Capability of Advertising Production
 
In addition to advertising expenditure, the hardware of advertising production lies in the manpower engaged in the advertising industry. The first survey of advertising and public relations manpower was conducted in 1987 by the Vocational Training Council. It covered all advertising agencies, public relations agencies, media agencies and selected in-house advertising and public relations departments in Hong Kong. The manpower of the advertising and public relations industries were surveyed every two years and figures were reported. The formal training requirements and qualifications were also examined. However, the statistics were reported by job level (i.e. managerial, supervisory, executional and supporting/technical) instead of by function (e.g., account servicing, creative, media planning). Other than advertising manpower, the number of advertising programs offered by local institutions and the respective intakes every year can also serve as an indicator of the capability of advertising production. This information indicates the potential supply of advertising manpower and the amount of formal training that individuals receive before joining the advertising profession. Moreover, the analysis of relationship dynamics between advertisers and advertising agencies may also signal the capacity of advertising production (So, 2005).