On my recent trip to New York to visit ad agencies, I heard from some incredibly talented ad people. Here’s some useful advice for entering the business:
What Makes a Successful Ad Person?
Noorin Bhanji, Account Executive for NFL at Grey NY, laid out the following characteristics of account people:
- Know their client’s business
- Able to set priorities, multitask and manage time
- Proactive
- Born leaders
- Knowledgeable
- Insightful (be strategic)
- Resourceful/problem solvers
- Able to work well in a team
- Able to work well under pressure
Chris Wooster (@chriswooster), Executive Creative Director at McGarryBowen, had these tips for wannabe strategists:
- Are digital
- Think about connections (what target audience is/does)
- Aware of trends and research
- Solve problems
- Creative in solving problems
- Have a book or a Tumblr
- Have stories about that work
For art directors:
- Don’t waste time learning HTML or Flash, you’ll never be as good as actual coders
(Side note: Some might heavily disagree on this one, like Edward Boches (@edwardboches), Chief Innovation Officer at Mullen.)
- Thoroughly know Photoshop/InDesign
- Be mindful that you are most likely to get production work first
- Be comfortable building online experiences
- Study other work
For writers:
- CDs look for concepts
- No grammar typos EVER
- Get good art directors to work your ad
- Focus more online
- Fight the fat in your writing (“as well as”=”and”)
What Do Ad Agencies Look for in Creative Books?
There’s no set answer on this. Every agency and creative director will think different. For example, Chris Wooster says this:
- It must be online
- 15-20 pieces max
- Don’t have a clever theme/concept
- Summarize the problem you’re solving
- If you need to explain it, the ad is not done
- More than one-offs
- Clever use of media, not just words and images
- Have some “cool” pieces and some that solve a strategic problem
Dennis Grealey, VP Creative Director at Publicis Kaplan Thaler, looks for a few specific things:
- 5-7 pieces
- The idea itself has to be good
- Did the creative challenge themselves? Try something like a financial system
- A diverse portfolio
Tips for Interviewing
Melissa Schulz, SVP, Global Group Account Director at Publicis Kaplan Thaler:
- Any job can be relevant, even those not in advertising
- Come to the interview with a solution
- Ask questions that show your interest and leverage your skills, such as: What will I be doing? What kind of projects are you working on? What will my role be in the agency?
- Dress to impress
Chris Wooster :
- Keep your “talk” quick: 20 seconds a piece
- Explain problem solved
- Research agency interviewing with
- Don’t look like a suit or a slob (dress to impress but not a full on suit)
- Be engaging as we want to hire people we like
- Following on Twitter is okay, but not LinkedIn or Facebook
- Have a question or two on deck (What are you looking for out of this hire?)
rAdvertising 