Johannes Leonardo
Incredible.
J-H is a small agency with BIG ideas. Creative energy bounces off the exposed brick walls in their open floor plan in NOHO. I didn’t see it, but I felt it.
I felt it as soon as Tommy and and Jacob welcomed us in. I felt it while the Associate Creative Director, Omid Amidi, told us why he’s the best writer in the game right now. I felt it while Leo Premutico, one of the founders, chatted with our group on the agency’s rooftop.
Most of all, I felt it in their work.
While showing their Adidas spots, me and Macaihah looked at each other like “….yo..”
We both knew that THAT’s the kind of work we want to create.
I want to be where the creative energy is high.
Nate Richards / 5.10.2017
Printing and Pirates
Duggal is the industry leader in marketing installations and advertisement printing. Their state of the art facility is located in Brooklyn’s US Navy yard on the East side of the river. This 200 acre jetty has a rich history in the success of World War II and still provides anthropological insight to what life looked liked during those year.
During the World War the Naval Yard employed over 70,000 people to work on ships throughout the day and night earning its rightful nickname as the “The-Can-Do-Shipyard”. The Navy Shipyard also housed the United States oldest hospital. From the American Revolution to World War II the hospital was responsible for the most cutting edge innovations in medicine and even employing some of the first female nurses and medical students.
Today they yard is closed down to shipbuilding and is now used for 200 private manufacturing facilities, one of them being Duggal. The remnants and history is not lost amongst the modern facilities. Each building is numbered, however they are in no sequential order. We were told that this was for confusing the Russian spies.
I wish I was able to see the production and workforce, of that time period that essentially help made New York the thriving international hub that it is today. However, the place is still full of hard working passionate people and the employees of Duggal were no exception. They still know that even in this digital age there is nothing more sacred than human precision and innovation.
-Rachael Laage
“I’ll outwork every mother fucker in here”
Those were the words spoken by Chieh Huang when asked about how he was able to raise $200 million in VC. Huang is the CEO of Boxed, a thriving startup that is disrupting the grocery space as we know it. While most of our visits this week consist of advertising agencies, this tour brought forth a fresh perspective for those who are still exploring their options as to where to begin their careers.
We had the pleasure to meet and discuss entrepreneurial endeavors with various employees at Boxed, which even included fellow Duck alum, Jackson Jeyanayagam.
Jackson serves as the current CMO of the business, coming from a prior position as the head of digital marketing for Chipotle. He shared some insights about the rapidly evolving world of startups and how they are disrupting the grocery industry with their business model. There was so much amazing tips and insights provided by the employees at Boxed, it would be impossible to encapsulate into a single blog post. However, here are three of the biggest takeaways I believe that you can apply to your career and ensure success wherever you end up post-graduation:
- Have a voice and an opinion on pressing issues. Don’t be a sideline spectator.
- ALWAYS FIGHT- for yourself, your peers, your ideas.
- Be nimble! Be willing to adapt to market shifts, consumer expectations, etc.
I hope this helps as you continue to seek opportunities within paths that ignite you, that keep you up and excited. Take it from Boxed, their ideas to shift grocery consumption was laughed at and ridiculed for years (even by their own friends & family). No one believed that purchasing toilet paper from your mobile phone and having it delivered to your front door would be an actual thing. They’re the ones laughing now… all the way to the bank.
- Esty_thedude
Water and Jeans
The Color Purple might be a famous Broadway musical, but it is the color blue that keeps showing up on this trip.
I had the privilege to attend visits at both Boxed and Shareablee. These startups could not be more different in company deliverables, however they both share the common logo color of bright blue. I wondered if the similarity in color was a trend amongst other start ups, and if so what is the significance of blue logos.
A 2011 post from DesignBuddy.com, reviewed that top 100 most profitable brands and 33% of the top brands used blue in their logo design. Additionally 28% of the top 50 New York startup companies to watch in 2017, according to BuiltinNYC.com, also incorporate blue into their logo design.
Blue, in western culture has taken on a masculine role that also portrays depth, expertise and stability. Dark blue specifically is preferred in American corporate culture. Light blue can often take on a more calming, purification and cleanliness and is often used in the medical field and in airline companies.
It is important when thinking about business messaging, especially a startup, to consider how you want to come off to the consumer and how color can help accomplish that. Both of these brands offer a service and therefor blue can evoke a feeling of trust and reliability to new consumers.
-Rachael Laage
the pitch
I was in my first school play in the fourth grade. I played Mac, one of the main five kids who explored all the various winter holidays. The following year, following my theater bug, I landed the lead role as Tom Sawyer in Tom Sawyer’s Adventures. Standing in front of an audience, transporting them to Hannibal, Mississippi with tears, laughter, and tremendous applause, I basked in the glory. When I took my final bow, I knew what I had become, a brand I would never be able to shake… I was a theater kid.
And while I continued to sing, dance, and act all around Portland through middle and high school, performing in front of countless people, nothing could compare to standing in the boardroom at R/GA two days ago. In front of peers, professors, and professionals… I had never been so nervous. Other members of the industry who each in their own right had so much talent and insight to give, taking time from their day, to see us present what we had created. When it ended, nerves subsided, I was finally able to be proud of the work we did and soak in the feedback we got.
1. Come to the room early and get a feel of the space. 2. You’re presenting this for the first time so the client has no set idea of how it should look. 3. You have one shot to really sell the idea before it becomes tone deaf. 4. Give yourself permission to listen to each other during the presentation. 5. Let your shoulders down. And importantly, 6. create tension by leading the audience to one answer before dealing them the unexpected but necessary one.
Once again, I’d like to thank my team for all the dedicated, creative work they put into this and where we’re off to next.
kyle heiner / 5.11.17
sparks&honey is everything I love about academia and everything I love about the agency world all crammed into one colorful office on Madison Avenue.
On our visit yesterday, I was blown away by smart, thorough research methods and culturally relevant communications strategy all in one place. To see trend spotting without guesswork and good research without bureaucracy was inspiring, to say the least.
As I embark on my own independent academic research over the next year (yikes), I hope to translate the colorful, curious energy of sparks&honey to my own work. For my thesis on cultural movements in advertising, I’ll build a relevant structure to organize my thoughts, then analyze signals from culture in a way that will actually be useful for people working in the field.
It’s a daunting task, but I’m ready to explore.
Rachel Benner. 05.10.2017
Alumni.
Alumni are awesome. It’s been only three days and we have met with several agencies full of University of Oregon alumni. The best part about alumni is their honest advice about the advertising industry, moving from Oregon to New York, and the willingness to help you succeed. It is refreshening to know that just a few years ago these alumni were in my shoes, and now they are successful. Some main tips from our alumni that stood out today were:
1) Don’t jump into the first opportunity if it’s not for you. You’re valuable!
2) Learn excel; more than just highlighting a cell.
3) Be eager. Be willing to learn. Be excited.
4) Craft your story.
Emily Sarale 5.11.17
Understand Culture. Don’t Exploit It.
A theme I’ve learned so far from this week is culture.
Each agency has passed on their words of wisdom and it seems that in advertising the concept of proper knowledge of what is going on around you is the creative world’s most important asset.
Read. Examine. Immerse.
Don’t be a culture vulture and make an effort to directly involve yourself in what is going on around you.
Wisdom from experienced individuals.
-Kerry Merrill