A Year in the Life of a Marketing Graduate

Dear Readers of Jessicaphilosophy

2011-04-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have been writing weekly blogs since February. But, only started posting blog entries this week. So far I have received a really good response, and it seems like what I have to say, people want to hear.

So to all those that have logged on to my blog and spent some time reading my posts - I would like to say a MASSIVE big thank you, and really hope you continue finding it interesting.

P.S - I'm new to blogging and want to improve so, if you have any good or bad comments on how I can improve its content or have any questions at all - please do leave a Comment, Rate it or Get in Touch!

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Lucozade Now Using Popstars as Brand Ambassadors

2011-04-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

Just saw this advertisement in the ad break of Jersey Shore on MTV, and I’m Absolutely LOVING it!

I think it’s really cool because today in the UK; the Lucozade brand is positioned as a sports drink. However, 80 years ago in 1929 Lucozade was originally introduced as a hospital drink for "aiding recovery;" than in the early 1980s, it was promoted as an energy drink for "replenishing lost energy.

With this in mind, I think this ad is a move away from a serious, sporty and medicinal brand image. Into a new realm of identity that communicates those origins and benefits in a very creative way. I find it interesting how they have seamlessly mixed the adrenaline one gets from sport with the adrenaline music gives you - I almost wish it was possible to jog and watch this ad but, I can't even walk and text at the same time.

Furthermore, I found the ad's use of music to be impressive. As it successfully communicates and emphasise the physical energy derived from the sugar Lucozade contains, in a tangible way. According to Lucozade’s Marketing Director, Suzy Smith the ad’s ‘Yes’ strapline is designed to...

"Inspire people to channel that energy and create ‘Yes’ moments – those times when everything clicks and great things happen"

I certainly think the ad communicates an infectious attitude, which effectively uses music as a tangible energy to bring the ‘Yes’ campaign to life.

The ad features two super talented artists from the UK and US. Both famous for collaborating with other artists from different genres. In the ad the two artists dynamically fuse different styles and genres together; which I suspect is an attempt to widen and cover all of Lucozade’s demographical bases. Tinie Tempah generally appeals to 'young RnB lovers’ and Blink 182's drummer Travis ‘young punk rocker types'. Which is in-line with GlaxoSmithKline’s goal of repositioning its Lucozade Sports brand as the choice of sporty teenagers.

Another interesting aspect of this ad. Is the sport star featured is Ireland's Amateur Female Boxing Star - Katie Taylor. Which is a slightly postmodern way of re-representing power, strength and energy in an unconventional but acceptable way - To be honest I don't really see many women heading-up male orientated advertising campaigns in (for want of a better word) a 'muscline' role. So, I found it refreshing to see a women who wasn't dolled up to the nines bouncing about or skipping. Instead, we see her looking gender neutral whilst she punches a punch bag competently and aggressively in time to the music... Fantastic Ad!

My Best Ad of 2010 - E4 Flashmobbed Advert (D&B Takeover!)

2011-03-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

I dunno what it is about me, but I love a bit of chaos and this ad ticks all the boxes. In a nutshell this ad shows....

The devastating effects that can occur when drum & bass is unleashed upon a group of innocent pop-lovers in a busy London shopping centre. What seems like a nice bit of synchronized dancing turns into all out junglist mayhem as SKIBBA & CO bring the place down! The track used is 'Human Error' by 'Human Error'.

After first watching the ad. I thought it was just another sequel to the popular T-mobile 'Flash Mob' ad. But, in fact the ad is actually modeled on T-mobile's - check it out: Original flash Mob Ad So, after second viewing... T-mobile's ad, in comparison to E4's offering. Makes the whole concept of a "civilised" flash mob now seem really boring and cliched... As a result the thing I don't get is why the ad was banned? Anyways, I think it it's a brilliant ad! Its got something for everyone Sex, Shock and Rock 'n' Roll what more could you want?

To be honest I actually feel quite privileged for witnessing this on commercial TV, since I only got to view it once, before it was promptly taken off air. So, I thought it only right to share this masterpiece with you. Enjoy!

Reviewing Digital Innovation – Week 7

2011-03-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

As part of the graduate scheme. I have been given graduate objectives. Which are a list of tasks I’m appraised on throughout my rotation in different departments throughout the agency. One of the tasks, on the list that I have been doing since I started is ‘Competitor Site Monitoring’; this basically involves regularly reviewing the banner ads of our main competitors within the international financial services market. To monitor innovation and trends.

Monitoring the Competition
When I initially began conducting competitor site monitoring, I really had no idea what I was looking out for… I mean, what exactly represented an innovative banner ad? How was I supposed to spot trends in banner ad execution? And, what exactly were my findings going to be used for? However, this week I had all my questions answered and, discovered additional things along the way.

Digital Innovation Presentation
As I had to support the team in preparing information for a digital innovation presentation; which involved working alongside Planning to feedback the digital innovation information I had collected from my weekly competitor monitoring. Than attend a meeting with a host of creative and digital specialists to discuss and share digitally innovative campaigns relevant to the clients brand which could possibly be used to inspire future digital campaigns.

Click the links below to see some of the digitally innovative integrated banner ad campaigns that were identified and presented to the client.

First impressions are lasting impressions...The Company Meeting - Week 6

2011-03-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

In the above blog introduction I promised to discuss the highs and lows of my advertising experience. In previous blog posts I have shared many highs so now I think, its about time that I share the lows, cause I don't want to short-change you.

The Company Meeting

It was late afternoon, and time for the company meeting. An occasion where the entire agency downs tools for an hour and gathers in Bobbs Place - the company bar. To witness a showcase of all the great creative work happening within agency walls; Senior Mangement inform us of any new business, company initiatives or awards the agency has achieved. And, its also used as an opportunity to present 'Heroes' with awards for hard-work and welcome 'new starters' to the agency.

New Starter Embarrassment
When I arrived at the company meeting, Bobb's Place was packed! So, I took a seat on the floor close to the front of the stage. Our Managing Director kicked-off the meeting by briefly running through the agenda on a PowerPoint presentation. As she did so, my eyes homed-in on the last item of the agenda. Which said 'WELCOME NEW STARTERS' still feeling like a' fish out of water'.

I felt an acute sense of dread wash over me, because I really wanted to keep a low-profile and I had no idea what welcoming new-starters involved? or what I was expected to do and not do? So, I began to feel the nerves of potentially making a mistake set in. The fear of making a mistake played on mind, to the point I found it very difficult to concentrate on everything that was happening during the course of the meeting. I was trying to think of a sensible strategy I could use to avoid needlessly embarrassing myself. I decided the best thing to do, would be to copy what the other new-starters did - "when in Rome" and all that Jazz! Except when new starter introduction time came around. Guess whose name was first on the list? Mine of course! When, the Managing Director called out my name. My heart stopped. Than started again, but this time it began pounding 10x faster!

The Announcement

I was seated on the floor so, I quickly stumbled to my feet. However, instead of staying in one place like a normal person... I preceded to make my way to the front of the stage to introduce myself to the company. (I was so nervous, really didn't want to be doing it - but, I assumed that's what I was expected to do.)

So, yep! I stood up in front of the entire company and said something along the lines of "Hi my name is Jessica, I am the new graduate, I come from West London University and last week I found out I was awarded a First Class Honors Degree!" The entire company gave me an energetic round of applause and I went back to my seat on the floor, ready to watch the next unlucky candidate make an arse of themselves, like me. Except... this didn't happen. Because, usual protocol was just to raise your hand and say hello! From whereever you were standing . Not, marching up to the front of the stage and telling your life story! The moment, I realised this I could have died - I wanted the ground to swallow me up... I was beyond embarrassed.

The Aftermath

When I returned to my desk, the whole team was rolling over in laughter, basically saying "Jessica - your nuts". The Account Director said "what you did was a fantastic PR stunt because now everybody knows who you are, which can only be a good thing!" And, I would diffinately employ someone like you; because your obviously very brave! But, the main thing the team more surprised at - which I honestly never thought they would be. Was the fact I had achieved a 'First' and neglected to tell them. I can't really say why, except that I don't think arrogance is an attractive trait, and I silently felt it was deserved. Because, like many students I had worked hard and paid a lot of money for my degree. Plus, the novelty of achieving a First quickly paled in significance to joining the agency.

The Lesson

Even though I really embarrassed myself at the company meeting - in more ways than one. It actually turned out quite well... As that day, I left the office feeling really silly and embarrassed. However, when I returned the following morning. As soon as I entered the office lots of people were introducing themselves to me and congratulating me on my degree, and in the days that followed I began to make friends and be invited to drinks and events. So I can only figure that my Account Director was right when he said "now everyone knows you". I think, because I put myself out there. Many people have felt OK to put themselves out there with me..

So, I'm less embarrassed because I think that episode has quickly helped me to settle in within the team and the agency. Therefore maybe the lesson here is "in some situations it pays not to follow the crowd... March to your own beat and see what happens!"

Whats the Worst that Can Happen?

Digital Ad Execution: The BLUE Man Banner - Week 5

2011-03-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

Week 5, of my advertising agency experience so far has been really good. I have noticed that time, days and weeks go so fast in an agency environment. I think, maybe it’s due to there being so much work to do. For instance, this week involved helping out with the Blue Man Banner Refresh - an animated Flash Banner advertisement that features on the client’s website, see below.

Blue Man Banner Ad

The banner refresh required I worked with the Account Director in order to clarify and understand the client’s rationale for updating the banner. I found this task especially interesting; because I was presented with a list of keywords consisting of search terms that the client had collected from analysisng click through traffic sources to its website. I had to judge what the client’s search engine optimization requirements were? In doing so, I learnt that it was to nurture its organic search traffic, and not for keyword optimiztion reasons. Due to search engines being unable to communicate with flash banners. The great thing about this task was that I was given full responsibility over its internal management. This involved liaising with the client via email, updating the client on the project’s progress at the weekly status meeting and scheduling a face to face meeting with the client to discuss the project’s next steps.

Date: 1 March 2011

Looking back over My Shoulder - March

2011-03-01T19:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it’s March and my second month working in the agency, the experience so far has been a real eye-opener and very exciting!

Looking back at last month...
I think in the future, I will always remember the start of my career in advertising as a major culture shock. Main reason is, I went from being a care-free marketing student to a Digital Marketing Executive in the space of 2 days.

As on January 28th I submitted my dissertation and on the 1st February I started working. At the time I left university, I had no idea of what my examination results were, because I had literally just sat them. I kept thinking… I could have failed miserably; therefore a large part of my day consisted of logging on to the university website in my downtime, to check if the examination results had been published…. Nail biting stuff I can tell you!

It's Impossible to Know Everything
I felt like I went from being a competent and able marketer at university. Feeling a little lik a "big fish in a small pond" to feeling like a "very small fish in a big pond". Which was quite a humbling and grounding experience. Because, I had to accept and realise that even though I have studied marketing and business for over 10yrs and have always had a life-long passion for the subject and profession. There is still so much about practicing marketing and the advertising industry that I don’t know. And, more surprisingly the people around me don’t know everything either; because, the industry moves so fast and relies on innovation.

I suppose that’s the reason why it is very common for the term 'marketeer' to be used as a blanket term for the role. As when you scratch the surface you realise that many people specialise in specific areas of the profession, for example, it is a Marketing Planners job to analyse marketing insight and come up with over-arching themes or ideas for a campaign - which are known as marketing strategies and an Account Executives role to work in tandem with the client and agency to support the wider team in managing the clients account i.e. brand. So, looking forward into March... armed with a bit more knowledge - i'm really looking forward to discovering what this new month has instore for me!

Date: March 2011

A Graduate Account Executive’s Typical Working Day - Week 4

2011-02-21T08:07:00.000-08:00

When working in advertising; although hours of work are typically ‘9 to 5’. Generally the workload of a campaign dictates that people regularly work late. As a Graduate trainee I don't usually get home till 8pm, so the day can be long. As an Account Executive, a typical working day could consist of about 2/3+ meetings a day lasting anything between 15 minutes to 3 hours, chasing and liaising with different departments to traffic work through creative services and monitoring project progress.

I've learnt that creative types work differently to business types, and sometimes work may require a host of changes to elements such as: copy, messaging or imagery - known as amends. So it is important to ensure those changes are done correctly. Day-to-day business tasks involve a lot of financial monitoring to ensure work does not exceed the clients advertising budget and the agency achieves a profit. This involves maintaining, updating and managing cost estimates, financial forecasts, timesheets and financial reconciliations etc.

Communication is key

The job also relies very heavily on communication skills; you are constantly using verbal presentation skills to convey ideas to clients and colleagues over the phone and face-to-face in meetings etc. Written skills are also very important too, because you need to be able to compose emails to clients to clarify objectives or provide updates on project progress.

Proof reading skills are vitally important, so far I have been required to proof read advertising out-put including internal presentations, reports and advertising copy for spelling mistakes, punctuation, grammar and readability. For, work authored by copy writers and others far more senior to me. Therefore, essential to good proof-reading, if you have never done it before is: ‘attention to detail’ because your eyes could be the final pair to view an advertisement before it goes out the door.

Finally, at this stage if I was going to describe what the job of a Marketing Manager is or involves – I would say that it draws on various disciplines such as Project Management, Researching, Strategic Development, Administration, Presenting and Pubic Relations…. So it’s exceptionally difficult to pigeon hole what marketers do to one specific thing. Teamwork is also very important too, I have never worked within a team as dedicated and passionate about what they do before, everyone contributes equally to the teams output.

First Experience Managing a PPC Campaign - Week 3

2011-02-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

This week was far more exciting because I was given a small campaign to work on. It was called 'Monthly Saver Pay Per Click' testing.

PPC Testing
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is defined as paid for advertising, and is usually used to drive increased traffic in a short amount of time to a new or unknown website or page.

An Example of Pay Per Click Advertisements (PPC)

The task involved writing an Executional Brief to communicate some background information about the Monthly Saver product, and how the advertising testing was going to be rolled out. In a nutshell, I had to instruct copy writers to develop copy to test the effectiveness of the following messages:

(A) the benefit,
(B) the offer
(C) a combination of offer and benefit.

Three ads were to be placed online and the most effective message would be used for the live campaign. I than had to create a cost estimate of the work - which is a bill/quote to show the client how much time and work each part of the process will cost and I than, created a timing plan. To help the client gauge how long each stage of the project would take and when it will be completed.

Working on the PPC Testing, was really interesting because it was my first experience of handling a small campaign. One thing I found personally surprising was that last year, I attended a Top Student Summer School at the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM), where I met some Graduate Account Executives from other London advertising agencies who shared their experiences of the being Account Executive. I vividly remember them saying that “after working in their agencies for a year; they were looking forward to starting to write creative briefs”.

Creative Vs Executional Brief

At the time, this stuck in my mind. Because, after hearing so much information about the digital marketing world at the IDM from various figure heads, departments and agencies, I thought phew at least that’s not going to be something I will have to worry about in my first year - if I ever get a job in advertising. So, when I was asked to write an 'Executional Brief' for the PPC Test. I was a little surprised; as I didn't really have a clue what and Executional brief was, and past experience suggested it was difficult. However, actually doing it without having time to really think about it was really good – because it showed me that by the end of the year I was likely to learn lots quickly.

Shadowing within the Agency

The rest of the week was spent shadowing my ‘buddy’ the Senior Account Manager (SAM) and Account Director (AD) in various meetings with Project Managers, Creatives, Art Directors and Clients to develop a working understanding of the Barclays iInvest Campaign. An integrated marketing campaign that involves off-line e.g. (Posters and Press ads) etc and on-line advertising e.g. (Banner Ads, Landing Pages and Email Advertisements).

So, far shadowing on the iInvest campaign has been really enjoyable as it involves lots of different campaign elements. And, as such I’m witnessing and learning how to manage various elements of the production process and the general issues that occur when account handing for financial services clients. One thing I am discovering first-hand is that financial services clients are less creative and more business orientated, because they are accountable to various stakeholders who view advertising as a ‘means to an end’, therefore, they are more focused on their core business e.g. the bottom-line. So you can’t be to wacky with the creative ideas that you present, usually it pays to present ‘safe’ options first and always have a ‘wacky’ option in you back pocket – just in case.

Date: 21 February 2011

Getting under the Skin of the Brand - Week 2

2011-02-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

The first part of my second week was spent continuing to get "under the skin" of the brand by surfing the net looking at news articles, marketing inteligence and websites. That would shed some light on the current PESTEL issues affecting clients business, and also identifiying and discovering ‘Golden Nuggets’ - important insights which are regularly emailed to the client to show the team understands the issues affecting Barclays business and their brand positioning.

After a while getting "under the skin of the brand", did get a bit tedious. But I knew it was important to continue marching on and putting 110% effort into the task, because once things sped up I knew I wouldn’t get the chance again. A thing, I realised at this stage was my marketing degree had not really prepared me as much as I thought it would for working in advertising, in relation to readily understanding the creative and production aspects of brand management.

This was an interesting revelation as for a long time whilst being a student I ofthen questioned why our degree was titled Marketing and Business? And why If I wished, I couldn't do a straight Marketing degree? However, the first two weeks working in advertising demonstrated that to be a good Account Handler (Brand Manager) you need to have an equally good understanding of both 'Marketing' and 'Business'. Because essentially an Account Handler is the middle-man between the client and creatives; and as a result the job invariable involves having one foot in the world of business (Barclays) and the other in the creative world (advertising agency), basically you are the ‘eyes and ears’ of the client within the agency, therefore, you need to understand their mission and objectives in order to deliver a good marketing campaign.

Midway, through the week, things started picking up, and I began learning more about the advertising agency’s processes and procedures. What was really interesting - was that week; it so happened the agency was changing its creative and financial processes – by placing a stronger focus on being more internally integrated as an agency (i.e. all departments working together). In order to reflect it’s commitment to being a fully integrated digital advertising agency to all stakeholders both internal and external. This was communicated by the new agency wide flexible project delivery process of: Imagine, Discover, Craft, Create and Learn in a presentation.

I attended the presentation of the new process to clients and wrote the contact report afterwards which I circulated to all meeting attendees. In terms of procedures, I started to learn about how to financially manage the creative elements of a campaign in relation to developing and updating cost estimates, forecasts and timing plans. These tasks drew heavily on my Excel skills. I also discovered that many of the procedures in place are there to effectively manage and monitor each stage of the production process e.g. studio time, artwork development and copy writing.

I was also given the responsibility of updating the weekly status report which is presented to the client at the Weekly Status meeting; which the team regularly attends at the client's Headquarters in Canary Wharf to update the client face-to-face on the campaign’s progress.

Date: 7th February 2011

First Week in Advertising - Week 1

2011-02-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

On my first day... Waiting in reception, my level of nervousness and excitement were equally matched. Mainly because, I had no idea of what to expect. But, when I was greeted a friendly face that I recognised from the recruitment process - I felt much more at ease.

The first thing HR did was lead me into a private office to explain what the graduate scheme would involve, the perks of working at the agency such as the Monday Company breakfast and ‘Sunny Fridays’ – where in the summer everyone gets to go home at 3:30pm and other more formal employee benefits.

I was than taken into a massive open planned office, with brightly colored walls, sofas, plants and artwork everywhere, lead through a sea of desks and introduced to my new team; where there was a large box of chocolates waiting for me and lots of new stationery. Amidst all the meeting and greeting I was introduced to my new ‘buddy’. A Senior Account Manager who took me out for lunch, where we got the chance to briefly get to know each other over some sandwiches and soup. When I returned to the office, I was told that my first job would be to get under the skin of the brand 'Barclays Wealth International' (BWI). At this point, after feeling a bit out of my depth all day - I thought to myself yes!

Finally, I can use some of my university skills and approach this task in a similar way I would if I was preparing to research for an assignment. The days that followed involved researching the BWI website, and reading 2 giant BWI induction files, which taught me about the brand proposition, the offer, their customer segmentation, the target audience and the features and benefits of off-shore and on-shore investment and saving products targeted at high net-worth foreign nationals.

Throughout, the week I had various inductions with key departments across the agency such as Planning, Creative, Project Management, New Business, Client Services, Office Management, Finance and Reception. All the meetings with the above departments contributed to helping me to understand how the agency worked, and also how everyone’s role within the agency worked. The most interesting inductions were the ones with Project Management, Planning and New Business – because I quickly gained an awareness of the many ways in which creativity is embedded and integrated into the agency throughout the lifecycle of a campaign.

Date: 1st February 2011