Evesdropping and Ad

This afternoon I happened to be taking a much needed break from my oh-so-demanding job of Academic Scheduling Specialist- ASS for short, no joke.  My job title is shortened to ASS just to make it all the more glamorous.  Hence the reason why I am tirelessly working towards my degree in Advertising, I no longer want to be called an ASS in my professional life unless I really deserve it.

While taking said break I happened to be in ear shot of the construction crew working behind my office.  The group was comprised of 4 or 5 middle aged men and they were engaged in the most entertaining conversation.  It was hard to hear all of it but I did catch “sexy chicks” (I figured that one would be in there), but what was interesting was that it was immediately followed up by “Terra Nova”, “Time Travelers Wife”, “Magic Trees” and then “Brad Pitt”.  If I hadn’t had to rush back to my important ASS duties I really would have loved to listen in to see how these things all tied together.  And because Deb Morrison’s class is always in the back of my head I got to thinking about what could be learned from this eavesdropping and how it could apply to good advertising.

Advertising is all about knowing your audience, not about knowing the stereotype of your audience.  If the Ad world continued to think of groups of people based on common stereotypes great things like JWT’s Kotex campaign or Nike’s “If You Let Me Play” never would have happened.  Now, these commercials have revolutionized the way the world views periods and sports and I’m guessing that a huge part of their research was just listening to what their audience had to say.

Harnessing the Inner Badass

With spring term really getting started I got to thinking about long term shit, like interning and getting a job and graduating (in 3 months!).  It’s easy to lose track of those important things that are off in the future when your brain has been clouded with crap like Econ exams and readings about the history of paper.

This next term need to be focused around harnessing my inner badass.  I know that it’s in there.  I have no problem letting badass Megan loose after a few glasses of liquid courage but I’m confident that my future employers aren’t down with drunken employees, no matter how badass they might be.  So rather than take up daily drinking I decided to work at being a sober badass.

I spent last term struggling with this idea, I decided to embark on a new personal project to help build up my confidence.  This project is in the infant stages, more to come soon, but I hope that this project will become great fodder for this blog while simultaneously beefing up my confidence and faith in my ability to show off how badass I really can be.  Like I said, I know it’s there; I just have to work at it.  Time to get moving.

25. The Starting Line

The term is almost over, I made it to my 25th blog post and now have a website to share with you all.  This isn't the finish line, the starting gun has just gone off and it's time to start the race.

24. Deb Morrison

It wouldn't be right to wrap up this blog without giving a nod to one of our greatest speakers, Deb Morrison. 

This was my first class with Deb, I have taken several courses with her other half Dan so I had an idea of what to expect.  Thankfully she wasn't anything like the wicked witch of the west or a fire breathing dragon.

Thanks to this class I now have my own philosophy on brand thinking.  Who takes a ten week class and comes out the other side with a freaking PHILOSOPHY? It's pretty great. 

This class had so many takeaways, a few of which you can see in my posts about individual speakers but in order to feel as though this blog is complete, the Morrisonian theories and sayings should be documented. 

I want to look back at this blog and remember a few of those motivational sayings that Deb shouted at us this term. 

1.       Do Shit! Thank you for this one Deb.  It’s so basic, but so true.  Get off your lazy ass and do something.  When a person does shit! they end up being…

2.       Be Interesting and Interested.  Do shit! Make stuff! and be interesting.  You have to be creative, you have to be informed in order to accomplish this one.  It’s this one that helps get jobs.

3.       Be Genuine.  In order to be successful in this industry you have to be true and honest.  Faking it won’t get you far, you have to be genuinely in it, be present and really, truly love what you are creating.

4.       Do Good. Give back; make the world a better place.  This is a big one.  By declaring this major and becoming a part of this industry you are signing up to contribute to making the world a better place.  We are the ones that get to continue this mission.  It’s not all about making big bucks and getting ahead; the point of advertising should be about working toward a greater good and really making a difference.

There are so many more, I know I’m forgetting a ton of them.  I still have a couple terms to go so this blog post is a work in progress, this list will be longer by the time I graduate. 

Deb’s passion and commitment to this university is an inspiration to all of us.  I just hope that the future creative straters get the chance to see Deb make the donuts for many terms to come. 

23. Kathy Hepinstall

Kathy Hepinstall is an amazing writer, and it shows.  She could probably take up a second job as a standup comedian too.  Her lecture was hilarious.  Her blog is also a great, entertaining read. 

Kathy is great friends with Deb and their funny banter before class was a great lead up to her talk.  She was not only funny but she really had some great things to say to us.  Here are just a few highlights:

1.       Always remember your audience.  You have to think about the things that will keep them coming back, the things that appeal to them.  These are your people and you want them to like what you do.

2.       Feedback is a form of art.  People give meaningful feedback and it’s something that should be deemed important.  You can learn from feedback, and you should.

3.       Understand the culture of an agency.  Not all agencies will appreciate you riding into the lobby on an angry white nag.  Some will, but before you take all that time to rent a horse, you should be sure that you are working for an agency that will appreciate it.

4.       Say thank you to your brain.  A brain is like a domesticated animal, it wants praise for what it does. 

5.       You can be somebody’s good news.  Doing something nice for someone else can sharpen your creative skills.

22. Scott Bedbury

Scott Bedbury. Pause for the church bells to stop ringing and the cheering to stop.

I really thought that we were going to have some guy roll in with an entourage and maybe a body guard or two. We have heard so much about the great Scott Bedbury that I was caught off guard when he showed up in a pair of jeans and a button up. 

He kinda looked like my dad (if you ever read this Mr. Bedbury, my dad is handsome and funny and smart), just an average guy.  His talk was anything but average, and his book is even better. 

He talked about his work with Starbucks and Nike and his great relationship with Uncle Phil, and that work that he has done for those brands is/was amazing but what I liked the most was how he chatted with us after class.

He told funny stories about Air Jordans and the impressions they make on rural small town folk who have no idea what city slickers like Scott Bedbury are like.  That was great.  And he interacted, he and Joey from class had a nice little chat about the Air Jordan 5 series. They talked like they were buddies, like they had things in common-and they do.  Scott Bedbury, as great as he is, made it clear to all of us that day that he was just a regular guy. 

That made me feel connected to the industry. Scott Bedbury, the great Scott Bedbury, likes old school Nikes.  I like old school Nikes. 

All I'm saying, is that when you are sitting there before class, waiting to be slapped in the face by an industry celebrity and you end up leaving with the feeling that he would totally have a beer with you, it's pretty freaking rad.

I learned from Scott Bedbury that even the industry greats are just regular guys who like shoes and beer and strong coffee and that means that we have at least 3 things in commom.

21. Maria Scileppi

Maria Scileppi is currently the director of the Chicago Portfolio School which is amazing, but the best part about this gal is that she didn't come to try and recruit us.  She just came to give us some amazing tips on how to get noticed, how to get our foot in the door.  And let me tell you, I needed this talk.  My resume sucked before I went to this class and had the chance to hear Maria speak. 

My resume probably looked like your moms resume.

Anyway, here are a few great things she had to say.

1.      Be creative, do your own individual projects just because you can and because you want to.  Again, holy shit Deb’s right! Maria has succeeded in turning one of her projects,

Peoplescape into something incredible.  You have to check this out; it’s such a great idea.

2.      Have a glass of wine before you write a contact email (must be 21 or older).  This was a great tip, and if you don’t drink wine or booze or beer, her point here was really to relax.  So take a dip in the hot tub or go for a run if you aren’t a win-o like me, do what you need to do to be relaxed and have your ideas and thoughts flow naturally.  This will help get the real you across.

3.      Be accessible.  You have to make it easy for people to get in touch with you.  There are so many other people gunning for the job that you want that if you don’t make it easy for them to reach you, they will move on to the next guy.  And you better hope that you aren’t competing in this area with the guy named Alex who made his phone number 541-YES-ALEX.  Smart kid.

Maria was one of my favorite speakers because she had so many useful things to say.  Despite the fact that she directs a school for creatives, and I’m a planner, I still felt like I learned so much.  I took a lot of notes and thanks to her my resume now looks nothing like your moms.