adspeak

What is your background?

 

I went to the University of Illinois at Chicago, and I got my Bachelor's degree in business administration. I had a focus in marketing and management. I have not yet applied to grad school, but I plan on doing so in the near future. 

 

Do you think that's valuable in this industry or is it something that you just really want to do?

 

I think both. It's something that I have always wanted to do so I plan on doing it, I just haven't set a date yet. It's also expensive. And, I do think its valuable. I think just continuing your education in general just provides a lot of value to you and your future and your growth potential.

 

What led you to work in advertising/media?

 

It was kind of all by chance. I graduated with my degree in marketing and management and as you know there are so many different aspects of marketing. I really didn't know what I wanted to do when I first graduated. So I actually started off at a digital development agency. It was a start-up company and it just wasn't really working for me. A friend of mine who actually worked here told me there was an opening and I had no clue what media was and what it entailed. I was new to the entire industry and I got the job, which was great and I learned a lot. I am so glad I did because I feel like being in the media world, you do really need this as a base to understand how everything flows together in all aspects of marketing. I think it's essential.

 

How long have you been here?

 

About 3 1/2 years. I did start in the training program, but I do think that these are the mandatory basics even if you want to move up and work client side one day. It's beneficial to know how everything works together so that you can be a better partner in the future.

 

With that, do you think there's any set of characteristics that define people in this industry?

 

Yes. You definitely have to be bold, and you have to be very adaptable to change because this industry is continually evolving. You have to learn how to listen, especially since we have tons of clients with different needs. If you don't know how to listen, you’re not going to get very far. And, I think you have to have effective communication skills because it's what it’s all about. You have to be able to communicate and deliver. 

 

What's the craziest thing that has ever happened to you at work?

 

It did not necessarily happen to me, but the entire agency. We had a Be Bold competition that just started a little over a year ago. One of the first competitions entailed everyone breaking up into groups, I'd say about 8 or so individuals, and we had a dance-off. So we all had to compete and dance and whoever won the competition got a paid day off of work, which was nice. Unfortunately, my team did not win, but I think we did a great job.

 

A lot of us were out of our comfort zone. We did a montage and danced to Michael Jackson and did the tootsie roll. It was a lot of fun. 

 

What are some of the tough parts about your job?

 

Once again, the industry is always evolving so just keeping up-to-date on current trends. This is difficult when you’re trying to do your job as well as keep up-to-date with everything that’s going on. It's a very competitive industry so sink or swim, especially for the upper-management levels. You just have to continue to be creative and be bold and willing to try new things. You can't be afraid in this industry. You have to be outgoing, which can be scary for a lot of people. Definitely getting over your fears, like when I first started, I had a lot of trouble with public speaking. It's not that I wasn't capable, it's just a personal fear of mine. I do not like being in front of an audience, and it's something you have to combat because there's a lot of public speaking involved in this industry.

 

What's the best perk that you've gotten from a client?

 

I wouldn't say that we receive perks from clients, it’s more like having the client’s business that the vendors give us things. So, because we give our partners business, they like to spoil us. Sometimes we've gotten tickets to sporting events, gotten taken out to dinner/lunch. They like to bring us gifts to the office. Some people get bottles of wine. One of the nicest things that I've received from a vendor was, it was an outdoor vendor, and they placed my wedding announcement on a digital billboard. It was probably like 8 seconds, but it was just really nice. It was a few days leading up to the wedding. I did not ask for it; they just did it out of the kindness of their own heart which was really sweet. And, that was by far the best gift I have ever received.

 

So, it sounds like with that you form true, valuable relationships with clients and vendors?

 

Definitely. You have to. It's the foundation for basically everything we do here. We have to create relationships with everyone just to work together and make sure that the client's objectives are met. At the end of the day, we have to make them happy. The better relationships you have, the more likely they are to come through if, let's say, the client's budget decreased. They're willing to lower their cost to make sure your still able to maintain if not the same level of frequency, similar, so that your client is still succeeding. Their willing to take that cut for you.

 

What are some of the biggest factors when deciding which media vehicle to place an ad in?

 

It varies. There's no cookie cutter template. Really it all boils down to budget. If the client has a very lean budget, we have to make sure we're utilizing the media vehicles that are going to best suit their objective. If they want to build more brand awareness, we go after larger vehicles like TV, but if the budgets limited, radio is second in line for that client. If the budget's endless than we can do the whole shebang. We can have radio, digital, television, and out of home, so it all depends. Then we use our strategic tools to help guide us on what resonates well with the target while meeting with the target simultaneously. 

 

Could you describe a time when you had to be really creative or strategic?

 

There aren't many Spanish speaking people in this agency, especially in the planning side. I think I'm probably the only one. Our client needed to run a Spanish script on a radio station, and we were not sure if we were going to get the translation in time from the radio station. So, I had to translate it, and I'm very conversational Spanish. Wouldn't consider myself 100% fluent, but myself along with the help of a few others in the agency, we were able to translate the spot and it actually got approved that it was running. So, it was kind of on the fly. 

 

Then when the client's budget is really lean. We just have to be really creative and strategic in terms of timing. If they can purchase 10 weeks, it doesn't make sense to run 10 consecutive weeks. We would probably have a pulsing strategy where we're on one week, off on another, on one week, off on another to make sure it's extending across the entire campaign and that the message is resonating. 

 

You mentioned how media is always changing, especially now that digital and programmatic vehicles are becoming the common solution to media placement. Where do you see media going in the next few years and how do you think traditional media fits into that picture?

 

I definitely see a lot more media spend in the digital realm. It just makes sense. Year-over-year there's data that's backing up that digital usage across all platforms is increasing. How that affects traditional media? I think there will always be a place for traditional media. While TV viewership has decreased, it's not completely dead. People are still spending hours and hours watching television per week, and it's still one of the easiest ways to build mass reach within a short time duration. However, some traditional platforms have started updating their platforms, such as out of home, for example. They not only have static bulletins, but now they have digital bulletins because now they are keeping up with the time and the age and the trends. So now you are able to run multiple creative messages at once just like you would on a website with traditional, but, I don't think we will ever fully replace traditional. Another example with bulletins is directional units. That can never be replaced with something online. It's nice to know that the nearest pit stop is one mile away exit 186. There's some things that will never be replaced with the digital platform. 

 

Are you more willing or comfortable to work in other areas of advertising than when you first started?

 

I am. When I first started, I admit it was scary because I did not know what the media agency or world entailed. And now that I have a better grasp, I have not had a chance to work in the digital aspect yet and I'd like to. I'd like to learn more about SEO and just optimizing campaigns and how they build their media plans on their end because I do want to become well-rounded individual eventually where I can purchase both traditional and digital media. I think that's beneficial to learn both ends.

 

What is interesting you most currently, like a certain campaign or a trend. Is there anything that interests you?

 

What's interesting me is just like the larger brands like the Cokes, and the Pepsis, and the McDonalds. I think it was last year, Coke ran that share a Coke with your soulmate campaign they tried to have like an engagement factor with their brand, and it's interesting how this year Pepsi is trying to combat that with an emoji. So like how are you feeling and there's different emoji’s on the bottle themselves. So, it's just interesting that would pick up, especially since they're huge, and their direct competitors and they’re very similar. So, I'd like to see what those results would like and see if people interact more with those than with the Coke bottles.

 

Also, out of home has done a lot lately, it's not your traditional bulletin. There's also bus shelter executions where you can interact directly with the bus shelter. There's a cologne where you can lean in and you can smell the cologne, like a sample, and it was strategically located right in front of a Macy's, so if you really liked it and had the money you could purchase the cologne. 

 

They're being really creative with out of home lately. 

 

Do you have any insider tips?

 

Be bold. Take initiative. Ask a lot of questions. Learn to listen before you speak. You have to learn before you can tell people how to do things and just don't give up. Keep trying. It's a rough world out here.