by Next Wave Team | Apr 21, 2006 | Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Change the world, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising
The results are in for the American Advertising Federation’s Fifth District student ad competition- and the winner is the University of Kentucky. These students will get to go to San Francisco in June for the National competition and square off against teams from across the country. The client, Postal Vault, of Dallas Texas, was the first “small client” in the history of the competition and they gave the students a taste of a real world, with changes halfway through the assignment and some odd requests in the brief. As in all things advertising, the campaign presentations ran from the bad to the very good.
I’m in a position to know- I was selected to be the client representative on the panel.
The competition is still going on in some districts, so I will limit myself to say that reviewing the planbooks and presentations by 9 teams is a lot of work- but very rewarding. Often times in advertising we search out young talent to give us a fresh perspective on our business- and while I saw some incredible talent today- there is much to be said for the wisdom that comes from years of experience.
Watch this space in the near future for a tip sheet for building effective planbooks for this competition- and for making an effective presentation. For now, I just want to say it was an honor to be a judge, and that the process served as a reminder of how and why I love this business. If you ever get the call to be a judge on one of these competitions- I highly recommend it- even if it will mean missing sleep and a day or two of work.
Not only will you be giving something back- you’ll walk away with a creative battery recharge that will surprise and delight you.
Congratulations to all the teams- I hope this was a good introduction to our amazing field.
David Esrati
Joining me in the judging were:
Michael Gersin, CRMC
Greater Media Detoit
Lou Es Greene
L2 Marketing Research, Ltd.
Matthew Oates
Greater Lafayette Health Services
Daniel Schlegel
Schlegel Creative Resources
The other winning schools:
2nd. place Western Kentucky University
3rd place Ohio University
4th place Youngstown State
John Carroll University, Marshall University, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Murray State University and Xavier University were the other participants.
by Next Wave Team | Mar 8, 2006 | Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies
Thinking like a Genius
How many times have you heard “it’s not rocket science, it’s only ____________” (and it’s ok to substitute “brain surgery” for “rocket science”) and thought I should be able to do that? It’s one of the things those of us in advertising hear all the time- as if creating this great stuff is so easy.
How long did it take Wieden + Kennedy working on Nike before “Just do it” came along and changed everything? Do you think “Where’s the beef” was a happy accident on the set? Hopefully not. The fact is- some very talented and smart people worked a lot of hours to come up with those famous three word combinations. Three words- and they propel sales and awareness through the roof.
So- is there a secret to coming up with this stuff? I ran across a site that has eight strategies to “thinking like a genius”- and wouldn’t you know it- they all apply to coming up with great advertising.
If you want to have genius advertising- I can add one more thing strategy to the list: hire an agency and work together at learning each other’s business. It’s often said that clients get the advertising they deserve- and most of the time this comes from an arrogance – often founded on the premise that they don’t believe that advertising is actually creative rocket science. So before you hire or fire your agency- look at how you handled the relationship- was it one of mutual respect? Did you work as hard at educating the agency as the agency worked at educating the client? If the equation wasn’t 50/50- you probably didn’t get what you could have.
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Dec 4, 2005 | Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns, Marketing & the Web
If I needed a copywriter today- I’d hire David Freels. You can read about his career interrupted on Sally Hogshead blog. To sum it up, David put his kid before his career for a few years, and ended up making the world a better place. We have a sign hanging in reception and at the front of this site that says “If you aren’t here to change the world, please turn around and leave”- after reading this story, I’m not sure I’m worthy to come in my own office.
So, I commented on Sally’s blog, and then another ad blog picked up my theme- David and Goliath - and that ad blog belongs to Ernie Schenck- another ad god right up there with my heroes Sally and Luke Sullivan.
This is the power of blogging and the Internet- the connecting people who may have never connected before, now come together to help as best they can. I’m posting this, in the hopes that a few other ad types who read this blog, decide to put their little job needed links on their site- to help David Freels get a job.
If you could use a freelance writer, especially if you live in the Atlanta area, please call David Freels.
Sally says the guy can write- and if she says so- who am I to argue.
Reach David for freelance writing work:
[email protected]
404-725-4520
http://www.freelanceforum.org/df
by Next Wave Team | Nov 13, 2005 | Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising
We review a lot of portfolios. We meet a lot of people. We don’t hire very many.
The reason all these people don’t get hired is generally, they aren’t prepared to get hired.
My first question is always- before I look at the work- do you want me to be nice- or do you want the truth?
Truth almost always wins, and many times, I lose.
In this day of self-actualization and self-esteem coddling, it’s not the best way to win friends and influence people even if you give “constructive criticism.”
So- I turn to my friend Sally Hogshead’s blog for: 83 things I wish someone had told me while I was learning how to be creative.
I’ve added a few in the comments-
But, if you are looking for a job in advertising here in Dayton, or in the big city Mecca’s these suggestions will do you well.
As to knowing what work is good enough to put in your book- I quote my hero’s at Chiat Day- “Good enough is not good enough.”
Good luck.
by Next Wave Team | Sep 21, 2005 | Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising
The offer I made to Katrina displaced ad people was picked up by Newhouse News Service, owners of many papers - including The Times-Picayne of New Orleans. The article, “Employers give back by hiring Katrina’s Evacuees” by Katherine Reynolds Lewis speaks about the personal worth issues of those who’ve lost everything- and how to bring meaning back to their lives. Here is the section about The Next Wave:
David Esrati, chief creative officer of the Next Wave in Dayton, Ohio, has offered a job and studio space on several advertising industry Web sites.
“What you do is who you are,” Esrati said, “and if you’re sitting around doing something that’s not what you do, it’s real easy to get discouraged. Despair takes over.”
read the whole article.
Special thanks to Jack Goldenberg of Einstein Da Vinci & Goldenberg- who worked tirelessly to get this story out. Also, thanks to Matthew Richmond of the Chopping Block who built Displaceddesigner.com.
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Sep 1, 2005 | Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns
A small Katrina win-win?
My agency, The Next Wave, has been looking for web-savy designer/ ad generalist. We’re a small creative firm in Dayton OH. I also have a spare bedroom- right across the street from the office. If there is anyone escaping Katrina who needs a place to stay- and a job, and they have the qualifications- I’m offering my room rent-free, and my office to you if you are displaced. If you owned a small agency and need a place to continue working- that’s fine too, my office can be your office. The position is posted at http://thenextwave.biz/tnw/?p=57.
I’m really not sure of how this will work, I just know that if this happened to me, I’d be grateful if someone was willing to make room and work for me. The only caveat is you have to like dogs and be a non-smoker.
Contact: [email protected]
Alan, my trusted genius intern, found this site: http://www.displaceddesigner.com/
I’ve placed a post there-
I’m really happy they took this idea and ran with it.
Great minds think alike?
7 Sep. 05 Update: I’ve heard from 2 potential displaced people- both, fresh out of school, who have places outside New Orleans with their folks. Both have agreed, finding someone with no fall back housing would be the best option. I’m guessing the people who have been totally displaced haven’t had a ton of time online yet- to sort things out. We’re waiting for you….
ABC News from NYC called, wondering if I’d taken anyone in yet- so the word is spreading- just not to the people most in need yet.
I’m glad others have started following in my footsteps- but the matching will take a bit of time.
