Author: Marin Berardi

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How to Succeed in Advertising (and Life): Lessons from Ad Team

PN%20PHOTOWritten by: Peter Noble

Advertising is a team sport. And being successful in this arena isn’t just a matter of having ninja-like InDesign skills or being near-clairvoyant in media planning. Success is built on a foundation of basic personal characteristics and abilities.

Having coached 10 Ad Teams that competed in the National Student Advertising Competition (including two National Championship winners), I’ve found three essentials that contribute to personal and professional success — Focus, Accountability, and Communication. Each of these is important on its own, and when combined, they become a powerful base for navigating the world of teamwork.

FOCUS
It’s very easy to get distracted in today’s multi-screen, information/entertainment-rich environment. Multitasking isn’t the answer. It simply doesn’t work. When you divide your attention among several tasks at the same time you can’t effectively focus on the task at hand. Multitask planning is the solution to juggling multiple obligations. Prioritize and plan your work to fully engage in each individual area. Focusing on what’s important at the time allows you to give your work the full attention that’s necessary to do your best work within the required time allotment.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Trust and confidence on teams are the glue that holds everything together. If you accept an assignment, you have to deliver. Your and your team’s success depends on it. Delivery is measured both as a process and a product. It means that you get the work done in an efficient, friction-free manner, you submit high quality work, and you absolutely get it done by or before the agreed deadline. When you own the work and you deliver on quality and timeliness, you earn the team’s trust and confidence.

COMMUNICATION
It’s ironic that despite the fact that we’re in the business of communication many of the common problems in a team environment are rooted in miscommunication. Effective communication starts with a clear understanding of what needs to get done, how it’s to be accomplished, and when it needs to be completed. Once that’s established, communication throughout the process of the work is essential. Simple things like asking for additional resources and providing updates on milestone events can ensure success.

Focus, accountability, and communication aren’t the only elements of success in this business, but mastery in those three basic areas will give you an edge in this fast-paced competitive environment. The same benefits apply to success in life.

 

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Three TAI Faculty Receive Sam Taylor Fellowships

Three TAI faculty members are among the 11 SMU professors who have been awarded Sam Taylor Fellowships from the Sam Taylor Fellowship Fund of the Division of Higher Education, United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

The Sam Taylor Fellowships, funded by income from a portion of Taylor’s estate, award up to $2,000 for full-time faculty members at United Methodist-related colleges and universities in Texas. Any full-time faculty member is eligible to apply for the Fellowships, which support research “advancing the intellectual, social or religious life of Texas and the nation.”

Read about the research that won below!

Dr. Sidharth Muralidharan, assistant professor of advertising: “Recent literature has indicated that members of major U.S. political parties, i.e., Democrats and Republicans, have different perceptions regarding environmental issues. Democrats are assumed to be more environmentally friendly than their Republican counterparts. However, little research has delved into understanding the cognitive and psychological processes that take place behind a party member’s stance on an environmental issue. The objective of the current study is to see how green advertisements can generate favorable attitudes and encourage American shoppers to bring reusable carryout bags (vs. plastic) by taking their political affiliation into account. Since caring for the natural environment depends on a person’s self-concept, another factor that will be integrated into the design is an individual’s values for the welfare of others, specifically, self-transcendence. The findings will help city, state, and federal policy makers to effectively communicate environmental policies and ordinances. The grant money will be used to secure a participant pool for the study.”

Dr. Anna Kim, assistant professor of advertising: “My research investigates within-narrative ad variations. As not all stories are equally interesting and effective, some narrative ads are more effective than other narrative ads. Thus, my research tests and proposes a theoretical framework that explains why some narrative ads are more effective than others. With Sam Taylor Fellowship, I will be able to collect data on this study and provide a path forward for future research in this area by identifying the specific process variables that lead to more narrative persuasion. Thus, this research will not only enhance our theoretical understanding of the persuasive power of narrative advertising, but also provide specific guidance for advertising practitioners on how to create good narrative ads. Further, the findings of this research can be applied to many different areas such as health communication, public relations, and education in terms of developing more effective narrative messages.”

Dr. Hye Jin Yoon, assistant professor of advertising: “Childhood and adolescent obesity have been rising at an alarming rate in the United States. Policy changes and various school and clinic programs have been set in place over the years to help curb obesity and continuous efforts are needed on that front. Many public service advertisement (PSA) campaigns have ran in the past, but not many have been successful in catching the public’s eye and motivating a change in behavior. This study will set out to test the effectiveness of using a combination of guilt and humor appeals in health public-service advertising. Theoretical contributions will include observing the applicability of interaction of guilt and humor appeals in social marketing campaigns. Practical implications will include using guilt and humor information in effective ways to motivate the public to stay active, eat healthy, and take care of their health. This study would add knowledge to our understanding of effective PSAs that would help us in our fight against obesity in the United States.”

Applications are evaluated on the significance of the project, clarity of the proposal, professional development of the applicant, value of the project to the community or nation, and the project’s sensitivity to value questions confronting higher education and society.

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Dr. Hye Jin Yoon’s Journal of Advertising Article makes “Top Downloaded Article Collection” List

Dr. Hye Jin Yoon’s “Humorous Threat Persuasion in Advertising: The Effects of Humor, Threat Intensity, and Issue Involvement” has made the “top downloaded article collection” list of the Journal of Advertising. The article can be accessed for free until December 31st, 2015 on the journal’s website.

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Her research was born out of the necessity to understand how using humor to communicate threatening information (e.g., deforestation can lead to animal extinctions and climate change) in advertising could have an impact on the effectiveness of the advertisements and for whom it may be most effective. The studies predicted and found that responses to humor use in threat persuasion would depend on how much the individual was involved with the particular issue. Overall, low-involvement individuals found humor ads to be more effective than non-humor ads, while high-involvement individuals preferred non-humor ads. When threat intensities were varied in the ads, low involvement individuals needed humor when there was high threat intensity, while high involvement individuals preferred non-humor ads under high threat intensity. The findings gave practical implications for design and targeting for campaign planners looking to utilize humor to communicate threatening information.

The Journal of Advertising is the premier academic publication covering significant intellectual development pertaining to advertising theories and their relationship with practice. The journal has an acceptance rate of 9% and all papers published in the journal go through a rigorous, double-blind, peer-review process.

 

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Dr. Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna Presents “Is this safe to eat? Food Safety after Fukushima”

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Photo Credit: www.telegraph.co.uk

Dr. Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, presented his work “Is this safe to eat? Food safety and risk after Fukushima” on Friday at the TAI Research Brown Bag. The participants were taken through the tragedy that struck Japan after a devastating earthquake, nuclear explosion and tsunami put people, food, soil and water at risk of radiation. Professor Sternsdorff-Cisterna discussed  consumers’ reactions to food purchases and eating habits along with government messaging working to alleviate consumer and citizen concerns.

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Bags of Soil / Photo Credit: Toru Hanai/Reuters

The intent of the brown bag luncheon is to bring together faculty members to present work they are doing in an effort to engage collaboration as well as offer ideas in moving the research area forward.

japan_earthquake_map_Sendai_Fukushima_nuclear_power_plantAttendees included Visiting Professor Yuting Li, Head of the Advertising Department, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, China as well as colleagues from across campus. Often the work is related to research, but can also involved creative works and industry endeavors.  Our next brown bag will be in December. Keep your eye out for highlights from December’s presenter!

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TAI Professor is Keynote Speaker: 2015 Breakfast for the Bridge

The Bridge’s purpose is to end adult long-term homelessness in Dallas and the surrounding region by developing, coordinating, and/or delivering: Outreach/intake services, Jail diversion/reentry services, Emergency shelter/transitional shelter services, Primary health care/behavioral health care services, Recreational/educational services, Employment income/supported employment income/disability income services, and Affordable housing/supportive housing services.

By doing so, The Bridge benefits the broader community by: Increasing public safety, Increasing public health, Increasing public quality of life.

SMU’s own Willie Baronet will provide the keynote on November 20, 2015 at Breakfast for the Bridge fundraiser.

Willie_BridgeWillie is a noted artist, author, TedXSMU talker and creative soul. He is the Stan Richards Professor in Creative Advertising at the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU. Since 1993, Willie has been buying and collecting signs from the homeless for the purpose of using them in art exhibits and documentaries. These signs and this practice have become a catalyst for conversations about the nature of home, homelessness, compassion and how we see and treat each other as humans.

 

If you are an adult experiencing homelessness in Dallas, please contact 214.670.1101 for help.

To support the Bridge please click here.
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TAI Graduate Student Spotlight: Snow Wang

Snow%20in%20Graphic%20Design%20positionIn mid-October, one of TAI’s second year MA in Advertising students, Snow Wang, began working in the Office of Student Transitions & Orientation. Here she is charged with graphic design projects for Recruitment Materials, Mustang Corral Graphics, Mustang Corral Compass as well as AARO Schedules and Student Transitions & Orientation Magazine.

Dr. Carrie La Ferle, Professor of Advertising as a Cultural Force and International Advertising, commented “How great it is when students are able to earn money working in positions that are also related to their field while also benefiting their university! It is just a win-win-win all around.” For more information on the MA in Advertising program, click here.

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Justa vs. Whata: The Importance of Enterprise in Advertising

By: Alice Kendrick

KendrickAlice When I first moved to Texas, a friend introduced me to the iconic institution Whataburger. First, I learned I had to make a basic choice: theJustaburger or the Whataburger. 

Really? “Justa”?????? I thought why settle for Justa when you could have WHATA???

The Justa mentality won’t get you very far in the field of advertising. The notion of merely finishing a task or producing acceptable work is at odds with the ‘always on,’ iterative and optimization-seeking nature of the business. Advertising’s ever-changing, highly competitive and creative environment rewards the Whata’s — the enterprising — those who don’t consider completion of assignments as the end goal but rather strive to make the work better and best by repeatedly (iteratively) going above and beyond the proverbial call of duty.

My favorite definition of enterprising comes from the Oxford Dictionary:

“Having or showing initiative and resourcefulness”. Whata combination, right?

The example they give is “Some enterprising teachers have started their own recycling programs.” So, the teachers were not asked to initiate recycling programs; they did it on their own.

Initiative and resourcefulness – going above and beyond (and often in the face of shrinking budgets) – are traits that are highly valued in advertising, for it is the new, great, integrated, efficient, clever, impactful idea or way of doing something better that wins the day, the account, the prize. If you are satisfied with simply doing something per instructions, being a professional marketing communicator might not be the place for you. I was an ‘A’ student in college, but my first internship employer gave me a wake-up call about initiative when in his evaluation he wrote that although my work was of high quality, I was not enterprising. I actually had to look it up in the dictionary, as I thought the word involved making money. It means a lot more than that. That’s all I needed to hear, and I am forever grateful that he offered that candid assessment. I have never looked back.

empphoto_40815_1334870481I draw an enormous amount of inspiration as a teacher and researcher from our fantastic TAI alumni, many of whom are incredibly enterprising. A recent example is the award-winning advertising campaign for the movie The Book Thief, masterminded by our own
alumna Julie Rieger (’91), EVP-Media of 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles. Never one to be satisfied with a Justa-campaign, Julie flexed her enterprise as a student when she led SMU’s 1991 AAF National Student Advertising Competition team to its first national ranking. poster-large

In an effort to optimize the media budget for The Book Thief, Julie made history by negotiating the purchase of two consecutive blank pages in the New York Times, the second of which simply offered the movie’s URL www.wordsarelife.com. Arresting. Innovative. Shareworthy. On strategy given the movie’s message. Resourceful. Enterprising. You can learn more about how this Whata-promotion and our Whata-alum here.

So, how can students be more enterprising? Before class, not only read the chapter but also find your own examples of what’s being discussed. And share. If you really want to shock your prof, send an unsolicited (enterprising) email with a link to an article you think she might find interesting. This semester, two of my 57 students did that. Yes, I noticed. Don’t just fulfill the expectations for an assignment. Blow. It. Out. Of. The. Water. We will notice. So will your internship supervisors when you use your down time to create an annotated bibliography of current research and thinking on a subject related to an agency account. Knock their proverbial socks off. They will notice. And they will later write you a Whata-recommendation.

Just by writing this I’m getting my enterprise on. We may need to start a movement here. #upforwhata? #beyondwhata? #bethewhata? #taiwhata?

Dr. Alice Kendrick is a professor in the Temerlin Advertising Institute, SMU. The best way to reach her is akendric@smu.edu.

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Design from the Heart 

MendenhallCherylBy Cheryl Mendenhall, Senior Lecturer

Here at the Temerlin Advertising Institute we stress the importance of responsibility in advertising, whether that is professional responsibility, social responsibility, or the everyday choices we make in our field. My focus is in graphic design, and I wanted to share with you some of the many ways design can be used for the greater good. It can be small things like using recycled paper or soy ink in a project or something big like designing a way for people to communicate in health care situations where there may be a language barrier.

Many non-profits struggle to get their message heard; we as designers can help develop strategies and create materials to accomplish their unique goals.

HRMYou may know immediately what cause speaks to you, but if not, there are many resources available to help you find a connection. American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) has a program called Design for Good described as “a movement to ignite, accelerate and amplify design-driven social change.” On their website they showcase inspiring projects and provide a wide variety of resources including ways for connecting designers and non-profits, groups that provide learning opportunities, and sources for funding and support grants for your self-initiated projects.

Or how about this? What do you get when you combine creatives, non-profits and a super quick deadline? A fantastic idea for helping out non-profits – a 24-hour createathon. Now that’s a GOOD reason to pull an all-nighter.

Here are some projects I find interesting:KZoo

I began working with non-profits early in my career as a way to give back when I didn’t have the money to donate. I continue to do it now because it brings me joy.

How we use our skills is up to us. I encourage you to find something that speaks to your heart and share your skills.

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Temerlin Advertising Institute Hosts Dr. Padmini Patwardhan from Winthrop University as 2015-2016 Research Fellow

Dr. Patwardhan visited TAI last week to undertake research related to leadership issues in the advertising industry. She spent her week interviewing faculty and industry professionals to gain insight into the leadership process. She will also be undertaking interviews with executives in NYC. During her visit, she was able to interact with faculty and get to experience a taste of Texas fun at the Katy Trail Ice House.

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Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) at Southern Methodist University is a research-oriented institute composed of distinguished faculty with both industry and academic backgrounds. The purpose of the TAI Research Fellows program is to foster research collaboration and provide catalysts for advancing our understanding of the field of advertising.

 

 

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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.