I'm currently working towards a career in advertising. Some of the things I hope to demonstrate through this blog include: my social media abilities, my ability to write, the ability to think strategically, the ability to think creativity and my knowledge of the advertising industry.
A rare occurance
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If you know me it’s no suprise that Nas is my favourite Hip-Hop artist.
I’ve mentioned in the past to Matt and Afran about how Nas is one of those
kind of ...
Attractive Struggling Artist + Internets = Magic
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Coca-Cola's recent partnership with YouTube and Facebook brings us a kick
ass advertising/entertainment/social media collaboration for Sprite called,
"Gre...
To the fans I earned off the strength of this site, I'm sorry. It's been way too long since I've updated. While I know it's too late to win you back, and I'm not sure I'm in a place where I want to put as much effort into this site as I used to, I still wanted to at least explain where I've been since I supposedly fell off the face of the Earth. I've been concentrating on work
This site was meant to act as a quasi-portfolio for me. As a student coming out of school, I felt like I needed something to demonstrate my understanding of the business and my ability to succeed. Ultimately, it worked. When interview time came at 58Ninety, this was one of the resources they used to judge me and it worked in my favour. I've been with 58Ninety since April 2010.
In the last year-and-a-half, I've grown tremendously as an interactive advertising industry professional. I was promoted to Client Engagement Manager a few months ago, and along the way I've had a chance to refine my skills in account management, project management, new business development, content entry, information architecture and most recently, strategic planning. I've also been fortunate enough to work with an amazing team that have helped me grow and made the experience enjoyable. I hope that I'm leaving as positive an impact on the rest of the team as they have on me. I'm forever thankful to 58Ninety for the opportunity they've given me and I'll continue to do my best to get better to the benefit of everyone around.
With that said, maintaining this blog fell on the priority list. I'm proving my worth every day with the work I contribute to 58Ninety and the experience I gain during that process. Those will hold more weight to my overall worth than my writings about "ad campaign X" ever could.
What was once a passion project has grown much bigger than I could have ever imagined. Ever since In Third Person was featured on the Wordpress.com home page, the trajectory of that site changed dramatically. That event affected In Third Person in two ways:
Short-Term Win: It brought thousands of new readers to my site for a few days
Long-Term Win: It significantly improved my placement in the Google search rankings
Recognizing the opportunity at hand, I put in the extra effort to building on that success, which has paid off so far. What was once a pet project that got 100 visits a month if I was lucky has grown to a site that serves thousands of monthly visitors. Though it may not tie into interactive advertising in terms of subject matter, you could make a strong case for In Third Person being a stronger 'portfolio piece' than this site ever was. It's still hard for me to believe that the site gets that many eyes on it and that I've gained loyal fans around the world who care about my perspective on video games.
The best part of this experience is that In Third Person has never felt like work. I was doing this for for fun a year before this success, and I would have continued writing for it regardless of the outcome. As long as it's still fun, I'll keep regularly updating it.
I've been concentrating on life
Much of my adult life to-date has been spent working assorted part-time jobs to pay the bills. I've worked a ton of nights and weekends making close to minimum wage, and because of that, I had to make sacrifices to other parts of my life. I understood that these were the steps I needed to take to get to the next level, but they're tough steps to take.
Now that I'm working a mostly 9-5 gig, that opens up things that many people take for granted, such as evenings, weekends and holidays. There's a life outside of work, too, and now I have more opportunities to enjoy that. The most exciting thing lined up for is a trip to England with my girlfriend Steff. I've never really had the opportunity in my life to travel for the sake of traveling up until now, so this trip is going to be special for all sorts of reasons.
That's where I'm at. Life is good, and I'm hoping life is going well for you, too. Thank you for still checking this page out after all of this time. I'm still not sure where to take this site from here, but I'll at least check in more than once a year. If you'd like to follow my more frequent works, check out In Third Person.
Earlier today, I saw a bunch of internship-related questions pop up on my Twitter from my former professor and "Big Daddy CABBIE", Anthony Kalamut a.k.a. @southsideadguy. He's put out a bunch of questions for the Internet at large to answer so that he can relay that information back to his advertising students, who are all required to complete an internship before graduating.
I know it's scary being in his student's shoes, because I was there just a year ago. I've received a lot of help along my relatively successful journey in the advertising industry so far and I actively try and pay it forward. Answering a few of these questions is the least I can do to help my fellow adlanders score their internships. Jump through the cut to see my answers to Anthony's questions relating to internships. If a company rejects you, would you apply again for their program at a later date?
Absolutely. Just because a company says no to you once doesn't mean that they'll say no to you forever. As time passes, circumstances change, people change and people change their minds. If you go for an interview and they don't hire you, I would recommend at least adding the people who interviewed you as contacts on LinkedIn or keeping their email on file. That way, you'll have the ability to ask if there are any new opportunities available or, even better, they'll have the ability to contact you first if another opportunity were to arise. Also, the people considering you the first time around might not even be there the second time you apply, which would leave you with a clean slate. While I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket and focus all of my efforts into one agency, I wouldn't write off an agency that has said no before, either.
What's most important in an internship? Atmosphere/culture, opportunity to be hired, experience or compensation?
While they're all important, I can rank those from top to bottom what are most important to me:
1. Experience 2. Atmosphere/Culture 3. Opportunity to be hired 4. Compensation
Experience is key because experience is the biggest indicator of your value. You can also consider your experience as an investment to yourself. Regardless of how your internship ends, that experience will stay with you forever, which you can use to leverage yourself into a paid agency position. Atmosphere and culture I put at #2 because a good working environment is extremely important. If you're going to spend 8 hours a day and 5 days a week, you're going to want to spend that time in a place where you're comfortable and enjoy the people you work with. Having worked in both a large agency and a small agency, I can tell you that the atmosphere is very different in comparison, but I enjoy both for different reasons. Finding an agency where you "fit" in terms of skill-set and in personality will go a long way towards a great internship and possibly bigger things in the future.
I ranked opportunity to be hired and compensation at the bottom because there are factors beyond your control at play there. You might be hire-worthy, but if your agency doesn't have the money to keep you on, you're out of luck. Also, most agencies don't pay for interns. If you're holding out for a paid internship, you could be waiting for a long time.
What challenges have you faced when trying to acquire an internship?
The lack of experience and the "lack" of opportunities. I'll start with experience first.
Student work helps, but employers definitely prefer to see real work, even from prospective interns. If you come across any opportunities to do any sort of "real" advertising work that you can put in your portfolio or resume, go for it. One of the other things you can do is find another way to demonstrate what you have to offer. For me, my solution was starting up this blog, which actually did help me get my most recent job. However, every person is different and I'm sure there are countless other ways to sell yourself.
There are opportunities for internships everywhere, but as a student who doesn't know where to look, it can be daunting. To overcome that, I often consulted with my teachers who had information on openings and I conducted as many informationals with industry professionals as I could to not only learn more about the industry, but also to build a contact base that could possibly help me out in the future.
How did/would you find your internship?
My story is actually really weird. I had applied to a bunch of ad agencies and done a few interviews, but nothing had panned out. During my final semester at school, we had an assignment to come up with an advertising pitch for a small business. My girlfriend/partner on the assignment, Stephanie, chose an organic candy company called Pure Fun.
During our research, we found the President of the company on Facebook. We sent her a message telling her what we were doing and we sent her a mini brief containing info that we'd gathered so far. The President of Pure Fun loved it so much, she wanted to meet us in person. From there, Stephanie and I polished up our presentation, got a bunch of advice from our teachers, and we pitched the President of the company in a school board room. Before we had even graduated, we had essentially won our own account, which then turned into our internships.
There are a lot of ways to go about acquiring an internship other than sending resumes to every agency under the sun. In a time when the economy hit the absolute bottom, Stephanie and I created our own jobs by expanding our horizons and putting in the extra effort. Other advertising students have the capability to do the same thing, if not bigger.
Would you consider relocating to a different city for an internship?
If the circumstances line up in your favour, yes. During my radio career, I did my internship in a city I'd never been to at a station that played country music, a genre I knew nothing about. Through that experience of being in a totally new environment, I learned a lot about radio, the world and myself.
There have been a few opportunities for me to do my internship outside of the country through school, but there were other life factors involved that prevented me from going. If I were a student again and all the stars aligned for me to take that step, I totally would.
At what age, if any, are you “too old” to be an intern?
If you can prove that you have the ability to handle the work of an intern, I don't think you can be "too old". There are people in every industry that are entering their respective fields at different ages because they decided to change their career path or what have you. If you're happy with what you're doing, then your age shouldn't matter.
Much respect to Anthony for putting in the effort of getting this type of feedback for his students. His students are really lucky to have a professor like him who is willing to go the extra mile like this. I'm still very much a student of advertising myself with a lot more to learn, but if my answers help even one adlander find their way, then this was totally worth it.
I like to think it's in my blood. My father was in advertising. He started out as a graphic designer turned Art Director, and eventually became a professor in marketing. I've been hearing his "lectures" since I was a kid and I guess I actually listened! I was officially set on advertising when I went to Seneca's orientation session. One of the profs sold it to me and I grabbed on - hook, line and sinker.
Based on my personal experience as well as talking to advertising students, not a lot of students are striving for Project Management positions. Many don't even know what a Project Manager does. How did you end up in that field?
I totally fell into Project Management because of my internship at Cossette. I received a call from the HR department requesting my resume (I had left my contact information there after my class pitched to Cossette for our final semester - my team won, by the way!) and a phone interview with the Director of Production of Fjord, Cossette's interactive side. The position was support for the Project Managers and even though I didn't know what it was I jumped at the chance to intern for Cossette.
You were fortunate enough to have interned at Cossette as a Project Manager. What was that experience like? What were the key things you learned to be successful as a Project Manager?
It took me about two days to shake off the awe that I was interning at the biggest Canadian agency in Canada. In that aspect, I was excited and ready to start each day. I absorbed as much as I could from the people around me and asked questions about processes, best practices, formats, etc. Sometimes I just asked "Why?" Understanding the base process for something helps in future situations wherein you can take that practice and apply it to another project.
Part of my learning experience was gathered from where I was sitting - first I sat with the Flash developers and then with the coding dev teams (the office is open-concept and we had the PMs and AMs around us). This helped me learn more about what they do and how they do it, which is important in figuring out project estimates and whether projects are feasible. My boss told me he sat me there on purpose, just to learn things like that.
Key Things I Learned… Be nice to the developers! They will be the ones who can break you or save you during those looming deadlines. Write everything down. Everything! Don't go anywhere without a pen and notebook. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Smile, and mean it! :) Make use of Post-it notes. Don't take on more than you can chew - pass things up if you need to, and do it waaay before the deadline!
A few months ago, you made the big jump from intern to full-time employee, landing a position at BBDO Proximity. What was the process of securing a job like for you?
I am extremely lucky to be where I am now. For me, it was all about connections. I kept in touch with the Director of Production at Fjord, who was leaving to work elsewhere as I was settling into my internship. Laura and I talked about my future a lot and she had heard from the staff that they were really happy with me and my work. I guess she knew at the time that Fjord wasn’t looking to hire a junior like me so she took my contact information and resume before her last day. A few weeks later I was responding to calls from her agency contacts/acquaintances that were either looking for contract or full-time positions within Project Management.
One of those calls was for an interview with BBDO. I met with the two Project Directors/Brand Directors for my first interview and made sure not to lean on my Laura, my reference, too much but did discuss working and training with her. My second interview was with the PMO Consultant. It was a little tougher on the questions and I actually got to discuss salary options.
Overall it happened really quickly for me. While at Cossette I gathered contacts by letting people know I was looking for full-time work and most were happy to give me an email address or two. I set up a few informationals that way which helped me stay in the “interview mindframe” and work on asking/answering questions. Basically I believe I am in area of "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."
I know a lot of students are curious about the role a project manager plays at an advertising agency. What do you do as a Project Coordinator?
As a Project Coordinator at Proximity, I am dedicated to one major client. I am assigned to the smaller projects Proximity deals with (from online ads, website builds, changes, emails, etc). Working with our Resource Manager, I find a team to complete the job and then we get briefed by the accounting team. I ensure the resources (developers, art directors, designers, and copy writers) get everything we need to complete the deliverables on time. I am the liaison between accounting and the creative/developers for the most part and keep the team on a timeline.
After the project has been completed, we go through a series of Quality Assurance (QA). Sometimes I do this for my PMs or we have a team of QA to go through it checking for errors against our proposed deliverables. We are also checking for functionality when it comes to websites, CMS, flash, etc on different platforms.
For the paperwork, I write up job estimates, process invoices, budget tracking and a few other administration duties. I also do little things for the Project Managers as needed, such as purchasing images, typefaces and sound clips online.
Many people would consider Project Management as a "business" job. What role do you play in the creative side?
Project Management is a great mix of business and creative when it comes to interactive advertising. Even my junior level here at Proximity, I am able to get involved with brainstorming and concepting during briefs, internal reviews and through emails. We are encouraged to give our opinion. PMs are also the people who know what is feasible when an idea is pitched (in terms of the timeline, budget or client expectations).
We often get all-staff emails from staff informing us “what’s cool and new” or just plain interesting articles. This way we all keep up with the pace of the internet and it starts our discussion about using these various tools and interactive methods with our own clients.
When working in Interactive, there's an extra layer of technical knowledge you need to have in order to be successful at your job. How easy or difficult was it for you to grasp that side of the business? Do you think the average advertising student can handle it?
For me, it was very easy to take on the technical side of developing interactive ads. I was one of those teenagers who clamped onto the internet during the dial-up days of the early ‘90s so I have knowledge of html and xml. With that it became a bit easier to understand how CSS and other coding work in terms of the final performance of an ad. My dev team at Fjord was awesome at explaining things to me when I was tasked with a job; instead of just telling me what to do, they explained the system and let me ask questions about its functionality so it made sense to me in cause and effect terms.
I think with the increasing interest in interactive advertising, schools are beginning to take another look at the importance of learning the technical skills needed for this medium. Our semester learned a bit of what goes on for both front- and back-end development but half a semester isn’t enough to grasp it without some kind of interest in manipulating the medium to begin with.
For any students interested in a Project Management position, what would you say to them to sell them on a career in this field?
Project Management is like working for Accounts, without the task of dealing with clients. It’s like being in with the Creatives, except you watch deadlines! The project wouldn't get done on time without a project manager.
What do you do for fun?
I love going to concerts/music festivals; the atmosphere and adrenaline rush from going to heavy metal concerts is incredible! I enjoy reading, cuddling with my new kitten, playing around with the hundreds of apps on my iPod, cooking and baking. I love the internet and its infinite resource of all things inspirational, or all things inane (hey, you need this once in a while!). Friends and family hang-outs are fun, too.
E-elevator pitch (sell yourself in 140 characters or less)
I'm a fusion of the left and right sides of the brain: I can switch from creative tasks to business, bringing organization to imagination.
If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email atjettlandicho@gmail.com
Last week at the Toronto Euro RSCG Christmas party, I was surprised to receive my first-ever advertising award. I guess if anything, my parents deserve it more than I do, but I've accepted it nonetheless. I won the award for "Best Name Ever". Not a bad start to my career, now is it?
Hit the READ MORE link to see pics! Thank you Bekki for these pictures. Above is a picture of me receiving my award from Bill Sharpe, Chairman of Sharpe Blackmore. Watching in the back of this image is Tom Blackmore, the President of the company.
And here's a pic of me with my certificate. I will be framing it and displaying it on my desk at work. Here's to hoping I can win more awards in the future!
Starting this week, Adweek Media is conducting a poll for the best of the 2000s. There are a number of categories to choose from, including agency of the decade, commercial of the decade, and even blog of the decade. At some point in the nomination process my blog was lost in the shuffle, but I'll let it slide this decade (yeah right). All jokes aside, I recommend you take a few minutes to vote for who you feels deserves the distinction. As of writing, I just checked agency of the decade and to my surprise, Euro RSCG is #1. As a current employee of a Euro RSCG agency, I can't hate on that. However, don't let me me influence your voting...Euro RSCG, Euro RSCG, Euro RSCG...Euro RSCG
I’m not gonna lie. I fell in love with advertising after watching What Women Want with Mel Gibson. I remember sitting there and saying, “That’s what I want to do… throw ideas around.. pitch it.. and then make it all happen!” But that was years ago and back then I didn’t know if I had what it took to succeed. But after winning the student IMC campaign for BMW I knew I had what it was the perfect career choice for me.
Everything about it just feels right.
You have a background in volunteer work. Tell us about it.
Most of my volunteer work has been in the community-based level, but as I got older I wanted to extend my services towards third world countries and global causes.
I had my first international experience back in 2007 when I traveled to Haiti with a group called Third World Awareness (twawareness.org). My family and friends were worried about my safety and didn’t think I could handle the rough conditions. And to be honest, I was really scared too but knew I had to just throw myself head on and embrace it.
The experience was tremendous and life changing. And from that I learned to continually challenge myself to the next level in every aspect of my life.
Do you ever plan on incorporating that volunteer experience into your advertising career somehow?
Definitely. I am very passionate about both and I think together exceptional things can come from it.
Advertising is no longer just about selling goods. It’s a communication tool that can be strategically and creatively used to create a cultural movement. And in this case, for the better good- whether it’s globally, nationally or on a community based level.
*This is usually the part when my friends put up their peace sign and flick their lighters for me. They think I’m a bit of a hippie.
You were on a very important trip in Dubai recently trying to encourage the world to “Choose To L.I.V.E.”. What is that all about?
I was selected as one of the international delegates to attend the Education without Borders conference in Dubai. This event was a platform for students from all over the world to share their ideas and solutions to some of our global challenges. And fortunately, I was blessed with the opportunity to introduce my “solution” for cultural exchange.
My concept was to address the challenges that come along with cultural globalization, such as war, violence, hate and racism. Unfortunately, due to so many variables and differences there is never just one solution. But I do believe that through inter-connectivity and positive engagement we can strive toward narrowing the gap of misunderstandings and ignorance to achieve better tolerance, deeper understanding and enduring peace.
Choose to L.I.V.E. is a concept that I developed as a global call to action for human betterment through inter-connectivity. L.I.V.E. is a catalyst representing four elements of effective communication: learning, interacting, volunteering and expression through creativity. This initiative is called Choose to L.I.V.E. because I want it to be a conscious statement that we make. I want people to understand that the decision to contribute to the survival of humanity is as vital as our decision to live.
You did an internship at an agency in Dubai. What agency is it, and what were you doing with them?
I interned at Axis Integrated in Media City - the advertising hub of Dubai. It’s a small agency so I had the chance to see how the overall operation works. Most of my responsibilities were related to the client servicing side. The type of work I did included market research, PowerPoint presentations, revisions with studio team, writing up briefs and assisting the account manager. The main account that I worked on was for Heinz baby foods. But since it’s a small agency I had the opportunity to work very closely with the creative team and really share my ideas. I even had the chance to do some copywriting, which is something that I really enjoy doing.
With your experience traveling the world and living abroad, how has that affected your view and approach on life?
My view is that we constantly have to keep aiming for the next level. The only way I see this being done is to do things that are not within our comfort zone. We surprise ourselves of what we are capable of when we throw ourselves into a challenge. Traveling to a foreign part of the world or living abroad is a gateway of growth and learning.
I’m the type of person that embraces an experience for its entirety - emotionally, physically mentally and spiritually. And then I step back and analyze for the faults, improvements, success and hidden lessons in it. I want to be constantly evolving.
Define what success is to you in your own terms.
Success to me is in three folds.
1. Success to me is being able to get up after each time I fall or fumble and continue to fiercely go after what I am passionate about. 2. Being true to myself. 3. Being able to overcome challenges and seeing the lessons in them.
Elevator Pitch:
My psychic says I’m gonna be successful in my career, but I can’t give details. But I’ll give you her number so you can have your own reading done and see how accurate she is.
If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email atjettlandicho@gmail.com
*brownie points for anyone that can correctly name the song I'm referring to in the post title*
Today on the Adweek website, they've posted an article about Augmented Reality (AR). While the technology isn't necessarily new (I remember seeing videos of this type of technology in action years ago, unfortunately I can't recall exactly what the video was called to show it to you), Adweek discusses it's potential as the next big thing in advertising. The article focuses in on one company in particular:
Zugara is dabbling in this area with its Webcam Social Shopper app. The prototype, which the shop created as a test for clients, lets consumers "try on" clothing -- via their Webcams and monitors -- as if they were in a store. In a twist reminiscent of Minority Report, users can switch to new outfits by motioning with their hands. They can also share their outfits through social networks like Facebook.
It's kind of crazy to think this is the stuff we thought of being way off in the distant future, and it's happening now. And it's cool to see that they're doing something a bit more "practical" with the technology. As new technology is rolled out, we get caught up in doing the flashiest and coolest things we can while losing site of our overall goals, objectives and concepts.
These types of executions have mostly been done using paper, but the article discusses the next step of bringing this type of technology to mobile devices. I think once that is up and running, it'll really take off.
Matt Szymczyk, CEO of Zugara, goes as far as saying that AR will be the big thing in the next year. Yes, he has a vested interest in this technology taking off, but do you agree? Disagree?
Even without the mobile integration, I'd love to start thinking of ways to use that technology. Do you have any ideas off the top of your head?
I trace my roots to this industry back to a couple things. One, my “big present” one year for Christmas was a giant box of art supplies (which made me a very happy child). Two, my elementary school graduation ceremony presented me with the first ever art award. They felt the need to give this to me based on my level of enthusiasm for arts and crafts time (they also gave me the Science Award, and I’m far short of being a scientist!).
However, I would have never known that Advertising and Design was a career option had it not been for my cousin Adam who looked over my shoulder and said “you know you could be getting paid for that stuff” one day while I was screwing around on Microsoft Paint.
Do you think you could have pursued a career in advertising with just your Graphic Design experience?
I have friends that are currently trying to do that with little success, very talented friends. So not saying that it is impossible to succeed with just the graphic design background, but I would do school the exact same way if I had to do it all over again. At the end of the day having both Graphic Design and Creative Advertising makes me more well rounded and polished as an AD.
Describe your creative process. How do you brainstorm? How do you keep track of ideas? How do you know when one of your ideas is good? What do you do when you're creatively stumped?
Creative process- Well, I feel every brief creates a unique problem. Therefore, every brief needs a new angle and therefore new creative process.
Brainstorming- Ideally I have someone to bounce ideas off of. Whether I have someone or not, I generally try and get to the most basic idea and then add a twist of originality to it. I don’t like using traditional ways of brainstorming like creating an idea web.
Keeping Track- This varies from the traditional notepad, to a napkin, sometimes even the palm of my hand. I occasionally find myself trying to just remember the idea, like when it comes to me via laying in bed at 3:00 a.m. (I’m trying to break this habit because a lot of ideas have died in this process.) The best and most unique way I’ve ever kept track of an idea is drawing on the shower wall using the steam and glass as my canvas.
Good Idea/ Bad Idea- This is subjective but I base an ideas effectiveness on the waiting game because if I can look at an idea a week or two later and still like it I generally don’t care what other people think of it. Someone will always hate an idea, but there is always someone who likes it.
Creative Slump- The best way I have to get out of a creative slump is by looking at it in a new angle. A trick I find myself using a lot is trying to place the product at the centre of a joke where as I am the bully poking fun at it. This trick creates as unique of an idea as the product is. If you have a truly unique product this trick is almost always a winner.
How did you go from being a student to being an intern at Soda & Tonic Advertising?
That was a fun process, one day I’m stressing to find an internship the next I get an email from David Barbuto, a teacher of CAB, basically telling me that he would like to have me as his intern. I jumped at the opportunity and have been having a blast there since. I got the email around week 5/6 of semester 4 of CAB.
Describe a day in the life of Craig Brandon at Soda & Tonic.
I have a nice schedule, 9:30 - 5:30. On a day to day basis I hardly ever know what project I will be working on next. Sometimes its an ad campaign, sometimes its a design project. Regardless of what it is I am generally busy during my time at work. When I’m not and I have down time, I spend time doing spec ads that we later try to set up a meeting and pitch.
What have you learned so far from your experience at Soda & Tonic?
I’d say as a creative person, you never stop learning. I’ve learned new ways to approach things, I’ve learned how to handle client demands, I’ve learned that what a client and what your boss asks for are two very different things. Overall I’ve learned that I made the right decision by joining this industry.
Outside of advertising, how else do you express your creativity?
I constantly keep a notebook on me to scribble art into half of which has nothing to do with advertising. I like to draw/ illustrate on my computer whenever I get some spare time. But I would say my biggest creative hobby outside of design and advertising would be the 2 novels that I have on the go. Both of these novels are being co-written with people more polished in the ways of grammar. They both are fiction based stories, think Peter Pan, or Alice in Wonderland style writing.
Where do you want to be in 5 years?
I want to be as high up on the work latter as possible, at a well known industry. I don’t know the industry process well enough to properly estimate whether I’ll be a senior AD, a CD, a partner in a firm, or whether I’ll still be a Junior AD. I do know that the first 5 years of my career will be an uphill battle and I need to work as hard as possible to get wherever it is I will end up.
What do you do for fun?
Outside of work I spend a lot of time watching sports, mainly football and hockey. I like to roller blade, write, hang out with friends, rock climb, swim/diving.
E-Elevator Pitch: Sell yourself in 140 characters or less.
Passion in a career means you’d work for free. I currently do.
If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email atjettlandicho@gmail.com
This video brought back a lot of old memories for me. Back when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were at their commercial peak, they put down the weapons, picked up some instruments, and hit the road. At the time, I thought that the Coming Out of Their Shells tour was the coolest thing ever. I had bitten on the Ninja Turtle cultural movement, and HARD. As part of my conquest to have everything Ninja Turtle-related, I made my parents take me to Pizza Hut to pick up the poster and album.
Until watching these videos on YouTube now, I actually never saw the concert. It's a really weird feeling of my life feeling one puzzle piece closer to completion, yet the piece doesn't fit quite like it should have back then.
Click on the READ MORE button to see how hardcore I actually was/am for the Coming Out of Their Shells tour. This is me, at age 6 or 7. Not only did I have the official Coming Out of Their Shells tour poster on my wall, but if you look really carefully, there are Ninja Turtle drawings on there too. One of those pictures in particular was a picture I drew of the first Ninja Turtles game on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
I don't have any of those pictures or that poster anymore, but I still have this:
That's right, the original album on cassette. I still remember listening to this all the time when I first got it. I remembered each song word-for-word. Then for a long time, this tape was just lost to me and I forgot about it. But at some point years after we had moved, I found the tape in our new house. Of course I threw it in the tape deck to relish in nostalgia only to find that, the music now wasn't nearly as awesome as I remembered it.
Oh well, strictly as a nostalgia piece, it's one of the best things ever to me. Now I'm gonna go back to watching the rest of this concert. I'm on part 6 and the Shredder has taken over the show. Will the Turtles overcome the Shredder one more time?
One more thing: no talk about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and music is complete without the following.
I was reading the June 15th issue of People magazine when I saw this Walmart ad as the back cover. The average person probably would have never caught this mistake, but I circled the mistake in red. Apologies for the glare, I took this picture with my digital camera and there were fluorescent lights in the room.
These two kids are rocking out with Nintendo Wii Guitar Hero guitars, leading us to believe they're playing some sort of guitar-centric music game. I can tell they're playing Nintendo Wii from the fact that Nintendo Wii Guitar Hero guitars require you to insert the remote into the guitar. The kid on the left in the picture has a Wii remote plugged in. But the kid on the right? He's pretty animated for someone whose guitar isn't actually connected to the game.
Full interview after the jump! When did you know that advertising was for you?
Lisa Atkins’ intro to copywriting class semester one - She was explaining a day in the life of a copywriter and I got goose bumps from excitement!
I remember when I first met you that you had your heart set on working on the business side of advertising. Why the switch?
I’m going to admit to something here: sometimes, I’m really slow. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I guess I never thought I could actually make a living out of it. Again, back to Lisa’s class, after that one lecture, it hit me and I was sold!
Describe your creative process. How do you brainstorm? How do you keep track of ideas? How do you know when one of your ideas is good? What do you do when you're creatively stumped?
For the record, that’s three questions in one!
Brainstorming:
Mind maps! Study the brief/your product/your target. Figure out the ONE thing you want to say. Narrow it down to one word and go from there! Just associate anything and everything that you can with that word until you find your direction.
Keeping track:
I write everything that comes to mind down. I either type things or write them in my giant sketchbook, a notepad or on a piece of paper that I stick on the wall… I’m pretty much all over the place!
Good idea:
The really good ones are the ones that make me super nervous. Then I ask anyone and everyone (sometimes everything) to tell me what they think about it and I go from there.
How has your previous career venture affected your current path towards advertising? Do any of the lessons you learned before cross over?
I’ve been working for a divorce lawyer for 3 years. It has taught me not to get married. Ever.
You’ve formed a creative team called “She Writes. He Draws.” with Art Director Ryan Bannon. How did you two form that partnership? How do you complement each other?
Funny story! Actually not that funny… We went to breakfast at Cora’s one morning and discussed our hopes and dreams for the future. We realized we had many of the same goals and decided to team up as we were both willing to put in ridiculous hours and all our energy. Okay, not a funny story at all…Fail.
You’ve competed in a few advertising competitions. What were those experiences like?
I really enjoy participating in those competitions as the tight deadlines force you to really push yourself. You learn something new about how well you perform under pressure and challenge yourself to do better in the future. I think that’s excellent practice.
What is your biggest accomplishment so far in advertising? What is your biggest accomplishment so far in life?
The thing I’m most proud of in life is my ability to relate. Putting myself in other people’s shoes is a skill I’ve been practicing since I was very young. My circle of friends consists of very opinionated and unique individuals. It helps me appreciate and understand their decisions when I’m able to put aside my own views and see the world through theirs.
I also believe this is beneficial to my career in advertising as it makes relating to the target a tiny bit easier.
What would happen to the universe if you and I ever get to execute our genius Wonderbread campaign for real?
Every other brand of toast would go out of business. Permanently.
Where do you want to be in 5 years?
I would like to run my own agency while I’m young and fresh!
What do you do for fun?
I really enjoy conversing with people who are different than me - whether it’s cultural differences, or religious/ spiritual views. I’m very intrigued by human behaviour, morals, values, etc. and love learning from all sorts of people.
To feed my curiosity, I like to check out different scenes around town. One night you’ll find me at a metal bar hanging out with people sporting bikes and spikes and the next night I’m all dolled up having a Kir Royale in Yorkville.
I also LOVE to travel. The experience/knowledge you gain from traveling is absolutely priceless.
E-Elevator Pitch: Sell yourself in 140 characters or less.
LET ME WRITE FOR YOU! I’LL WORK MY BUTT OFF AND I LOVE ADVERTISING! (I’ll be wearing a hoodie so the exchange will be intimidating and effective.)
If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email atjettlandicho@gmail.com
Leaders of the New is an ongoing series at jettlandicho.com that will focus on the future talents of advertising. Click here to check the archives.
Name: Jett Landicho
Career Path: Creative Strategy for Interactive and Mass Media
Education: Radio Broadcasting at Humber College and Creative Advertising at Seneca
Advertising Experience: On-Air Talent, Promotions Staff and Copywriter for KICX 106, Promotions Staff and Corporate Blogger for Z103.5 and Senior Marketing Associate at Pure Fun Confections
One Thing About You: Before pursuing a career in advertising, I worked almost four years in the radio industry. I did a lot of different types of work in that time, from corporate blogging, to street team work, to being a country radio announcer. If you would like to listen to my old KICX 106 country demo made from live air checks click here.
Read the full interview after the jump! When did you know that advertising was for you?
I took a class in high school called English Media. The final project was to create a product and an advertising campaign around it. My group wanted to come up with the dumbest product to sell, in order to highlight how great our advertising would be. In hindsight, it was pretty bold of us to assume that our advertising was so awesome that we could sell just about anything, but hey, we were young and maybe a bit cocky. We decided to create "Bling", a brand of coloured water.
I had so much fun with that assignment, from building the website to the print ad to producing television and radio commercials that I heavily considered taking advertising in college. But I also hosted a morning radio show at my high school, and when push came to shove, at the time radio won. I was drawn into the whole "celebrity" aspect of it and I'm still just a big music fan in general.
However, what goes around comes around I guess. Through my experience in the radio industry, I've written scripts that went to air, helped out a lot on the promotions side and even worked in corporate blogging. It brought back all the memories of that one high school assignment and how much fun I had doing it that I decided to pursue advertising for real.
How has your previous experience in the radio broadcasting industry helped you?
My experience in the radio industry has helped me grow, both as a professional and as a person. As a professional, the radio industry has taught me a number of things, including the power of opportunity. In an industry that's so small and insular, you need to work so hard for those opportunities. Even when it seems like opportunities fall into your lap because you know someone that knows someone, you helped make that opportunity by knowing that someone in the first place.
As a person, working in the radio industry has been a huge factor in my maturing process. Not to neglect my Z103.5 experience, but in particular, my time at the country radio station was a real coming of age moment for me. I was very hesitant at first to accept the internship at KICX 106 in Waterloo, because country music wasn't my scene and the station was in a city over 100km away from home. But I took the chance because I knew it would be a great career experience.
What I didn't know was that it would also be an amazing personal experience too. Coming out of college, I sort of felt like I had learned everything I needed to know. However, being so far away from home, meeting new people and trying new things made me realize that I still had a lot to learn and it opened my mind up to the bigger picture of the world. During that time, I had to learn about country music, the Kitchener-Waterloo area, and everything about the people that listen to our station. I had a lot of fun doing it, and wouldn't trade that experience in for the world.
Ever since then, I've tried to keep myself open to new knowledge and experiences. If I could learn to appreciate country music and the country lifestyle, what other awesome things am I missing out on that I just don't know about yet? Even though it's been years since I worked there, I still have a little bit of country on my iPod that I like cause I think it's good music.
My KICX 106 t-shirt autographed by the best country artist of all-time, GM Paterson;)
What interests you most about interactive and social media?
I admit, I'm a bit of a geek. So I already have a bit of a technology slant to me. However, I love interactive and social media, and would be working with them whether I was in advertising or not.
I was one of those kids that made websites on Geocities that grew up into a teenager who wrote in a blog into a young adult that made a podcast when I decided to take my announcing career into my own hands. It's a shame that the podcast had to end the way it did, because we were at 1,000 subscribers! And that was achieved by promoting the show through Facebook, iTunes, YouTube and a blog. I had just as much fun plotting out the strategy to advertise the show as I did recording and editing the show. When we find the time and the right concept, for sure we'll get back into podcasting again. In the world of online, I love the fact that the average person can have a very large impact on the world.
As advertising vehicles, I love the engagement factor that interactive and social media offers. There are so many different ways that advertisers can reach consumers in a way where they feel like you're giving them a valuable experience in return. And the ways to engage consumers grows every day with new technology and techniques.
When I realized that there were opportunities for me to combine my love of advertising with my love of online and social media, it was almost like an epiphany for me. I hope that I can make both aspects connect to make a fun and exciting career path for myself.
How does this blog fit into your career plan?
My initial goal for this blog was to be a place where I could bring my best foot forward to anyone wanting to learn about me, from teachers, to friends, to potential employers. Sort of like a portfolio, but showing a different and wider scope of who I am. But through the "Leaders of the New" initiative, this could prove far bigger than just me. By showcasing a lot of my peers starting out in this business, this blog also becomes a way for them to sell themselves.
I want every person featured on "Leaders of the New" to be proud enough to show their interviews to potential employers as another resource in their arsenal. Even better, I want potential employers to find these interviews and go, "Hey, this person is really good! I think I need to talk to them!" With the power of Google and the power of blog tags, that second scenario doesn't seem too out of reach to me.
How did you go from being a student to working at Pure Fun Confections?
It's a crazy story in hindsight. At the time, I was working really hard to get an agency internship. I'd been in talks with a few agencies and even did a few interviews. During school though, I was working on a group assignment where we were asked to put together a pitch to present to a small company. We were never actually assigned to present it to a company for real.
Our group had chosen Pure Fun after finding an article about the company on the Toronto Star's website. We really liked the company's vision and the idea of working on organic candy, something new and different in the marketplace. While in the process of working on that assignment, Stephanie and I found the President of the company on Facebook. Thinking nothing of it, we decided to contact her, let her know what we were doing and sent her a rough brief we had put together so that she could check the validity of our information. She was really impressed with what we had done, and told us she was willing to meet with us when we were ready.
From there, it really got us thinking that this could be a lot more than just an assignment. We kept in regular contact with the President of Pure Fun, asked for a lot of advice from our teachers and industry contacts on how to approach this pitch, and tweaked our plan to make it just right for the presentation. On the big day, the President of the company came down to the school and we had booked a school boardroom to present to her. Chris De Corneille, one of our teachers, was on hand for support. I was unbelievably nervous throughout the whole thing, but Stephanie and I both proved our worth and were brought in to intern for the company. After two months of interning, I was offered a job.
That was another eye-opening experience in my life. While advertising students tend to focus on working for just advertising agencies, there are a lot of other opportunities out there to do similar work for other types of companies. Despite the tough economic times, Stephanie and I were able to create opportunities for ourselves within a company that didn't have opportunities before. I'm sure that others can find success with an advertising education in a variety of places if they're willing to look outside the box and work hard to make those opportunities happen.
If you want to think bigger, Stephanie and I have already in a way won a client pitch before even graduating and have done the work to prove our worth. Who says we couldn't do it again? Who says we couldn't go as far as starting our own agency should we so choose? Who says you couldn't do the same or better?
What has the transition been like from advertising to marketing?
All of the skills I've learned from Seneca's Creative Advertising have proven relevant to me here. I've had to dabble in account services work, media consulting, public relations, direct marketing, online and even some copywriting and art direction where necessary. I feel like thanks to the education I got at Seneca, I have the tools to get to where I need to go.
What I've learned sort of the hard way is the differences in advertising and marketing. Advertising is primarily marketing communications, but on this side of the fence that's just one aspect of a bigger picture I need to look at. I need to look at everything happening above that, from the distribution channel to product development to retailer relations and more.
One of the aspects of Pure Fun's business I'm going to have to learn more about is the entire organic scene. Just as an example: do you know why high fructose corn syrup is an issue? As an advertiser, I would just think of a way to tell that to generally one target audience. But what I have to do on the marketing side, is communicate that to everybody that makes the company work, from the people in product development, to retailers to consumers and more. It's daunting have to tackle the entire marketing mix and make every element of that mix work together, but I'm up for the challenge.
For those who have an advertising background and are considering making the jump, I'd say go for it. It opens up your scope of potential work opportunities and if you're willing to learn some additional stuff on top of your advertising background you'll do fine.
If you could offer one piece of advice to future advertisers, what would it be?
My one piece of advice isn't so much an advertising-specific piece of advice as it is life advice: always continue to learn. Back to my story about how much of an impact my country radio stint had on my life for a second. It made me realize that I was living life in a small bubble and the world was just so much more than my little slice of reality had grasped up to that point. My personal quest for knowledge from that point on wasn't even driven by a desire to be "smarter". My motivation for learning more about everything was just to be more aware of the world around me.
It's not hard to be more aware, either. You can learn a lot from just reading the headlines in the newspaper or taking off your headphones while you're out in public and paying closer attention to the world around you. Try out new kinds of food. Read any random message board on the Internet and see what people are talking about. You never know when a nugget of knowledge can prove valuable to you in the future.
And if you keep your mind open to new opportunities, who knows what success you could have? I never could have predicted that I would have worked for both a country radio station and an organic candy company, but I was open enough to give it a chance and it worked. I still have a ways to go on my quest for success, but I'll always be on the lookout for the next big thing for me, wherever it may come from.
What do you do for fun?
I love spending time with friends and family. It's been tough trying to make time for the people I love due to school, career ambitions and multiple jobs, but it's important to make time for them too.
Speaking of podcasts, I'm a huge fan of the medium. It's not for everybody, but a lot of my day revolves around podcast consuming. Currently, I subscribe to 35 different podcasts, ranging from a variety of subjects from video games, to the How Stuff Works series of podcasts, to news. I don't have time for all of them every week, but I have content that interests me to consume basically anytime, anywhere.
I love to play and watch basketball. Also, I love making music. I've produced over 150 hip-hop instrumentals since I started that in 2003, and have been playing the drums now for 8 months now. I'm not formally trained in either discipline. I was self-taught on the hip-hop side, just struggling to play the instruments, handle the technology and develop the "ear" till I got to a point where I was happy with the music I was making. As for drumming, I learned how to play real drums by playing the video game Rock Band. Sounds crazy, but it's true. You can listen to one of my beats by clicking here, or watch me play the drums below.
E-Elevator Pitch: Sell yourself in 140 characters or less.
I still can't top the original.
If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email atjettlandicho@gmail.com
As the era of new media continues to reshape the landscape, Brandweek reports on a medium that has been hit especially hard: radio.
How bad? According to this article, the radio industry suffered its worst quarter in history. As a whole, the industry fell a whopping 24%.
This story hit home with me on a personal level. I spent two years of my life training for a career in radio broadcasting and almost four years working in the radio industry. I have a lot of great memories of working in the business, much of which are trade secrets that I'll take to the grave. However, I ultimately got to a point where I wanted to try on some new hats.
Even back then, I knew that the medium I was pursuing a career in was heading towards some tough times due to the advent of the Internet and the iPod. I'm not sure if this recent news is a sign of the beginning of the end or just a rough quarter, but I know I'd be sad should the day come if/when traditional radio is no more.
Full interview after the break! When did you know that advertising was for you?
This question provokes a fantastic lie about how an ad, or tagline changed my life forever. Unlike some I don’t have that defining fork in the road that got me hyped on advertising. I was just psyched about the creative writing and sheer brilliance being showcased. Today I’m a groupie of great creative. There’s no better feeling than coming up with a great idea, or reveling in one you wish was yours. I do believe this is one of the best jobs in the world and am blessed to feel the passion everyday.
Describe your creative process. How do you brainstorm? How do you keep track of ideas? How do you know when one of your ideas is good? What do you do when you're creatively stumped.
I stare Hemmingway’s “white bull” in the eyes and jump on it’s back. Then ride it for a couple seconds until I get thrown on my ass. Then I get a coffee.
Joking aside, I think it’s crucial to immerse yourself with the product/service benefits, past advertising and as many google links as I possibly can. Then put my pencil to paper (Not fingers to keys) and start with some terrible unclear ideas I would never show anyone.
A great tactic I often try is one of Luke Sullivan’s tips for getting started. I’ve found it can almost always give you the initial tools needed to get the ideas flowing. “This is an ad about…” then I’ll just write until I’m out of things to say, and ways to say them.
Incubation is also a great tool. Doing anything to separate yourself from the problem at hand. You could watch a movie, ride a bike or do some jumping jacks, whatever your in the mood for. Then return with a fresh mind ready to tackle your previous thoughts. Narrow them down until only the strong survive.
You’ll know you have that bullet proof idea when you’re feeling giddy like a 5th grade school girl meeting The Jonas Brothers.
Good feeling… Good feeling…
How did you get from being a student to being an intern at Fjord?
Well, I would have never heard about the opportunity without Anthony Kalamut’s undeniable ear secured to the industry’s pulse.
I did my best to shake the nerves off, get my book ready and tried to show that I was capable and worthy of the opportunity being presented. I showed my book to the CD who has since become one of the nicest and most supportive people I’ve met in the industry thus far. I got a call back, started two weeks later and am still trying to prove my worth everyday.
Describe a day in the life of Scott Boniface at Fjord.
I stare at people on the GO train and wonder where it is they work, and some potential storylines of their life. Weird I know, but it’s something I’ve always done. Judge me if you must. You’ve done it, I’m sure of it.
I walk from Union to King & Spadina, usually with a big smile just feeling blessed to have the opportunity to come downtown everyday and do something I love.
I arrive and elevate to the creative floor and say hello to the immense talent that fills the building, get a coffee/tea and start the day. Whether its for a brief, helping another writer or some portfolio work on the side. I try my best to dedicate my 8+ hours here a day to learning, growing and writing to the best of my ability.
I’m involved in briefings, conference calls, brainstorming sessions, preparing copy decks and mood boards. Anything they need/want/feel comfortable with me doing I’ll do with a big smile all the while.
Then I head home and stare at some more people on the GO train. But now… as they sleep. (Okay, that was creepy)
What’s the biggest difference between writing for traditional media versus writing for interactive? Do you have a preference?
While attracting attention is what advertising is all about, I feel that the interactive world also relies heavily on the CTA, which is actually the most challenging part. Why would anyone feel inclined to click that banner? I know when I’m online that’s the last thing I want to do. It’s challenging to break through the clutter in an interesting, innovative way when everyone’s so conditioned to online ads.
Although I don’t really have a preference, I know that the way the interactive world is taking charge it’s important to stay involved and updated on what’s being done, and more so, what’s possible.
You’re one of the biggest hip-hop fans I know. Do you have any sort of plans or ambitions of working on something hip-hop related in your advertising career? Has hip-hop influenced your approach to writing or your approach to life in general?
Haven’t thought much about it honestly. About a year ago I approached a couple websites I loved about possibly writing some album reviews or daily blogs but it never really fell through.
I would love to, because there really is nothing I know more about than hip-hop culture, from the very beginning till’ today. Its something that has always been a passion of mine, and it’s never going to stop. Not as long as true hip-hop stays alive.
In terms of my life, the culture has helped shape who I am today.
If you could give one piece of advice for any aspiring copywriters out there, what would it be?
Soak it up like a sponge, Continue to learn and grow daily.
What do you do for fun?
Skateboard, Listen to music, Writing (advertising, poetry, short stories) and I try my best to experience life for everything it offers in some way everyday. I just put my best foot forward and learn something new everyday.
E-Elevator Pitch: Sell yourself in 140 characters or less.
Scott Boniface- Creative Copywriter- Seneca College- Creative Advertising- 5 months+ of agency experience. Passion, Talent, Persistence.
If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email at jettlandicho@gmail.com
Leaders of the New is an ongoing series at jettlandicho.com that will focus on the future talents of advertising. Click here to check the archives.
Name: Ross Webster
Career Path: Account Executive
Education: Creative Advertising Graduate of Seneca College/Business Marketing Graduate of Humber College
Advertising Experience: Internship at Integra Foundation • Client relations • Research • Direct Mail • Organize files • Attend recording session (Susan Hayes looks exactly how she does on television)
2 years of the Creative Advertising Program at Seneca College • Various agency pitches • Volunteer for Marketing Week • Numerous days of “burning the candle on both ends”
One Thing About You: I love listening to great, thought-provoking music. Great musicians can paint a picture in their lyrics and are able to make you think. Some musicians that have influenced me have been Jay-Z, Common, Nas, Outkast, John Mayor, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Anthony Hamilton and Kanye West. (The list can get longer). Music keeps me focused, motivated, calmed and really clears my mind.
Full interview after the break! When did you know that advertising was for you?
I think ever since I was old enough to watch TV my father always told me, “I should be in advertising.” I always wondered about advertising and what it took for a commercial to air on TV. After my first semester agency pitch to Due North in the Creative Advertising Program (CAB) at Seneca, I was pretty certain that I wanted to be in advertising in some way, shape or form. After all the hours my group put in, down to actual pitch was fun and exciting, even the arguments and stress we had was an experience I’ve never been through, but it excited me and I knew I could handle it and wanted more (laughs).
One expression I’ll never forget you saying is, “Advertising is my hustle.” What do you mean by that?
(Laughs) I had a feeling this question would pop up. Well just to make sure I’m clear I would have to define hustle, because I know that there could be a negative stereotype which surrounds that word.
To me a hustle is something that someone has a great passion for and is something that person dedicates their time to. Ever 1996 I’ve listened to ever single Jay-Z album, and he chronicles his life as a hustler, in his music he would describe the amount of time and effort he put into his hustle. As I grew older I realized that it’s not only “drug dealers” who are “hustlers” but it can be anyone who is passionate about what they do. For example Michael Jordan, yes he’s greatest basketball player ever, but I would label him a “basketball hustler” because he spent so time to perfect his game, becoming basketball’s greatest player ever. Then he turned himself into brand (clothes, shoes, fragrances etc).
Both Jay-Z and MJ throughout their respective career have accomplished so much and they can adapt to the changing environment as well. So when I say, “Advertising is my hustle,” it means I’m trying my best to understand advertising as a whole, the history, the pioneers, all the aspects of advertising. I try to adapt and understand new media, and I embrace the challenges it throws at me. Obviously you may not find me on a Mac creating a logo, but I know I have a creative mind, and hey I can draw! (laughs). I read newsletters from various sources (Adage, Mediaweek, Brandweek etc.) and subscribe to Marketing Magazine to keep myself informed about what is happening in the advertising spectrum.
Lastly and most importantly, I have to mention that even though people like Jay-Z, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Quincy Jones, and other legends are great at what they do, they did because they loved and enjoyed what they did. I wouldn’t force to myself to be an “Ad Hustler” if I didn’t enjoy this, advertising in my opinion is a great art form with so much to offer. I really have to shout out Anthony Kalamut (CAB’s program co-ordinator). His class sessions were really inspiring and gave me confidence and drive. Shout out to all the other professors as well, “it takes a village”.
How did you get from being a student to being an intern at Integra?
Connections my friend. Billy Sharma (DM God) my professor and colleague connected me with the great people at Integra. He has a great reputation for recommending great interns, so I suppose his word is as good as gold. I went in for the interview, which was more like a casual gathering, and at the end of it I was offered the position.
Describe a day in the life of Ross Webster at Integra?
I’m sure you’ve heard this before but, everyday is totally different. At times it can be time consuming conducting client research, and other times could be spent proof reading newsletters, emails, and reading blogs. This past week Susan Hayes from Global came by Integra to record a story on one of the programs at Integra, and she interviewed a few people. Just seeing that whole process of a recording session was great because it’s not every day you get to see that whole process of an interview before it hits TV. The people I work with are great and caring people as well, they’re easy to work with and we spend all day laughing and telling stories (while we do work of course).
What’s unique about working for a not-for-profit company?
The distinctive part about working at Integra is their “cause”. Integra does work for children that have mental health issues, a LD (Learning Disability) and other behavioural problems. Integra has various programs that help and guide these children, which in turn helps them mentally and socially. I think that cause alone makes what I do really worth it. I’ve met some of the children that Integra helps and just talking to them, makes me happy to know I work for a company that cares and does something to help children.
You were networking so hard when we worked together at Marketing Week 2008. What is your whole mindset towards networking? How do you approach it?
This goes back to my mind set of “Advertising is my hustle” and that I have strong presentation skills. During that week as you know, we saw a lot of the industry’s top and best for example, Frank Palmer, Scott Goodson and Paul Lavoie just to name a few. I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to watch an opportunity pass me by, because I know if I don’t move on my instinct, I might regret it.
So I tried talking to as much people as possible, let them know I exist and that I’m here trying to make an impact. I remember in my 1st semester in CAB, right before our first agency pitch I was extremely nervous, but it occurred to me that I had nothing to be nervous about; I thought to myself “these people breathe the same air as me” (laugh) as weird as that may sound, it’s true. That helped me to relax, and make an awesome presentation.
I remember talking to Frank Palmer (DDB) about what he thought about the changes in advertising, starting up an agency and other things, and after we finished talking, I realized, “I just talked to CEO of DDB Canada, if I can talk to him what’s stopping me from approaching anyone else?” Anthony Kalamut always reminded me, “What is the worst thing someone can tell you? No.”
What would be your dream client to work with? Why?
I don’t have a dream client to tell you the truth. I hope after having a more experience maybe I’ll gain a “favourite client”. But as of now, I think my dream client would a client that shares the same ideas and values that I have, they’ll be a client that’s fun. I wouldn’t mind working for Jay-Z though.
Before you retire, what do you hope to achieve?
I would be happy having a good reputation and have the respect of people and peers within the industry. Knowing that people respect my voice, thoughts and my ideas is something I would appreciate. I want to be accomplished and successful of course. I want that positive retention in my peers’ mind. I’ll be happy with just that.
What do you do for fun?
I like being around good people who are doing something with their life just as I am, and not sitting around waiting for their life to start. I love to play a good game of dominoes, because in order to win a game of dominoes you need strategy, and that won’t happen if you’re just matching the numbers together (laughs).
I love reading about the history of other countries and just history in general. I used to be a frequent movie goer but due to school I had to cut back, but I think I’ll be starting to go the movies once again. I also love to travel, especially to Barbados to see family and friends and of course to attend Crop Over (similar to Caribana in Toronto/Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago) but better. (laughs) I love to watch sports and attend sporting events, I would love to go to a tailgate party for the Steelers at Heinz Field, or sit courtside and watch Kobe and LeBron go head to head.
E-Elevator Pitch: Sell yourself in 140 characters or less.
Let me show how I can be a great asset to your team. I have great presentation skills, which is why I’m taking this chance to talk to you now. Most of histories greatest moments occurred because someone took a chance. I’m free labour; you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain!
If you're an advertising student or are just starting out in the business and would like to be featured on Leaders of the New, send me an email atjettlandicho@gmail.com
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