This week was an interesting week and by the end I was happy it was over. My supervisor was back and as predicted things went back to that way they were before. I returned to not only doing nothing but knowing nothing. I was kicked off everything I had been working on the previous week. I felt like I had proven myself beyond competent enough to handle the projects I was working on and when I was not longer even on the emails I perceived it as a symbol of mistrust. As a result, a goal I have set for this up coming week is to speak up and request that I be cc’d on all emails. It is important to my education and my experience that I get to learn my seeing as well as doing. Not including me on emails is preventing me from gaining the best learning experience possible.
3 Things I Learned This Week:
1. Importance in a companies corporate culture
This week some of the Mullen staff gave a great presentation about the “Mullenteers,” an opportunity to help set up community service and volunteer opportunities for Mullen staff. Even though the meeting was really for full-time employees I’m glad I went. As I prepare myself for job applications I am reminded it is super important to not only look for a company that offers an appropriate job for your but also offers a corporate culture that you believe in. It was really great to know that Mullen works hard to give back to the community as it is something I believe is very important.
2. Advertising agencies also work as consultant
Often it is miscommunicated that all advertising agencies do are pitches. They pitch to new clients or they pitch new campaigns to old clients. Like on tv, the client says “yes” or “no” to the pitch and then either the agency makes it happen or doesn’t and that’s it. This week I helped to put together a point of view (POV) for a client which included our recommendation for a decision regarding the use of some new technology. This was a different side of an agency I had never experienced before. In addition to pitching campaigns, an agency can also act like a consultant for their clients. Clients pay for great ideas and our expertise on all types of marketing.
3. Sometimes it’s about being the silent team player
As mentioned above, I helped work on a POV for our client. It was really a tasked distributed to our digital producer but when I noticed that she hadn’t done it even though it was due like 4 weeks ago, I went out on a limb and asked her if she wanted some help putting it together. She gracefully accepted my help and with her notes and my own knowledge I put together a draft of the POV and emailed it to her when I was done. The next morning the POV was sent back to my team with me cc’d on the email. Both my supervisor and her boss commented on how well it was put together and organized. I decided to open the file she sent back and noticed 97% of the content was what I wrote. In my mind I gave myself a pat on my back. Even though I did not get any credit for putting together the POV, I was happy to be a silent team player. In the end it isn’t really about who did it but rather that it was done well and helps the client. As an intern and soon to be entry level employee, I should get used to not getting credit for everything I do.
Summer Insight Series Take Aways:
So each week we have a “lunch and learn” event with someone from the agency and all the interns where we have the opportunity to learn more about the area of advertising, the people who work at Mullen and their experience of working in advertising and at Mullen.
This week’s session featured Ryan Houts, Senior Brand Strategist. He kindly gave a great presentation about the area of strategy and it’s role in advertising and at Mullen. Ryan walked us through a top secret example but it outlined how strategy works with the other departments and what they contribute to a project.
4 Take away from Ryan’s Session:
1. Strategist are dot connectors
Strategist take what the client wants, what the consumer wants, and current trends and connects them together to build a strategy that makes sense for everyone.
2. Planners have to care about everything
Planners can’t just be limited to print, broadcast or digital. Today, everything is so connect that a planner must thing on all platforms/media.
3. You can’t hold your ideas to close but you must stay true to your ideas
When a planner passes on their insight to creatives sometimes the creatives will look at the brief and completely go in a different direction. Planners must know when to lean back and let the creatives do what they want or remind the creatives to stay on brand/strategy.
4. A good account manager thinks like a planner
An account manager plays devil advocate in many situations. They fight for the client’s opinion with creatives and they fight for the creatives ideas with the client. Account managers that can think strategically can best know when to fight for which side. Also, there are times when a strategist is unable to write a creative brief. An account manager with the skills of a planner can make up for the lack of time and handle the creative brief themselves.
Marissa Osowsky 