TAI Creative Student Jennifer Nelson Shares Copywriting Experience with Award-Winning Ad Agency: McGarryBowen

Last summer, TAI creative advertising student Jennifer Nelson worked as a Copywriting Intern at McGarryBowen’s headquarters in New York City, NY. Internship experiences can give you a greater understanding of how a large agency functions according to Nelson.

Jennifer Nelson at McGarryBowen’s office

“I was hired as a Copywriting Intern so I was responsible for writing headlines/taglines/commercial scripts, concepting ideas, assisting my Art Director partner, and working on the summer-long intern project,” Nelson said. “I was put on the Chevron and Brand USA accounts, but I ended up working on mainly Chevron as well as a bit of United Airlines. There is a commercial that will air for the Sochi Olympics this winter and I helped write the script!”

Nelson learned many important skills from this internship, but she claims that by far the most important skill she learned was working with others. She partnered with a talented Art Director intern and worked on every project almost entirely through collaboration. “If I needed help with a headline, I would ask for her opinion. If she was stuck on some art, I would give her ideas,” Nelson said. Through this method, Nelson was always prepared for client meetings.

Every day was different depending on Nelson’s schedule, but she typically got to work at 9 A.M. and headed home at 6 P.M. Once she got to the agency, she made herself oatmeal and coffee, checked her e-mail for any meetings she could have, and talked with her intern partners about their plan for the day. In the mornings, she and her Art Director partner gave each other feedback on their concepts and worked on them until lunch. Sometimes the interns had informational meetings that allowed them to learn about the different departments and roles within the office. For lunch, she typically ate outside with the interns and then headed to a client meeting.

One of her favorite memories from her internship experience was working with other interns to present an Intern Project to the agency. “It was basically a campaign pitch for Champion. The interns were split up into three teams so it got pretty competitive,” Nelson said. “To set my group apart, I wrote a rap for us to perform at the beginning our presentation. We received a huge round of applause as well a couple chuckles. A few of the executives even praised my rap writing skills when we finished.” This experience allowed Nelson to sharpen her presentational skills.

Nelson has learned how to be a good team player from her advertising classes, and this helped her be the best partner she could in the internship.

During her internship, Nelson primarily worked with the Chevron creatives who became like a family for her. Nelson and her Art Director partner developed concepts for Snapchat games, videos, gifs, and more. Nelson also worked on a Chevron STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) event for women in Washington D.C. “That was super cool because I learned so much about the rich history of women in STEM,” Nelson said. “My partner and I ended up having the most accepted concepts for both Fresno and STEM on the team!”

On the creative floor

This internship gave Nelson amazing opportunities to create work, and was therefore allowed to experience the duties of a copywriter. In the future, she sees herself working for an advertising agency in a big city as a copywriter.

Advertising students are strongly encouraged to complete an internship prior to graduation. The hands-on experience allows students to learn about the advertising industry outside the classroom. Nelson highly recommends TAI students to apply for McGarryBowen’s summer internship!

Check the TAI Weekly Update for current internship opportunities.

 

 

TAI hosts 14th Annual Exxon Mobil Lecture Series with David Baldwin

 Tuesday, February 6, 2018 TAI hosted “Navigating the Belief Economy” with David Baldwin at the Angelika Film Center.

Each year TAI hosts lectures and events, as part of the ExxonMobil Lecture Series, to promote corporate and advertising ethics. This series is one of many ways that TAI advocates its motto “Better Advertising. Better World.”

Baldwin is the founder of Baldwin&, a Raleigh, N.C.-based company that was named Small Agency of the Year twice in its first five years by Ad Age and the 4A’s. The former chairman of the One Club in NYC, Baldwin was also an executive producer for the Emmy-winning film Art & Copy, and an associate producer for the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning film The Loving Story. His advertising has been recognized by The One Show, Cannes, D&AD, the Clios, the Effies, the Andy Awards, the MPA Kellys, Communication Arts and more.

At this year’s ExxonMobil Lecture Series, Baldwin shared insights about The Belief Economy and discussed the power of a belief-driven brand, the era of consumerism, shared beliefs, giving back to society, and more. A Belief Driven Brand is a brand that stands for something bigger than what they do “by attaching profit to the simple idea of making good things happen for people, we can transform the world,” Baldwin explained.

TAI undergrads and faculty enjoying the event
TAI’s MA in Advertising Program

 

 

 

 

“If you had the chance to make the world better, why wouldn’t you? – David Baldwin.

In case you missed the event, you can learn more about “Baldwin&” here, and obtain a copy of his new acclaimed book The Belief Economy: How to Give a Damn, Stop Selling, and Create Buy-In here.

Introducing SMU’S 2018 NSAC Ad Team Members

This year SMU will be competing again in the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Students were selected by Ad Team manager Professor Amber Benson to be a part of SMU’s award-winning Ad Team. The Ad Team will be working together to create a full campaign applying the scrum methodology. This year’s client is Ocean Spray and the challenge is to drive relevancy of the brand for millennials across both food and beverages.

Ad Team members shown in the order listed below.

Hayley Banas is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Psychology.

Myla Borden is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Graphic Design.

Mary Charles Byers is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Graphic Design.

Amy Cooley is an Advertising (Strategic Brand Management) and Spanish double major.

Rita de Obarrio is an Advertising (Digital Media Strategy) and Psychology double major with a minor in Business.

Harrison Fiveash is a pre-major in Advertising interested on the Strategic Brand Management track with minors in Communications and Arts Entrepreneurship .

Anne-Marie Geisler is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Fashion Media.

Conrad Li is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track.

Alissa Llort is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Psychology.

Alex MacKillop is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with minors in Business and International Studies.

London Mercer is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Graphic Design.

Shelby Pointer is an Advertising major on the Digital Media Strategy track with a minor in Graphic Design.

Juan Reyes is a Corporate Communications and Public Affairs major with a minor in Advertising.

Sara Jane Stephens is an Advertising major on the Strategic Brand Management track with a minor in Spanish.

Sara Ann Whiteley is a Journalism major with a minor in Advertising.

Frank Zhang is an Advertising (Digital Media Strategy) and Mathematics double major.

Four team members will be selected to present the team’s work in a 20-minute long presentation to a panel of judges made up of industry experts at each level of competition – first at the District level in Corpus Christi, TX in April, then (if they advance) at the National level in Chicago, IL in June.