use special technologies to bring information to the consumer and liability for the content of information environment are skills in organizing strategic communications. O.A. Kozlova and L.M. Dmitrieva write about the need to structure the training of specialists taking into account requirements of development of strategic communications that can change the basis of preparation of specialists in the field of advertising
and marketing and also lead to the emergence of new professions (Dmitrieva, Kozlova, 2016: 53). This principle can become the basis of media education technology of training specialists in advertising and marketing, determine the essence and content of media competence of specialists of this type.
Implementation of communications in the media environment to influence consumer demand has a number of structural aspects:
- organization of the communication process; setting goals of communication, planning strategies;
- communications management; organization of interaction of participants of communication process, media plan and media card, the selection of materials and development of a plan of release material;
- communication content management and analysis / criticism of the content; work with media texts, preparation of promotional materials for the realization of contact with the addressees of communication;
- assessment and improvement of the implementation of the communication process; research, testing, cost estimations, assessment of the effect.
The introduction of the concept strategic communications generates an expectation of skills and abilities of performing professional functions at all levels of communication from a specialist in advertising and marketing communications: organization, planning, management, content creation, assessment and improvement, accounting of quality and impact power on the recipient.
As noted above, in connection with the emergence of new and improvement of existing information technologies, the media environment is in constant transformation. In these circumstances specifically, it is important to know one's way around and adapt to implement successful communication with consumers. Employers are currently very interested in experts in marketing communications who are able to work in a changing situation and are focused on constant self-improvement.
Analysis of "Atlas of new professions", developed by a group of experts by means of foresight studies, illustrates the specializations that will be in demand in 2020 (Luksha et al., 2015). Among these specializations there are almost none of those that are declared today in the list of vacancies on Job-sites. Changes in the world of technology lead to the transformation of the content of professional competences, reduction of life cycles of the professions. In such a situation it is important to identify and understand the most current trends in order to promptly start training in-demand experts on the market.
On the basis of the analysis conducted, it becomes obvious that the specialization in the field of advertising and marketing moves from a professional to transfessional, which suggests the formation of unique qualities, rather than universal. This is achieved by the synthesis of knowledge and skills to address the unique challenges and form key competences (Stepanova et al, 2014: 71). A key competence can be called the one that «refers to the total (meta-subject) content of education» (Khutorskoy, 2005). A transfessional can be described as a person who constantly plays the role of a student and a teacher. He or she himself builds a line of self-improvement and self-education (Tkachev, Fokina, 2016: 185). This became possible with the development of information and communication technologies, open access to information, free communication with experts in different parts of the world.
Thus, in-demand expert on the labour market, associated with the implementation of marketing communications is characterized as a transfessional. Media competence can be considered as one of the key, its contents will be reflected on all-objective and subject-specific competences, linking together all the educational aspects of a specialist of this type, focused on the implementation of strategic communications.
The peculiarity of transfessional activities is inextricably bound up with conducting professional activities in media environment involving information technologies. Participating in the implementation of the communication process, which aims to influence on consumer choice, advertising and marketing expert brings changes in the structure and content of the media environment. In other words, he or she does not only adapt, but is directly related to the transformation of this environment. Responding to market needs, he or she forms it, as they become a source of new ways to gain consumers using new technologies.
In connection with the above-mentioned, there is a need to research, to determine the role, place and content of media competence in the process of training specialists in the field of advertising and marketing from the perspective of changes that will be inevitable consequence of the transformation of the media environment and the emergence of new media technologies.
4. Results
The conducted study was a questionnaire survey of employers of different fields of activity, hiring specialists, whose duties include implementing marketing and promotional activities. Among the respondents there were heads of production and trade companies, creative and communication agencies. In total, the survey involved 37 top and middle managers of advertising and marketing departments.
First and foremost, the respondents were tasked to specify the types of promotional products and advertising channels that are most popular at present in their businesses. Among standard channels (ATL) there were mentioned TV, radio and press, and the most popular promotional products were commercials on TV and radio, entertainment videos distributed on city screens. Event organization is demanded in certain areas as a way to promote.
It is worth to emphasize the relevance of digital marketing channels of promotion, which were noted by about 80 % of the respondents: contextual and media advertising, OLV (online video), SMM (social media marketing), advertising in blogs. Among the most important in the promotion of media products, the respondents call web site or a landing page (single page website), further promotional videos, banners, articles are mentioned.
As it turned out, the respondents do not share promotional products and media instruments used for promotion. Statements of this kind dominate: "The integrated campaign in digital: from special projects and SMM to OLV"; "branding, lead generation, targeted/contextual advertising, website creation, working with reputation and content marketing in social networks". In other words, a particular technology of promotion determines the type and ways to work with marketing information (the means of its presentation, statement, impact). Activities not associated with the creation and distribution of mass media advertising, are also in demand among employers, for example, the analysis of reputation/brand, targeting etc. It is remarkable, that employers mention not only the individual media channels or products, but also pay special attention to connection between technologies and matter of content within the overall promotion strategy, for example, digital strategies, content marketing.
So, the predominant use of digital products and channels for the purposes of promoting the product or service is currently an integral part of reality. This is confirmed by the official statistics. In early 2017 the market volume of Internet advertising has surpassed the most popular means of advertising - a TV (AKAR, 2017). In future the digital segment will increasingly dominate other channels of information distribution.
The success of promotional and marketing activities depends on the basic education and practical experience. An active application of skills and abilities in the field of media and willingness to self-development and self-education is important. Therefore, the necessary thing in the training of specialists in advertising and marketing is the focus on the practical implementation of competences, including media competence through skills.
Modern employers recognize the importance of developing digital skills of professionals. This is confirmed by the results of the interview when answering the question about the structure of skills of professionals implementing the advertising and marketing functions today. As a result of generalization of the most common variants we can emphasize the following:
- Communication skills, including grammatically correct speech and writing (ability to listen and understand tasks as well as send one's messages).
- Skills of creating advertising messages and products (presentations, videos, websites,
etc.).
- Skills of using software and Internet resources from the Internet for the implementation of professional tasks.
- Skills of strategic planning (planning of events and campaigns, preparation of media plan, effective use of different tools of promotion).
- Skills of prediction, analysis and situational response, decision-making.
- Skills of comprehension of consumer behavior and requests, market trends, and problems of advertisers.
- Criticism.
- Creative thinking.
Comparing professional skills of experts in advertising and marketing specified by employers to those that they would refer to the content of media competence of such an expert, we discovered a number of similarities. To the media competence they refer, first of all, skills of work with information and technologies to create media texts and content distribution using different channels with the objectives of the communication, interests and reactions of the audience.
Among the skills that are most relevant in the characterization of media competence of an expert in marketing communications and advertising, respondents identified:
1. Skills of the use of technological means for achieving communicative goals;
2. Skills of the recognition interests of the audience, the analysis of and cognitive of emotional reactions to advertising impact;
3. Skills to create media texts based on the goals of the communicative situation, content type, and audience characteristics;
4. Skills to form and distribute visible media content in different media environments with the purpose of effective interaction with communities with different interests;
5. Skills of searching, organization, synthesis of information from different environments and systems.
Meanwhile the majority of respondents associate the concept «media competence» primarily with professionalism in working with mass media (work with mass media dominate the Internet: groups in social networks, blogs, etc.), monitoring trends in the mass media market, choice of different media channels for distributing advertising messages, tracking indicators of the effectiveness of information distribution.
To have the most accurate idea of specificity of professional activity of an expert in marketing communications we have made a list of professional functions, which are currently often specified in vacancies for the posts of experts in such activities. The most in-demand functions from this list, according to our respondents, were the development of marketing strategies and planning, organization and execution of events and campaigns (Figure 1).
Monitoring and analysis of market and mass media means
Analysis of consumer preferences
Budgeting and control over promotion activities
Skills in copywriting, re-writing, data compilation
Online and offline promotion plan studies
Design and production of advertised product
Planning, organization and running events and campaigns
Developing promotional strategies
Fig 1. The most popular functions in professional activity of an expert in advertising and marketing (rate of total answers)
Responses demonstrate the relevance of current professional functions that are associated with the implementation of the strategic communications (planning, organizing communication campaigns and events, development of strategies). We should note the importance of a multifaceted approach to the implementation of communication activities. In the future, the respondents consider following activities to be the most important: the formation of specialized information streams in accordance with user needs; the integration and coordination of all internal and external communication processes. This is confirmed by the appearance of such positions as manager of monetization in advertising, traffic manager, content director, etc. The teacher of the University "Sinergia" A. Bankin writes: «Content marketing helps to create and build online and offline communications (articles, videos, emails, webinars), to use psychological triggers, relevant and working idea to create a real asset for business - responsive, loyal, regularly shopping customer base» (Bankin, 2017: 25). The modern market leads to synergies in the activities of advertising expert, which requires the formation of a number of professional and overprofessional qualities that characterize him as transfessional.
Transfessional competence characteristic of the employee includes the following aspects:
- functional (professional);
- intellectual;
- situational;
- social (communicative) (Stepanova et al., 2014: 71).
The authors of the article have analyzed the professional qualities mentioned in the vacancies for specialists, implementing promotional activities, and made a list of the most popular ones. Among them, employers have chosen those that they consider the most important based on their business sectors (shown in Table 1).
Table 1. The competence characteristics of an expert in the field of advertising and marketing communications
Professional qualities Situational qualities
- knowledge of basic marketing and communication strategies, - knowledge of means and channels of communication, - abilities to develop promotional materials and prepare advertising messages, - abilities to plan a communicative activity to analyze its results, - abilities to quickly make decisions on the basis of a balance of analysis of the information - to argue and defend own decisions, - the ability to adapt behavior and thinking to new, changing or unexpected situations, - the ability to conduct multiple projects simultaneously, - the ability to control and correct the implementation process of the advertising operation
Intellectual qualities Social (communicative)
- creativity, - literate oral and written speech, - goal-orientation, - emotional intelligence, - empathy - client-orientation, - the ability to work in a team, - emotional intelligence, - the ability to conduct an effective dialogue with the advertiser
In the future, employers expect the experts in advertising and marketing to develop such qualities as emotional intelligence and empathy (81 %); multi-tasking and the ability to conduct several projects (57 %); creativity (50 %), critical thinking (37, 5 %).
These results suggest the need for enhanced self-development and prospects of training specialists in the field of advertising and marketing. According to the survey, respondents indicated that advertising and marketing expert should be competent in the following areas: design, journalism, information technologies, psychophysiology and management.
All the results presented show the need to widen the content part of media competence not only considering modern digital technologies, but also personal characteristics. However, media competence is just the one element in the general system of professional communication, and its development requires a qualitative integrative approach with other skills and abilities considered in the context of transfessionalism.
5. Conclusion
According to the results of theoretical analysis of literature, studying the content of the vacancies on specialized job-sites and questionnaires to identify expectations of employers, we can draw the following general conclusions.
Media competence in the work of experts, implementing their professional functions directly in the media environment, can be seen as one of the key one. It differs in duality of measurements correlating with approaches to the implementation of activities:
1. The use of technologies and resources of media environment for self-education, self-improvement, intellectual growth, interprofessional communication. This is the most studied side of this concept. In this case, important is the knowledge of media (genres, channels, etc.), abilities to carry out search and selection of necessary information and information technologies for self-improvement, the ability to extract the actual meaning of the message, a critical attitude to content. In the relationship between a man and media the central point is the orientation in the world of information, awareness of the influence of the media, the ability to defend oneself and preserve one's identity in the network communication.
2. The transformation of the media environment for the realization of personal interests and the organisation of effective communication process. This side of media competence is less studied, as it involves the study of the content characteristics of human activities, specializing in the production of content and its placement on a professional and regular basis. Besides the already mentioned results of completion of media competence in the first approach, some features are being added, requiring over professional knowledge and skills from an expert. Thus, an in-demand expert on a labour market, associated with the implementation of functions of marketing and advertising is inevitably characterized as a transfessional.
All the professional qualities of an advertising expert combine his or her media competence, common core of which are the knowledge and skills in implementing strategic communications. All dimensions of this competence unite under this general conceptual framework: knowledge of media, use of media, designing media, metacriticism. However, the important point of the study is that the latter aspect in the demands of advertisers somehow is leveled out. Apparently, what is clear is that the advertising and marketing expert needs to apply to work with information with a critical point of view, be able to find the desired information, analyze and interpret it to compile a true picture of the activities of competitors, analyze of the status of the reputation and market, evaluate the efficiency based on the values of different indicators. In addition, employers are little responsive to such aspects of media competence as the responsibility for the results of advertising impact. Apparently, this is due to their interest in the effectiveness of advertising impact, which is expressed primarily in profitability.
A high level of environmental variability, acceleration of the life cycles of occupations, the modification of the competency requirement leads to the necessity of a systematic revision of the substantive part of media competence and research of the concept of transfessionalism to provide quality training of experts in advertising and marketing communications.
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