I'd like some account planning, with a side of crazy.

A while back, Heidi and Tony were telling me to start watching commercials/looking at ads to see if I could figure out the strategy behind them. It’s an amazing thing to practice. Oh, you’re trying to convince me that I don’t have to compromise my budget if I’m trying to stylishly decorate my house? Thanks, IKEA! (That’s a more obvious one.) Now that I’ve been here a while I also find myself listening to/reading copywriting more than I used to. When something is confusing, I take note. When something works, I try to remember why. Keep your eyes and ears open, newcomers. It’s kind of monkey see, monkey do when you’re starting.

I wonder if there are any supervisors out there who don’t know their intern’s name. Heidi is sending me into an identity crisis every day at work now. Am I Beta or VHS? I didn’t know I was so complicated. I spent most of the day today cleaning the bathroom. I knew it was going to be a rough day when Heidi walked in there with three rolls of toilet paper. (Tony, if you haven’t realized yet, this post is for you. Don’t think I forgot that you called me “protective” of Heidi.)

People in the creative department get called crazy all the time. I would just like the chance to say that account people are just as insane. I realized today that when Heidi is talking to herself out loud, I can act as her inner thoughts. Whatever I say she repeats as though she’s thought it herself.

H: “Is that a good idea?”

V: “Yes.” (whispered quietly)

H: “Yes. That’s a good idea.”

I’m pretty excited about this discovery, and plan to exploit her every day from now on.

I got a great piece of advice this week. It’s not just work advice; it’s life advice. Another wonderful thing about small businesses. I’m having a mental breakdown about whether or not I’ll have a job when I graduate, and Heidi recommended that I apply for jobs on the account side too. Sometimes it’s a great way to get your foot in the door. When the time comes to send in applications, I’m going to take her advice. But for now, here are some of the many things that scare me about account planning:

1.     Being handed huge stacks of paper to sort through and make something of.

2.     Heidi’s stories about doing “special things” for clients . . .

3.     Client interactions

You don’t want to know some of the things Heidi has done to keep a client happy.

I’m catching on that a lot of times anyone will take a stab at writing the copy, and then ask someone else to “spice it up.” This means you can’t automatically assume that what you’re given is right. You may realize it subconsciously, and that means you’ve got to tear apart the pieces and put them back together. Is it the message hierarchy? Is it a misspelling? Figure it out and make it better. 

Brand Stories

“Storytelling” is a new buzzword in the ad industry, according to AdWeek. I, for one, think this is news to celebrate. People love a good story. Giving your brand a compelling story is one of the easiest things you can do to propel it. Easy meaning inexpensive. Storytelling is certainly no easy task, but the company I work for makes it seem this way. Even when they’re not creating stories from scratch they’re checking every detail to make sure it’s the right story for the brand. Oh, that’s important too. Wouldn’t want to be read a ghost story when you asked for a bedtime story, now would you?

“Dale” finally gets a name today. He helped me come to a realization. You can’t tell by looking at them, but creative types aren’t very compatible with handiwork. Yes, this is my realization.  Profound, I know. Dale was falling all over himself trying to set up a desk today. I think he was trying to move really fast so it’d look like he knew what he was doing. It worked until he started stumbling over his own feet.

To anyone out there experiencing Constant Contact for the first time:

Don’t ask me. I don’t know.

Maybe creative types aren’t good with templates either.

Advertising is an Art.

This week’s downsides and upsides of a small business:

Downside: A small number of employees means deadlines seem a lot tighter.

Upside: The owners are still so in touch with their employees that they can get excited whenever someone new comes in.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that you should always have two bathrooms—one for men and one for women. No, really though, I’ve learned that process should not rule creativity. Think about it. “Process” is such a scientific word. It’s something that can be repeated over and over again and achieve the same outcome. Creativity is nothing like that. It’s messy. Everyone knows you can’t make two paper snowflakes that are exactly alike—even if you have a “process.” How do you define the average process? I think everyone’s process is a little different. It doesn’t make sense to have x number of people following the same steps for each problem they’re given. Advertising is not a math problem. Advertising is an art assignment.

That being said, if you don’t like thinking, this probably isn’t the business for you. Some people are completely content to work 9-5 at a job they don’t particularly love and come home knowing they don’t have to think about work until they step into the office the next morning. There’s no shame in that. But in advertising, you should probably be aware of your work (on some level) at every point of your day. Inspiration and/or solutions can come from anywhere. You wouldn’t want one of those to pass you by, now would you?

Some of the best ideas are “shower” ideas.

Big Thinking Comes from a Small Agency

Time to sing some more praise for small businesses. One of the great things about interning with a small company is how much time they’re willing to spend with you. I feel like I should come up with fake names for the people I intern for. Just seems like something you’d do if you were devoting a blog to your life as an intern. So . . .

Heidi (this is already great) sat me down to walk me through a presentation she’d just given a client. As she was telling me about how the presentation went I realized that being honest with your client will always be more important than sucking up to them. At least, it should be. They may argue with you in the beginning, but if you’re really good at your job, you’ll take them for another lap around the track, and you’ll have them convinced by the end. You may not be 100% right all the time. There’s no way you can be. Your clients know their business inside and out, and you’re given a couple weeks to familiarize yourself. But when you work hard and get 80% there, you can’t give up the first time the client says, “This is wrong.” You have to know the difference between when you fight for your answer and when it’s really time to go back to work.

Another great thing about small agencies, and especially the one I’m at, is the open space of the workplace. It does wonders for a creative environment. I once toured an agency where the account planners were on a totally separate level of the building than the creatives. It’s a wonder anything got done there.

I’ve noticed strategically that the competitive landscape is almost always one of the most important factors in deciding where to position a brand. It’s all about top-of-mind awareness. If your product category is wearing Crocs, and you put on a pair of Toms, you’ll stand out, and you’ll be remembered.

“You never know what you’ll be doing in the industry.” I’ve heard that time and time again. I think it’s true. For instance, I didn’t realize that today I would have the pleasure of Gwyneth Paltrow spying on me in the bathroom. I also didn’t realize I’d be kicking myself over a misspelling. I will never forget the day I let “relauch” go unnoticed—just like I’ve never forgotten how much it hurt to lose the spelling bee to the word “sapphire.”

What is a good agency? I’ve been pondering this, and I think one of the biggest requirements for a good agency is that it helps a client step outside their comfort zone. Good agencies don’t give in to a client’s every whim; rather, they fight for what they believe is right, and get to go home feeling good about themselves. When you start to let a client run a workplace it becomes a place you don’t want to work. A place where you have no voice. Bad clients are the Ursulas to the agency Ariel.

Oh, and Dear Tony, we have a little surprise for you when you get back.