Affect Advertising offers a full suite of TVC, design and website services to clients from the real estate and beauty industries, to government agencies like GC32, which are supporting businesses in the lead up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Having worked in the entertainment industry as an actor and singer for many years, Maddison was always keen to run her own business given women only make up 20 per cent of advertising creative departments in Australia, according to shEqual.
“Having a female voice and the expertise learnt from my bachelor’s and master’s has really made a difference, in an industry that’s dominated by male advertisers,” Maddison said. “Clients are really impressed with the skills I’ve learnt. I now have the knowledge and confidence on everything from colour and the psychology behind that, to visual and written psychology, plus subliminal messaging in advertising.
After studying SAE’s Bachelor of Film, Maddison wanted to take her skills to the next level, which was when she explored SAE’s MCI.
“The business and cultural aspects really interested me as a creative practitioner,” Maddison shared. “Getting to learn from experienced lectures brought an extra level of skill to my directing, and to then have lecturers who can bring value from a cultural perspective was superb.”
Maddison admitted prior to studying the MCI at SAE, she had begun a master’s degree at a Sydney based university, which she later found didn’t match her expectations.
“They just didn’t have a focus on the creative arts, which is why I made the switch back to SAE,” she said. “SAE in comparison has much smaller classes, and lecturers who have worked in the industry, so it’s completely different, and makes a huge difference to your learning experience.”
As a business owner, being able to study around her full-time work has been a major benefit to Maddison: “Studying online has been a big plus for me, and provides that flexibility to work around what I’ve got on with clients.”
For those who want to take their careers to the next level, Maddison had no hesitation in sharing what direction to go in.
“There’s no doubt that obtaining technical skills are valuable, but whether you want to produce content for design, audio or film, it’s so important to study cultural, economic and historical perspectives before you go and produce content – you can’t get much better than what SAE has to offer.”
SAE MCI Course Leader, Dr Teresa Rizzo explained the value of the SAE masters course, and the career benefits of studying at a postgraduate level.
“In the last QILT graduate outcomes survey, it was reported that master’s graduates earn 35 per cent more than their undergraduate counterparts,” Dr Rizzo said.
“SAE’s MCI degree provides students the platform to refine and test their ideas with industry experienced lecturers and peers, while deepening their industry knowledge.”
