Generosity

Standing in a beautifully lit conference space, pitching an idea to a room lined with brilliant minds from all departments (including but not limited to the person who wrote the most legendary tweet in the history of branded social content), I was struck by the generosity of people in this industry. These folks undoubtedly had more pressing matters to attend to than hearing student pitches, but there they were, nodding attentively and giving invaluable feedback. I am impressed, overwhelmed and so grateful. Thank you, R/GA.

Hannah Lewman 05.10.17

A metaphor to consider:

Agencies are in the business of brand health. Sometimes, we prescribe painkillers; our advertising seeks to solve serious business problems. Sometimes, however, agencies are tasked with producing brand vitamins. From time to time, we need to create things that enhance or strengthen a brand where a clear problem doesn’t exist. That can be challenging, but it’s extremely important.

A little cheesy? Maybe. But when someone at AKQA articulated their work in this way yesterday, I just had to scribble it down. Just one of many takeaways from an insanely smart shop. 

Rachel Benner. 05.10.2017.

What is “dark social”?

This term has come up in conversations and presentations in the past few days (AKQA & shareablee) so I decided to do a little research because I was curious. Dark social is social sharing content that occurs outside of what can be measured by an analytics program. It does not appear publicly. Dark social often shows up in analytics as “direct” or “bookmarked” traffic but does not give specifics. For example, many branded Facebook posts are targeted to a specific audience. However, not everyone sees them. Another example is Instagram promoted posts. It’s hard to measure the data behind the posts because it’s difficult to see everything a brand is putting out into the world. Another aspect of “dark social” is sharing content privately by cutting and pasting making it hard to track website traffic and engagement.

-Meg Winters 05.10.17

Rapid heartbeat and shaky fingertips

Deep breaths, relaxed shoulders, eyes up.
Remember what you are going to say. Rehearse in your mind. Breathe. Release the tension in your jaw. Your right hand is squeezing your other too hard. Just calm down.

Why can’t my heart feel as confident as my brain does?

My team had the opportunity to pitch to R/GA for the Uber brief they gave to us at the beginning of this term. Not really knowing each other before this term, our team came together like lost puzzle pieces that somehow fit together to make a lovely painting and I am proud of the ideas that we presented. Although I am used to presenting and I love criticism on my work, I still had a rapid heartbeat and shaky fingertips when we made our pitch.

However, that doesn’t discourage me.

When I think about my freshman self, she would have been too petrified to even attempt this opportunity. And now, I embraced it. Yes, I was intimidated and stressed beyond belief but I did it. I am constantly growing and evolving. One day I’ll look back at little senior Amelia and think “Huh, I wonder how she would think of me now.”

Amelia Inouye // 5/9/2017

Forging strategy + analytics

Implementing data analytics into strategy is important to stay relevant and to optimize on every campaign. At AKQA, the agency understands that collaboration between the data analytics team and the strategy team is necessary. This allows strategic insights to be supported by data from day one, driving brands further and continuously measuring KPI’s. Start by learning Google Analytics or Facebook Analytics!

-Meg Winters 05.09.17

Thoughts on being a great team player

To say that two hours at Sound Lounge changed my perspective is an understatement. It taught me more about how to create a strong client-agency relationship (or professional relationship in general) than I could have imagined. Relationships fuel our industry. How people connect and engage shapes how brands live in the world, how agencies and clients work together, and how we make great work. Here are a few of my takeaways:

Understand the other person’s vision/what they want to accomplish. Understanding a problem is only half the battle. You also have to understand how they want you to solve it.

Communicate early. The more time you can give people to do great work, the better the work will be (and you’ll probably pay less for it).

Build trust. When there’s an “oh shit” moment, be the person others can count on to solve the problem. This shows investment and instantly builds trust. (Just make sure you’re not the cause of the “oh shit” moment.)

Come from a place of “yes.” You want to be seen as a team player and someone who can help great work happen. It is a complex mixture of knowing what it’ll take to get there, knowing your limits, and choosing to invest in others by being in the thick of it with them.

Questions vs Experience

Thanks to watching Lynette Scavo in action during all eight seasons of Desperate Housewives, I graduated high school with the sense that advertising was the career path for me. Although this show was influential in so many more ways than pointing me in the direction of my career (hello, now I know to never trust my neighbors completely), it did not fully describe all the many different aspects that pertain to advertising. Thus, I entered college and began asking questions. Despite gaining amazing advice, connections, friendships and opportunities from asking questions inside the SOJC, I wasn’t satisfied with the answers. I felt like there was still so much I didn’t know. So I kept asking. And what I found was that there are no right answers. The questions will never stop because the world never stops and thus, curiosity should never stop. To a girl who loves crossing things off of a list, the thought of this endless chase seemed daunting until I realized one solution to will help me along: experience.

Each day I step into Allen Hall, I leave with a little more knowledge. Just being in the right place, observing, talking, listening and absorbing helps me to feel more confident in my own abilities in this career. This confidence has led to taking risks, like applying to Allen Hall Advertising and the New York Trip, which has led to even more confidence and the spiral continues. Thus, the experience of being able to walk the streets of New York City amongst the local morning commuters, walk into the offices of major agencies, observe the cultures of these agencies, listen to their presentations of their campaign work, cheer classmates on as they pitch to these agencies, receive feedback from real-life, employed advertisers, discuss hiring tips with recruiters themselves and toy with the idea of moving to a mecca like Manhattan is unlike anything else. This week in the city is providing me the opportunity to “play house” with the thought of making the giant move from Eugene to NYC; an idea I never gave much thought too because I didn’t think I could do it. It’s like I’m getting the opportunity to peek into what my life could be like in 5 years, as if someone is helping me make the right decision.

Undoubtedly, I will leave New York on Friday with a whole new set of questions, but the amount of answers I received about the industry and myself is unparalleled. Although the questions may never end in this field, one thing is for certain: Experience leads to better questions and better questions lead to unbelievable answers.

Meg Meagher