Gain command of Digital Media with additional skills in Business Management

India’s only  digital-first media school, UPES School of Modern Media allows young media professionals to possess not only creative skills but also technical skills and a business acumen

Internet, social media, mobile apps, and other digital technologies are a part of everyday life for billions of people across the globe. Digital and social media marketing allow organisations to achieve their marketing objectives at a relatively low cost. Digital and social media technologies and applications have been widely used to improve the awareness of brands, influence consumer’s attitudes, receive feedback, help to improve current products and services, and increase sales.

People spend an increasing amount of time online searching for information, on products and services communicating with other consumers about their experiences and engaging with companies. Organisations have responded to this change in consumer behaviour by making digital and social media an integral part of their business marketing plans. They significantly benefit from making social media marketing an integral element of their overall business strategy.

Therefore, digital and mass media managers need to build a bridge between media management as a business discipline and the fundamental challenges to serve the public. These challenges  propagate gaps in media funding, public accountability, innovation, and thereby prevent effective performance. By offering interactive social and web-based media applications and services, and actively engaging consumers in the communication processes, media managers need to build solid and sustainable relationships with the audience that benefit them to achieve enhanced economic viability and gain a competitive advantage in the digital marketplace.

However, this is not an easy task. It involves constant evolvement and experimentation in the business model innovation which depends upon audience engagement and their willingness to like, share, and pay for the content. New business models are indeed evolving, and companies are looking for new revenue systems, while also using cost-cutting strategies as a tool to drive their business toward innovation.

As the digital and mass media sector fundamentally changes its way of performing its business, media managers demand good leadership skills when strategizing creative work. Effective media management requires long and short-term planning, scanning internal structures, organisational culture and values, and key resources, such as assets, liabilities, and competencies. Media managers need to make informed choices about the marketing strategies, mission, vision, goals, objectives, financial planning, and business strategies to achieve the planned targets. Therefore, project management techniques, effective leadership with innovation, creativity, and understanding of technology, and the analytical skills to understand the interests of the audience interests are extremely important.

Owing to the current scenario of the media industry, the success of the media business depends on the skills of their leaders and managers correctly identifying their core value-added proposition and the ability to outperform other key players in the market.

Therefore, some academicians have pointed out that media professionals should embrace and strengthen their entrepreneurial skills. Young media professionals would need to possess not only creative skills but also technical skills and business acumen. In this view, UPES School of Modern Media offers its students to pursue digital and mass media along with business management. Apart from their core specialisation, students can choose minors from other schools at UPES.

The new curriculum framework at UPES, ABLE (Academic Blueprint for Learning Excellence) emphasizes holistic development yet focuses on the individual need of the student to discover, experience, and explore new avenues. Under this framework, the learning is segmented into core subject studies along with minors. The school enables students to be equipped with life-long skills and competencies required to thrive in the competitive world.