STRICTLY SPEAKING
Tried ‘Strictly Pancakes’ for the first time today. I really liked the garlic prawns, but all I could think about was how I would have loved it as some Aglio Olio. I guess that means I’m just more of a sweet pancakes girl. Bad pictures because going there was an impromptu decision, so I didn’t bring my camera along.
I was disappointed at having to wait for quite some time (like half an hourish) for my pancakes to come. Is that normal waiting time for them, or are they just understaffed? I was near-gastric by the time my food came.
In other news, if you are interested in Fashion or Marketing:
*Read about the Chinese textile business & ‘Made in Italy’ labels you might be wearing
*P&G is trying to hook up bloggers, social networks/influence, with a good cause (CLEAN WATER!)
P&G said it is capitalizing on the power of influential female bloggers and online communities to inspire action to help people in need of clean water.
To participate, bloggers must write an original post of 200 words or more about why they would like to participate as a “Change Agent” on the weeklong expedition to Africa this fall. Dr. Greg Allgood, the director of CSDW, will accompany the winner. Bloggers can promote their posts on Twitter with the hashtag #paid ad.
The Give Health Clean Water Blogivation kicked off at the BlogHer 2010Conference last week in partnership with Changents.com. At the site, participating bloggers can get a voting widget to embed in their blog post. The blogger with the most votes on Aug. 27 will be the grand-prize winner. P&G will also make a $15,000 donation to the winner’s choice of a nonprofit drinking water charity.
For every post and vote, P&G will donate a day of clean water to a person in need.
via promomagazine.com
IT’S A MARATHON
Being in SMU this term has felt like a marathon. I’ve got 2 more project presentations to get over, and then, a little breathing space before I embark on my individual research proposal and studying for finals.
The lack of updates didn’t even reach my mind, I’ve been so busy trying to meet deadlines. This term has not been easy for so many of us; talking with my friends, we shared the implications of living such a stressful life. Or maybe it’s just us getting older- chest pains, anxiety, throbbing headaches, time crunches, bad skin, and in my case, spending minutes trying to remember if I brushed my teeth, while I’m still in the shower. Shower amnesia.
Well, why not share some of the project work I’ve been doing. I’ve got nothing else anyway. Some snapshots of slides I did…
& then a series of mock-up posters for a retail management/concept project. Photos via googleimage, clearly, and only used for academic purposes. But you get the picture. The concept was a cereal eatery, high on customization. Though the focus of the project wasn’t on communications, we wanted to illustrate how it could be used to try to expand the consumption occasions of cereal. Would have been more effective if the lunchtime cereal was a different one from the morning breakfast one, but I couldn’t find a satisfactory picture 
Last stretch of this never-ending marathon to go.
In other news, my asos order has arrived! AWESOME.
Twitter Behaviour
I’ve been doing a lot of reading on social media (read: research) and I stumbled across this article that might interest those of you in the field of marketing. Or even if you’re not. Some interesting statistics and findings:
Some 42% of active Twitter users say they use Twitter to learn about products and services, and 41% say they contribute opinions about products and services.
Most (53%) active Twitter users are “lurkers,” those who passively follow and read the status updates of other users without contributing updates of their own. (Comment: this is kinda creepy, no?)
However, Twitter users are more likely to be status updaters across all social networking sites: 70% of active Twitter users say they post status updates on social networking sites and services, most likely Facebook.
One-half (50%) of active Twitter users say advertising would have no effect on their use of the site. Some 19% would use Twitter less, however, and 15% say they would stop using Twitter altogether.
For more information and for the full article, click HERE.
By the way, I caved into getting a Twitter account awhile back. I am weak. Don’t judge me.
HAPPY WEEKEND!
Designer nightmares & a wanna be fairy.
clientfromhell.tumblr.com
Read for the harrowing experiences faced by designers, posed to them by clients. Some of whom, aren’t very intelligent.
Black Marks
Clients don’t always read the emails. They just look at the pretty pictures.
Me (1:30pm) : Hey [client], attached are the final comps for your bookmarks. They are now updated with the identifying color schemes to match each topic. Don’t worry about the little black hash marks in the corners, those WILL NOT print. They are there so that the printing guys can reference how to set them up for press. I need your approval by 4pm today to get these back by EOD tomorrow.
Client (4:15pm): Hey B, what’s up with the little black marks in the corners? I don’t get it. Why did you add them to the design? Please remove them and send me another proof. Oh, and do you think the printing guys can move up the delivery time to noon tomorrow?
I feel his/her pain so deeply, SO DEEPLY. This is a disease suffered by many. Oh, clients, groupmates, peoplewhodontreadinstructions, among other names.
What I wore today- prom skirt from when I was 16. Now worn as a dress with a slip below to account for the shorter areas (public indecency is generally to be avoided). Love the way it feels against my skin though, and it swishes in the most lovely way when I walk. Paired with a thrifted jacket & vintage belt & Toms (I was overslept and was running late, literally).
Advertising Myths
Myth: Advertising is an unethical and dishonorable profession.
Working in advertising is, in fact, a very respected profession. Unfortunately, there are those that think because you are trying to sell something through advertising that you’re trying to trick or deceive the public.
Advertising actually follows very specific rules that ensure all advertising messages are on the up and up. The last thing an advertising agency wants to do is to harm their client’s reputation by producing materials that could be misconstrued as deceptive advertising.
Myth: Everyone in advertising makes a fortune.
Yes, it’s true, you can make a lot of money working in advertising but not everyone is making six figures. A majority of people working in the field started at the bottom rung of the ladder, interning for free, possibly even making minimum wage just to get their start in the industry.
Just as with any profession, in advertising you pay your dues and you work your way up. What you make of your advertising career is completely up to you.
Myth: It’s really hard to get started in advertising.
There are plenty of opportunities for those who want to get started in the field. This doesn’t mean you’re going to get that corner office with a view, the prestigious income and creative control of advertising campaigns with your first job.
There’s a lot of legwork you’re going to have to do. But if you’re serious about your career in the industry, you can break in.
Myth: Working in advertising is just like working in public relations.
These two industries are commonly tagged as being the same profession. While advertising and public relations can go hand-in-hand, their focus is far different. You can use your advertising skills to get a job in PR and vice versa but just because you work in one industry does not mean you automatically know everything there is to the other.
Myth: You’ll finally be able to put all those great ideas to good use.
There’s a certain process to every advertising campaign. Some clients give the advertising agency a basic concept and they let the agency run with it. Some leave everything to the agency’s expertise and let them handle every aspect. Other clients want to be more involved in the agency process.
In most agencies, you’ll have meeting after meeting after meeting about any given ad campaign no matter what department you’re in. You can exercise some of your ideas to an extent but they may not make it to the client.
As part of the agency team, there are many levels of red tape your ideas and even your materials will have to go through before the project will be complete. The great copy you wrote on Tuesday may end up back on your desk with a bunch of changes by Wednesday. You resubmit it Thursday and by Friday you’ve got even more changes.
Most agencies welcome your creative ideas but don’t get your feelings hurt if those ideas are dashed. It’s not personal, it’s just business. The idea you may throw around in a creative meeting may be the complete opposite of what a client has told their Account Executive they want or what was decided in a previous meeting with other execs within your agency.
Myth: It’s a glamorous, fun-filled career. Every day is a day at the beach.
Don’t you love those movies and television shows where the characters work in advertising and they seem to be having so much fun? Bosom Buddies, Thirty-Something, Friends, Nothing in Common, Bounce – these are just some of the examples of shows or movies whose characters have a career in advertising. And that’s just what they are: characters in a fictional story.
Oh yes, it’s great fun to create an ad campaign and it’s rewarding to be a part of the team. However, there are days you will work extremely long hours, even weekends, and there are days your project may do a 180 and everything you previously worked on is now trashed. Sometimes the best days in advertising are the days when that difficult project finally leaves your hands for the last time.
taken from http://advertising.about.com/od/careersource/a/mythsaboutadv.htm
Advertising- in search of answers
I’ve been thinking alot about where a Major in Marketing can take me, and I’m wondering if something in Advertising would be more up my alley.
My problem is that I’m not too informed about a Career in Advertising.
So I know there’s Saatchi & Saatchi, and Ogilvy.
“Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but in 2000 it was acquired by Publicis which is headquartered in Paris.”
“Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing, and public relations agency based in New York City and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries around the world and employs approximately 16,000 professionals.
Ogilvy & Mather has seven divisions: (CRM and interactive), OgilvyInteractive (interactive; under OgilvyOne), Neo@Ogilvy (digital and direct media; under OgilvyOne), Ogilvy PR (public relations), Ogilvy Healthworld (health care communications and marketing), and OgilvyAction (consumer promotion and experiential marketing).”
But what exactly goes on?
A little bit Clueless and in need of answers.
Neo@Ogilvy and OgilvyAction sound pretty interesting to me.
edit:
I’ve been browsing the Ogilvy website. Awesome. I want to work/intern there!
If it’s as dynamic and creative as it makes itself out to be, that’s one helluva place.
What I do know, is that advertising is crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy
I want to work in a team.
I want to Create.
2 Things I have learnt this Internship.
You?
The Real World
Personally, I hate wearing formal business wear. It reminds me of the impending Rat Race that I’m about to enter in about 2-3 years time. Plus, I never feel comfortable in it- I always feel stuffy. Probably because , like I said, it reminds me of the Corporate World- Boring?
Alas, it’s a necessary evil! Every week, on Tuesday, I put on my future uniform.
At the very least, I hope I end up in a company that practises a more liberal dresscode. Case in point? American Apparel- a flexible dress code, amazingly comfortable and great clothes? Paradise.
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