Media sales have allowed Brett Clifton to go the Masters. It has presented him with the opportunity to golf in the Western Open Pro-Am twice. The profession has taken him to countless Chicago Cubs and Blackhawks games. 

Now, Clifton wants to help University students experience opportunities like his through media sales.

Clifton is the director of the new Media Sales Certificate program, which will be offered by the College of Media in the fall. He has worked for the past year to help establish the certificate.

In an increasingly competitive job market, the 15-hour program is designed to teach students how to be successful in the world of media sales, Clifton said.

“There really isn’t a program like this out there anywhere in the country,” he said. “There are other sales programs, and there are other sales training things that involve media, but there is nothing that is this dedicated over 15 credit hours.”

The program will have five components, including Introduction to Media Sales (MDIA 270), Persuasive Writing (BTW 271), Media Sales Management (MDIA 320), Advanced Media Selling (MDIA 370) and an internship.

The classes will teach students about selling ads for all types of media, while the internship is designed to help students gain experience in the job market because many jobs require experience, making it difficult to find an entry-level job.

Clifton said he expects the program to help build a bridge between advertising alumni and the campus.

“We’ve got a very strong alumni base in Chicago for people in advertising sales,” he said. “Probably about 100 that are alums from the department or the college that have gone on to very successful careers working at magazines, network radio stations, and they all wish they would have had something like this when they were here because it would have given them that extra set of skills.”

One of these alums, Jason Ciesiolka, a senior account executive for WDRV-FM 97.1 The Drive, said he was drawn into media sales by a chance encounter at a conference.

“It was a great program and a world I was passionate about,” Ciesiolka said in an email. “However, I did not realize at the time I would only find complete fulfillment if I was the person responsible for growing the agency’s clientele and revenue.”

Gina Cetrone, junior in Media, said she thinks the program will enhance the education the University has to offer. 

“It’s a good perspective for students to look at,” she said. “We focus on how to make ads but don’t know what goes into buying and selling. It keeps us well-rounded.”

The program will be offered to all students, including those outside the advertising major.

“Even if students don’t plan on going into media sales, the overarching sales techniques don’t change,” Clifton said. “You could learn the basic sales techniques in that intro class, and those things are very transferable to other industries as well.

“It’s vigorous enough, with 15 credit hours, that it will actually give them a substantial amount of skills, and that it will actually teach them about what they learn, but not too rigorous that it will interrupt their other schedule.”

Clifton said he sees a lot of potential in the program’s future, including making the program available online and, potentially, adding a minor. He also said he could see having concentrations in other areas, like Engineering, if the program takes off.

Johnathan can be reached at [email protected].