Haredi sector to get 1st advertising school
Tel Aviv's advertising school 'Habetzefer' will open center for advertising, communications, and marketing studies in Bnei Barak. Studies at center will take place in separate classrooms for men and women, content will be adapted to haredi lifestyle
A haredi sector first. A professional studies center for the fields of communications, marketing, and advertising will be launched in Bnei Barak as a satellite campus of the "Habetzefer," the Tel Aviv school run by the Israel Association of Advertising Agencies which teaches practical courses in the aforementioned fields.
The satellite is slated to open its doors in Bnei Barak in March 2010.
The new learning center will receive support from advertising agencies from the haredi sector, such as Afikim, Tereo, and Bolton. Studies will focus on fields relevant to the haredi sector so that graduates will be able to integrate quickly into the haredi job market.
Lessons will be taught in separate classrooms for men and women, and the content will be adapted to the haredi lifestyle. In the framework of courses offered by the center, the students will be taught models and concepts from the world of marketing, advertising, public relations, and journalism. They will also be asked to implement work processes in real time in collaboration with haredi advertising agencies.
Each course of study will last between four to eight months depending on the study track. Tuition will range between NIS 8,000 to 13,000 (about $2,000 to 3,500).
Growing demand for haredi ad men
According to Habetzefer, demand for haredi advertisers has grown significantly in recent years. Many of Israel's large firms have started marketing to the haredi public in the last decade, creating a larger haredi advertising market. Large companies are courting the sector and an increasing number of young haredim are looking to work in the field of advertising.
This phenomenon is also expressed in the growing number of lectures given in secular institutions on marketing and advertising to the haredi sector. The haredi sector has also followed suit. It still remains, however, that there are few courses given on these fields.
As a result, there is a noted lack in quality and professional human resources within the haredi sector, which has thus far had to train most of their work force on their own or take in professionals from other sectors. The new center is meant to provide employment to those interested in the field and ease the burden of agencies that have thus far had to train their own employees from start to finish.
The manager of the haredi satellite will be Eitan Dubkin, CEO of the haredi department at McCann Erikson. Dubkin, 30, got his first taste of advertising in 1996 at Radio Kol Hai where he worked in broadcasting, production, and sales management.
In 2001, Dubkin broke into the world of advertising and joined in forming the McCann's haredi department. For the past few years, he has served there as the head of the department.
