Tuesday November 12, 2013 TAI hosted the Exxon Mobil Lecture Series with Publicis Dallas Advertising Agency at the Angelika. A documentary developed by Publicis Dallas was presented which focused on the 1-in-3 Americans who are just making it paycheck to paycheck. Kelly Gomez of Publicis Dallas and a former graduate of TAI’s BA and MA programs in Advertising was involved in the making of the documentary. The goal of the night was to learn about this growing group of Americans and try to understand how to serve them with products that are worthy of their business. According to Dr. La Ferle, a professor in the Temerlin Advertising Institute, “Each dollar is hard to come by for this group but yet they still need to buy products. The audience began to consider how to serve this group by adding value to brands to make each dollar spent go a little further.”
The night kicked off with many old and new friends and students of the Temerlin Advertising Institute mingling. Previous graduates of the program such as Aubrey Flanigan, Alexandra Watson and AdeDoyin Adebiyi showed up to give their support. Many faculty members came out for the event along with several team members from Publicis Dallas and other agencies in town.
Sally Kennedy, CEO of Publicis Dallas introduced the documentary. Following the film, a panel made of up Rosalyn Rawitscher, VP and Group Planning Director at Publicis Dallas and Steve McGehee, SVP and Group Account Director discussed the creation of the documentary and the implementation of the work to help clients such as CiCi’s better position their brands to this consumer group. Dr. Carrie La Ferle also spoke on the panel highlighting how advertisers can use this informative information to build stronger relationships between consumers and brands by speaking to consumers where they are and with the needs they are currently experiencing.
Dr. Steve Edwards, Director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute, who organized the night said “The research and documentary by Publicis Dallas was a great opportunity to share this with our current students, our alumni working in industry and the Dallas advertising community at large.” He went on to say “TAI believes that advertising is a tool that can be used to enhance brands and build relationships with consumers while also providing for positive outcomes in society. We are believers in our slogan, Better Advertising. Better World and this documentary was just another opportunity to present new ways to consider harnessing the positive power that advertising can bring to consumers, brands and society.”
