TAI Student Tien Dang Completes Internship at Publicis HCG in NYC

In February, SMU Advertising major (’16) Tien Dang was selected for the 2015 Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP). Read about her experience summer internship experience below. IMG_6731

“This summer, I interned at Publicis HCG. I was also a part of MAIP (Multicultural Advertising Internship Program). In simpler terms, I participated in an intensive advertising internship. From 9am-5pm, I’d work on projects at my internship. This ranged from planning social events for the office, to writing copy for clients, and even working on an unbranded depression app for the Apple Watch for our intern project. At 5pm, I’d go home to grab dinner and would continue to work from 6-10pm, sometimes even later on MAIP’s project partnering with Weiden + Kennedy on a Nike campaign.

IMG_6246My first day in New York was a scene right out of a movie. I managed to get myself to Target via subway, but had no idea how to get back home. The Uber driver who picked me up not only offered me his mixtape and a date the following weekend, but also dropped me off no where near where I needed to be. My phone died and my friends that I somehow managed to find accidentally put me on the wrong train home. When I finally made it back, I realized that between lugging my purchases from Target around town, and grabbing dinner, I had lost my ID to get into my room. I was feeling discouraged, but was hopeful for better days to come.

IMG_6698As the summer moved forward, I became more acquainted with the city and the people that came with it. The one thing that I loved most about interning in NYC and being apart of MAIP was that I had 80 other friends who were experiencing the same things I was. We made each other laugh, cooked dinner when someone was too busy to feed themselves, and always made it a point to keep everyone motivated. As interns and fellows, we learned to work hard and save some time to play as well. We filled our free days with visits to Coney Island, stuffing our faces with delicious food at Smorgasburg, and appreciating all of the art that NYC had to offer.

By August, my internship was coming to a bittersweet end. MAIP celebrated with a week long Face of Talent program. Not only was I able to network with some of advertising’s best agencies, but I was also awarded ANA’s Multicultural Excellence Scholarship, which will help me finish out my last year at SMU. I left New York with a renewed passion for advertising, as well as an appreciation for how far I had come that summer. There aren’t many things I know for certain, but I do know that this isn’t the last that New York has seen of me.”

The 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) connects aspiring diverse entry- level advertising professionals with prestigious advertising agencies. Since its inception in 1973, MAIP offers multicultural students a unique paid, full-time summer internship at 4A’s participating agencies nationwide, combining real-world work experience, networking opportunities within the industry, and a valuable professional credential to better position themselves in the marketplace. Simultaneously, the program offers advertising agencies the opportunity to access top talent and strengthens the 4A’s efforts to enhance the workforce diversity of our industry.

The 2016 MAIP application deadline is October 30, 2015.

Marketing Communications Should Build Relationships

Having the privilege to teach in The Temerlin ADVERTISING Institute, I was thinking about my current graduate course, Consumer Engagement Strategies, and the concept of “advertising.”
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After much thought, I simply no longer believe that advertising is a particularly relevant or needed construct to describe the way marketing communications is currently practiced.

Advertising. Public Relations. Social Media. Corporate Communications. Sales Promotion. Media. Where does one end and the other begin?

Each of the above distinctions are a product of a bygone era that are quickly eroding. In my mind the quicker the better! These terms describe particular job functions that should no longer be the focus of our attention. Rather we must focus broadly on the purpose of communicating; building relationships.

advertisingCredit to Hugh MacLeod

For example, advertising has often been defined as, “…the nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.”(Bovee, 1992, p. 7). Such a definition tells what advertising was, but not why it was used. And it certainly does not capture what modern advertising agencies do…they build relationships.

Until 2012, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defined public relations as “helping an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.” A modern definition suggests, “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

But these mutually beneficial relationships are not the exclusive domain of PR or any communications discipline. All of the above traditional communications disciplines define different processes to communicate with those with whom they interact. People in advertising use terms like customers, targets, segments, and opinion leaders. People in public relations call them stakeholders. Social media specialists look for evangelists and influencers.

All marketing communications [should] have the goal of building relationships. Building relationships requires engaging with people. The best way to engage people is to serve them, provide them something of value.

Messages are valuable to the degree they are relevant to another party. Messages provide value by either informing or entertaining. Whether the end result of the interaction is transactional or something longer-term, serving people should be the goal.

Serving people solves problems, creates good will, and builds relationships.

Is this advertising, public relations, sales promotion, or …?

 

TAI Graduate Backyard BBQ Mixer

A great time was had by new and returning MA in advertising students as well as TAI Faculty & Staff last week at the home of Professor Noble, Co-ordinator of the TAI MA in Advertising program.  

4 Steve gives thanks speach  5 Bruce-Cheryl-Erica-Colleen-MustafizStudents representing several states and countries from as far away as Bangladesh and mainland China attended. The weather was great and everyone had a chance to mix and mingle before the hard work begins.

7 Preston-Diana-Marin-Erica-April-Snow-2016 MA cohort 8 Alice-Peter-David BBQ cooking

For more information on the TAI Master’s in Advertising program, click here.

9 Amber&Kevin at BBQ 12 Katie & Cady

TAI Welcomes Incoming 2015 Cohort to New Undergraduate Advertising Curriculum

On Thursday August 20th, the Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) held orientation for newly admitted advertising majors. Over 50 students attended along with the entire team of faculty & staff. Institute t-shirts were given away to these exceptional students while faculty presented their backgrounds along with faculty expectations of this selected group of majors.

1 TAI UG Orientation-groupStudents pursuing a B.A. in advertising now have the opportunity to focus their studies in one of three areas: creative, digital media strategy or strategic brand management. Director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute, Dr. Steve Edwards claims, “We are creating students who are a value-add to agencies and marketing companies right from graduation.”

The new students had to undertake a competitive advertising application as well ascomplete a video application for the specialization. TAI Faculty reviewed all applications to select the best candidates to admit.  Edwards, said “The new curriculum is cutting edge and intended to make our students even more valuable in the field. We are training them in all the important traditional areas of advertising, but also working to better meet the demands of a technology inundated, fast paced, and results driven 21st Century advertising industry.”

2 TAI Faculty-Staff Orientation

Courses in the new curriculum range from Digital Media Landscapes to Digital Media Strategy and Media Measurement and Metrics as well as Strategic Brand Management, Research, Account Planning and Business Communication. All tracks will take a capstone campaigns course where they will work to solve a problem for a real world client.

For more information about the undergraduate curriculum in advertising, click here!