Empathy…It’s what’s for dinner

Throughout my week, I visited 9 different agencies…9! While these agencies definitely had differences from one another-Some were big, some were small. Some were part of holding companies, some were independent, some were more traditional scope, some were digital production focused. One thing remained constant throughout the week…Empathy. 

This week taught and reminded me the importance of empathy. Whether it be mentally migrating into the shoes of your target audience, your teammates, your client or even your competitor, empathy is an important thing to always keep constant as it envelops a strong holistic view that will only benefit you. Here are three examples of empathy being lived out at some of the agencies I was fortunate to visit. 

1.) AKQA: All members of the cross-functional panel that spoke with us on Tuesday morning preached that, “Working as a collective is vital and we must treat every perspective as valid.”

2.) Radical Media: Jon Kaman, Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Radical Media, spoke of how he uses the word “audience,” instead of “consumer,” because a member of an audience is genuinely more interested in the work that a brand puts out.

3.) BBDO: Lily, a former Duck and copywriter talked about the importance of recognizing human elegancy. She elaborated on this by saying that, for a team to fully produce work that reaches and speaks to their target, they must “take a step back to understand the impact that brand makes on the daily life of the audience.”

I believe that empathizing with one-another is one of the most vital things that we must do to succeed in this storytelling industry and succeed in our lives. 

-Noah Wilskey

The Idea Industry

As we enter the realm of constant ideation, it is not only important to be able to produce great ideas, but also to be able to communicate them. This is true for all sectors of advertising, not just creative. Clear communication is the common thread between any great campaign, and this is not something that comes easily to everyone. If the objective is to sell an idea to a client, you must be able to articulate it smoothly, and quickly. In other words, practice condensing your idea into a five minute elevator pitch. The better you get at the art of pitching, the farther you will go in this field. If this is difficult for you, practice. Explain your portfolio pieces to someone outside of advertising. If it gets lost with them, it will likely get lost with the client too.

- Emily Leclerc

Perspective

If you’re a strategist then you too know intern and junior positions are hard to come by. But you also know that there are plenty of them and many different kinds if you look hard enough. After a visit at an agency a recruiter explained their intern program and said it was only available for rising junior and seniors. I was confused as most places typically look for recents graduates instead. I confirmed by asking if graduating seniors could apply for the program and specifically if they had strategy positions open. The recruiter responded by telling me that there were open account exec positions and told me that strategy internships don’t exist, and that I would have to start out as a project manager or account managing position. I was confused, but had heard similar things before. He repeatedly told me how hard it is to start out being a strategist, and that there, I couldn’t do that. It threw me off, and I almost felt offended because he wasn’t willing to hear me out. He had no idea who I was or what my background was. But hey, I barely knew him either. I left feeling like I didn’t want to be a part of a place that blatantly ignored young strategists. 

On the flip side, I have to thank him. I know that strategy is hard to start out in. But i’m going to do it, and want todo it ten times more after this conversation. Here’s to strategists, because we all know how necessary (and awesome) we are!!

- Gabi Deckelman

Connection

Going into this trip, I knew that I would be meeting a lot of people within the industry as well as outside of it. In settings where you are faced with networking opportunities, especially during interviews, it is fairly easy to doubt yourself, resulting in a lack of confidence. Although humility is important, confidence is arguably more so in the world of advertising. At the end of the day, if you remove all professional titles, we are all human. Humans strive for connection more than most other things. Something that really helped me during this visit compared to last, was holding onto the idea of simply connecting to the individuals you meet along the way. This mindset helped to put me at ease, which also put the people I was interacting with at ease.

Connection Tips:

• Preparation of content (know your shit, research theirs.)
• Eye contact (never underestimate the power of this.)
• Vulnerability (demonstrate your desire for learning, and understand that it never stops.)

- Emily Leclerc

360i Breaks Down a Brief

Brief writing. Some thrive off of it, and some loathe the very thought of it. My agency visit to 360i was extremely helpful for my future endeavors with creating briefs. Our presentation leader and former UO duck, Chelsea Coleman, broke it down into 5 distinct parts.

1. Purpose
2. Target
3. Now/Next or To/From
4. Insight
5. Strategy

Although briefs are unique agency to agency, it is helpful to hear the thought process and formatting behind 360i’s strategy team.

Blair Paley.

hello, and goodbye

A major goal of this trip was to establish connections within the industry and expand our networks, not only on a personal level but for the betterment of the SOJC. What I have understood on this trip is that networking is not just something that happens within the walls of exceptional agencies, every conversation allows one to grow their reach in the professional world, as well as hold genuine conversations. On my way back from New York City I ended up sitting next to a video director who owns his own shop in Portland. Ironically enough he was working on after effects and I pulled out my computer to work on a video for my North West stories class. We struck up a conversation about what brought each other to New York and he told me about how his English major and background and how his love of screenplays led him down his path of film. Every individual you cross paths with can have an influence on your life if you take hold of the opportunity. So, who will you say hello to next?

-Key Higdon

opulent exterior

5/8/17 may have been an unsuspecting day to most, but eight students were extended an opportunity beyond their comprehension to attend the 96th Art Director’s Club Annual Awards. Upon arriving at an unassuming building with an austere exterior, we entered into a posh darkly lit soirée, where many of the top art directors from the world had gathered. It was safe to say we were all a bit shell-shocked. Here we were a bunch of undergraduate students with next to no experience mingling with some of the most creative minds from all over the globe. However, the most interesting lesson that I learned that night was how award shows are meticulously curated. What was interesting is that agencies and design firms had to submit their work to be considered for the award so, the people that won were not up against the best of the best, but were competing against a smaller circle. This made me recall my lessons from a previous ethics of journalism class I had taken; specifically, how when an idea (awards) is framed so only the salient message (the winners) is received it can create an illusion that is not necessarily noticed by the majority. Overall, it was an incredible experience to talk to individuals who have been in the industry for decades, and also shed light into how the prestige of advertising awards markets itself.

-Key Higdon

anti-jade

Riding up the elevator to the 30th floor was a thrill in and of itself. Being given a two-hour long presentation by a “merry band of refugees from all facets of marketing” made SS+K one of my favorite visits of the trip. Something every advertising major I have talked to had at one point felt jaded by the industry we are entering. You can only put so much meaning into selling sugar water to the next generation. However, we learned from Alyssa and Elena, a creative team at SS+K that when you seek out “Caused Based Clients” the work becomes malleable in creating a message that transcends advertising and creates social meaning outside of selling a product. SS+K also spoke on the passion projects they pursue as a team. For example, they created an online bot aptly named BFF TRUMP that only used phrases that Trump has said to create conversation as well as act as a contentious catalyst to get users to vote. It is easy to forget about the reason why we all entered advertising when working long hours, attempting to add a sense of meaning into work, but agencies like SS+K bring meaning and passion back into the chaotic void of mass media.

-Key Higdon

Honey

Considering now that I am in the 16th grade, I have a somewhat clear definition about what I like about the American educational experience. For example, tests do not help anyone retain information, and the best part about learning is asking questions to better understand the illogical and arbitrary world around you. To me, the creative agency Sparks & Honey reminded me of all my favorite aspects of school led by a team of highly intelligent individuals. Sparks & Honey analyzes real-time cultural trends while using psychology and sociology to further analyze the world around us, allowing them to create insight for brands related to the present culture. For an hour every day, Sparks & Honey has a “cultural briefing” where two hosts run through a slideshow of everything of cultural relevance that has popped up in the last 24 hours. Everything from the upswing of memes to how millennials are influencing the luxury car landscape, the wide range of topics allowed me to appreciate and understand how even trivialness of pop culture can spark insight and lead to big ideas.

-Key Higdon