Category: TAI Alumni

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Creatives Take NYC

From April 25 to May 1, several of our students had the opportunity to tour and network with some of the world’s leading advertising companies during this year’s TAI creative NYC trip which serves as a discovery class. Dr. Mark Allen and Professor Willie Baronet planned and led graduate and undergraduate students in this unique immersive advertising experience.

“As always it was an inspiring and productive time in New York where we took our students to some of the best agencies in the world. Watching them meet our alums and seeing the amazing work they are producing is always a magical experience for me. This year we visited Anomaly, Ogilvy, Momentum, Walrus, NBC Universal, Kenneth Cole Studios, Translation and more!” – Willie Baronet

The first stop on the tour was Johannes Leonardo, a creative firm that encourages customer involvement on behalf of companies. TAI alum Tessa Conti gave us a tour of the distinctive JL church-style facility and updated us about her work with clients including Adidas, Amazon, and Kraft. Later on in the day, we went to Translation with Kaleb Mulugeta, a TAI graduate, and had breathtaking views of the Brooklyn Bridge. AdAge has named Translation the 2022 Agency of the Year and included it on their Agency A-List.

We began our Friday morning at Kenneth Cole Studios, where Maria Cuomo gave us a tour of the facility and shared some of Kenneth Cole’s advice. Despite being a fashion business, we learned about in-house advertising and the brand’s deliberate adherence to its identity. Amol Rana gave us a fascinating tour of Google and displayed some of his YouTube commercials. We had the opportunity to speak with several alumni for a Q&A session at the end of the week, during which we asked them questions regarding their post-college and professional lives and received some incredible advice.

The plan for the weekend was to visit Central Park, see shows on Broadway, and visit museums like the Whitney and MOMA in order to thoroughly immerse oneself in NYC life.

On Monday, we had a great start to the week by going to Momentum Worldwide, here they served us NY way. We learned everything there is to know about experimental advertising, which is the practice of leveraging technology to improve the human experience while creating memories for brands. Former TAI alumni Jordan Chlapecka and Allie Hartman talked about their experiences working with companies like Verizon, Nike, Coke, and AMEX. Next, we visited Ogilvy, where we met up with Helen Rieger and Morgan Hoff, two former SMU students. They were able to demonstrate several projects they had completed for Verizon, Nationwide, and Coca-Cola, but they also gave us advice on how to approach uncertain circumstances proactively when things could change unexpectedly. Deacon Webster’s Walrus was the final agency visit of the day, during which he explained his strategy of being calculating but yet humorous. We concluded Monday night with the senior dinner, where Willie and Mark gave inspirational speeches and many of us shed tears as our seniors begin a new chapter in their life.

On our last day, we began with a visit of the SNL and Jimmy Fallon sets at NBCUniversal. Michael Reidy, an SMU alum, welcomed us with breakfast before the panel discussion began. The panelists stressed that while our creativity will make us stand out, we must also enter this phase of our life with passion and resiliency. Eric Damassa led the final agency visit of the trip, which was Anomoly. Anomoly strives to cooperate with companies like eos, Ranch Water, and Obie that align with its mission. We concluded the trip with the Alumni Networking Event, where we had the chance to socialize with other alumni who live in the city and sing a few karaoke songs to round off our time together.

Overall, there are not enough words to describe our trip, so be sure to watch our reel on Instagram at @smu.advertising!

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2024 ExxonMobil Lecture Series: Celebrating the Decade of the Mexican Avocado featuring Avocados from Mexico CEO and President, Alvaro Luque 

On February 22, 2024, Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU hosted their annual ExxonMobil Lecture Series on Sustainability at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas. This event offered an immersive experience, blending educational discourse with a vibrant networking atmosphere for over 200 students, professionals, and sustainability enthusiasts. All gathered to hear from the man responsible for revolutionizing the avocado market, Alvaro Luque, President and CEO of the non-profit marketing organization, Avocados from Mexico (AFM). The expanding popularity of avocados took center stage as the event seamlessly wove together the threads of sustainability, and marketing innovation. Luque’s insights provided a rich tapestry of his 30-year marketing journey, emphasizing the strategic vision that catapulted Avocados From Mexico to its status as a household name and a symbol of sustainability in the produce market. The night was a great success and we are already excited for next year!  

The evening began with a networking hour where guests could connect over drinks, avocado focused hors d’oeuvres and sweets, as well as AFM’s signature build your own guacamole cart. The cart allowed guests to pick and choose their favorite ingredients and experience AFM’s brand message of always good by showcasing how avocados can be delicious, healthy, and fun! 

When it came time for the lecture, Luque was an immediate crowd pleaser with his utilization of AFM’s  famous jingle to kick things off. His discussion centered on the remarkable journey of Mexican avocados in the U.S., where today, 8 in 10 avocados consumed are from Mexico, contributing over $11 billion in economic output. He went on to emphasize the importance of understanding their target audience and how being the first fresh produce brand to advertise in the Super Bowl played a large part in evening the playing field for them as a brand, increasing awareness in such a large market, and setting a precedent for industry innovation. 

 At the presentation’s conclusion, TAI’s Dr. Carrie La Ferle went on to engage in a lively Q&A with Luque. La Ferle shared how delighted she was by his genuine care about the next generation, engaging in every question presented, and further sharing words of wisdom with the students in the audience. Dr. La Ferle later stated how impressed she was “by Mr. Luque’s passion for strategy and his keen eye for how to, in the words of Luque, “Make AFM in the produce category, like Pepsi or Coke were to beverages.”

   

“If you ever doubted the ability to market produce like a CPK, developing a visible brand in a brandless category, doubt no more,” said Dr. Carrie La Ferle of the Temerlin Advertising Institute. 

Guests left the evening with more than valuable insights on developing visible brands in brandless categories. Each attendee received a goodie bag which included their very own Avocados From Mexico. 

The 2024 ExxonMobil Lecture Series: The Decade of the Mexican Avocado, highlighted the Temerlin Advertising Institute’s dedication to integrating sustainability with marketing excellence and moto of “Better Advertising. Better World.” 

Watch the full lecture here:

Previous ExxonMobil Lectures included brands like Publicis, Pepsi Co, Honest Company, Nike, Chick-fil-A, and Monster, features like Signs of Humanity and David Baldwin, and topics like Spirituality.

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ALUMNI UPDATE: Chelsea Roth

Temerlin alumna (’16) Chelsea Roth is a Senior Consultant focusing on social impact and sustainability at APCO Worldwide‘s New York office. Prior to this role, Chelsea worked at Edelman for five years and supported purpose-driven campaigns for global brands and organizations. Some of the companies Chelsea has partnered with during her career include eBay, Red Bull, The Rockefeller Foundation, T.J.Maxx, Unilever and currently the ACLU.

Chelsea credits her professors in the Temerlin Advertising Institute at SMU with providing the skills and experience to succeed at top communication agencies and navigate the client work that she manages today. She will never forget the hands-on experience during her “Advertising Campaigns” course, where she created an advertising pitch for Mizzen+Main, a company started by two SMU alumnus. Her educational experience in the Temerlin Advertising Institute built the foundation for her to discover her passions and gain life-long expertise that will carry her throughout her career.

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ALUMNI UPDATE: Leah Smith takes on role at the The Richards Group and is starting a PhD in Information Science

Since graduating with an MA in Advertising from the Temerlin Advertising Institute in 2018, Leah Smith has worked in a variety of digital marketing roles. She has done everything from social media, to content marketing, to search engine marketing, and communications. She recently accepted a new role as a Brand Manager for The Richards Group here in Dallas.

In addition, Leah has been accepted as a doctoral student at UNT for fall 2021 in the PhD in Information Science program which she is extremely excited (and nervous) for starting. Leah explained that, “I hope while there, I can apply my mixed background in journalism (BA in Journalism from SMU) and marketing/advertising in the research I undertake.”

According to Dr. Carrie La Ferle, “Leah will be a value add to the UNT doctoral program with her sold work experience, enthusiastic personality and quick to learn nature.” La Ferle went on to add, “Leah will bring fresh and impactful eyes as she works to merge her interests across communication, social media and critical media studies during her doctoral studies.”

Leah reports that, “I no doubt attribute my success and some of the opportunities I’ve had professionally to my time at SMU. I’ve been very intentional in trying to maintain relationships with professors and classmates. No matter what industry you’re in, relationship-building is critical. I also routinely lean back on former professors for their wisdom and wealth of knowledge. ”

Leah wrapped up her update by concluding, “While I will ALWAYS be a Mustang, I really look forward to this new chapter as a UNT Eagle.”

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ALUMNI UPDATE: Producing the iPhone 11 Keynote Film

Interview by Professor Mark Allen

Ask any advertising student (or professional) to name who’s on their career bucket list and most likely you’ll find Apple near the top. In the same league as brands like Nike, Volkswagen and Coke, the creative heavyweight from Cupertino consistently pumps out ads that are just as revolutionary as their products.

This September, Apple released its much-anticipated iPhone 11 Pro with a seriously beefed-up camera. To show off the device’s impressive new video capabilities, Apple asked TAI alumnus, Diego Contreras (’08), to create a short film for the official worldwide launch at the most recent Apple Keynote. With an iPhone 11 Pro and an extraordinary amount of talent, this is what he produced:

The new iPhone camera is incredible, no doubt. But one thing is even clearer to me: I still don’t expect my videos to look anywhere near this good—that is, unless Diego Contreras happens to be holding my iPhone.

I’ve kept up with Diego and his career ever since he was an art direction student of mine back in 2006–08. In addition to being a unique creative talent, he’s one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. Whether it’s dinner when we find ourselves in the same city or giving advice to my advertising students via Skype, he always makes time in his busy schedule to catch up and give back.

One of my fondest memories of Diego was how he always found a way to have fun while working so hard. When he returned to our program as a senior, I asked him to lead our Fall Startup Meeting—our annual gathering of creative students after returning from summer break. Diego kicked off the event with a crazy video he shot and edited of him and a few other creative students wreaking havoc at a local grocery store on motorized carts. He even hosted a goofy awards show, featuring trophies that he made himself. He gave me the Vidal Sassoon Best Hair Award, made from an empty bottle of shampoo that he spray-painted gold. It was very much like Diego’s own version of The Dundie Awards. The point here is that Diego spent a ton of time creating a bunch of completely unnecessary content and made-up awards in order to foster a culture of fun and creativity around hard work. More than 10 years later, I still see the effects of Diego’s contribution to the culture of fun, hard work and camaraderie in our program.

Since graduating from SMU, Diego has worked for a truly impressive list of agencies. He started out as art director at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, then went to Anomaly in New York. He became an associate creative director at BBDO and then launched out on his own as a film and commercial director, currently working with Reset Content in LA. In light of his momentous project for Apple, I caught up with Diego and hit him with a barrage of questions:
Continue reading “ALUMNI UPDATE: Producing the iPhone 11 Keynote Film”

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ALUMNI UPDATE: Mustangs Moving the World Through Sport

Marc Patrick entered his lecture from the middle of the audience, one of the many ways he sets the tone for a riveting performance. He led the track-and-field team as a student-athlete at SMU and has since moved on to lead global brand activations for 20+ years at The Nike World Headquarters, where Patrick served as Senior Director of Global Brand Communications. His journey began when he graduated from SMU in ’93 with degrees in Advertising and African American Studies.

 On the night of November 6th, Temerlin Advertising Institute welcomed Patrick back to the Hilltop as the ExxonMobil Lecture Series guest speaker. It was a wonderful night, complete with networking, a moving lecture, and lively after-party, but this sold-out event was months in the making.

Two of my classmates (Meryn Kennedy and Susan Slaton) and I were selected to represent Temerlin Advertising Institute at The Nike World Headquarters this Summer. My preparation for the trip consisted of studying Patrick’s background in advertising, writing interview questions on conference calls with my partners, and reading Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog to better understand the origin of Nike’s brand.

Together we strolled through Nike’s campus, nestled in Beaverton, Oregon. Sprawling over 286 acres and 75 buildings, we ran (quite literally) into world-class athletes like Galen Rupp, before reaching Patrick’s office for our highly anticipated interview.

We were given a look inside the brand, his time at SMU, and how he navigated the ad industry before landing his role at Nike. This interview is featured in the Fall 2019 Meadows MPRINT Magazine, and the TAI podcast, but he saved the gems for the grand finale: his keynote at the Angelika Film Center, packed with SMU students, esteemed alumni, and advertising professionals from across the country.

Patrick’s presentation was electric: he recounted how his advertising degree led him into decades of brilliant branding opportunities. From his start as an intern at The Dallas Morning News, then to Account Coordinator at TBWA, Burrell, and DDB, all the way to Nike World Headquarters. His story served as a testament to what is on the other side of an SMU Advertising degree. My classmates and I left feeling inspired and encouraged, knowing that our hard work will soon pay off.

The night culminated with a TAI exclusive after-party at Centre. Three lucky TAI students won free Nike kicks and the unlucky bunch left with $100 gift cards. 

This year’s event was put together with help from our outstanding partners at Richards/Lerma, AAF Dallas, EKIN, BBB, Marcus Graham Project, Circulo Creativo, and Centre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Event photos can be found here.

Kaleb Mulugeta

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SXSW: The Bumble Hive

Madison Cansler and Michael Bailey

Starting the weekend off with a bang, SMU Temerlin Advertising students are in Austin for SXSW Interactive!

Day 1 began at the Austin convention center to grab badges and then we let the fun begin!  Students scattered around event in search of seminars that ignite their interests.

Some of the first events attended included Designing a Better Media Ecosystem Without Ads, Spectrum at Thomas, The Spurs Interactive, The Future of Enterprise Marketing, and the Bumble Hive: An Experiential Meetup.

The highlight of the morning was consulting with former SMU student, Chelsea Maclin, VP of Marketing for Bumble. Bumble is rapidly evolving the app to ensure relevance to its growing user base. Maclin also relayed her experience  with Bumble operating in a small apartment, and contrasted that with the 100 plus employees spreading the app to India and Mexico.

Chelsea Maclin, VP Marketing at Bumble

Bumble’s success has come from evaluating all marketing efforts against being: 1) glocal, 2) integrated, 3) sustainable, 4) measurable, and 5) impactful.

Ending the session with a group pic with Maclin, the SMU Temerlin Advertising students are excited to make our school proud and see what else the weekend has in store!

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AD CLUB: Super Bowl 2019: Our 5 Favorite Ads

The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest event of the year. As Sunday’s game became the lowest-scoring championship game in football history, the intermittent ads demonstrated an even more memorable competition. Check out our five favorite commercials below!

1. Bumble: “Serena Williams”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_FWKLpoGBc&fbclid=IwAR1p_JCcmr5p-WFouk6deVJTTdkzIzm_MvEC7sVCnRzn0OSQL0MH5SSlwzg

We are proud of Temerlin Alumna Chelsea Cain Maclin and her work as Director of Marketing at Bumble. This commercial empowers women through the words of the world’s strongest female athlete: Serena Williams.

Created By: FlyteVu & VMLY&R

 

2. Burger King: “#EatLikeAndy”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fIfPKpY7HQ

Clipped from Jørgen Leth’s 1982 art film 66 Scenes from America, Burger King’s #EatLikeAndy commercial is one minute of voyeuristic footage featuring Andy Warhol eating a Whopper. It was only a matter of time before this video became commercially repurposed.

Created By: David Miami

 

3. Doritos: “Chance the Rapper x Backstreet Boys”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTMzIZhI7q8

When you combine Chance the Rapper and Backstreet Boys, you get a really expensive Super Bowl ad. More importantly, you get the catchiest jingle of the year.

Created By: Goodby Silverstein & Partners

 

4. Pepsi: “More than OK”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sYElEbRzKA

Is a Pepsi OK? Ohh-kay? Okurr? Yes.

Created By: Goodby Silverstein & Partners

 

5. Google: “100 Billion Words”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXfJc8up6cM

The first two Super Bowl commercials advertised Google Translate as a great cultural unifier. This soft and emotional portrayal of the company promotes the human benefits of its services.

Created By: Google Creative Labs

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ALUMNI UPDATE: Amy Cooley ’18

I came to SMU and wanted to be a theater major. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work out. At the beginning of my freshman year, I asked myself, “what can I study that still allows me to be surrounded by unique, creative, and thought-provoking people?” Luckily, I found Advertising which allowed me to think creatively, problem-solve, and exhibit my presentation skills acquired from experience in theater. I also majored in Spanish which helped me learn more about other cultures.  This better positioned me to navigate the world advertising because I can understand and interact with people who speak different languages.

After being accepted into the TAI Strategic Brand Management program, I met with my academic advisor. She told me about Dieste, a multicultural advertising agency in Dallas. After that conversation, my goal was to work for Dieste because it fuses my two majors and celebrates the diversity of every person.

I was hired as a Project Manager at Dieste after I graduated in May. In my opinion, the project manager is one of the most valuable positions to have at an agency. I oversee the strategic process from start to finish and interact with every department that is involved with the project (e.g. creative production, financials, brand leadership). I am now knowledgeable of the departments’ goals so I can empathize with them and better understand their needs. This will help me in the future as I continue to navigate different fields in advertising.

I cannot speak more highly of TAI and the faculty because they prepared me for my first professional role in Advertising. My brand management classes taught me how to think strategically, how to strengthen brands, and how to manage specific daily tasks. My ethics course helped me view the world through different cultural perspectives and understand the ethical responsibility in advertising. And although I was not enrolled in the Creative Advertising program, the Introduction to Creativity course prepared me for the wonderful weirdness that I experience among the creatives on my team. Finally, my two years of experience on Ad Team solidified what I had learned. I exemplified my project management skills as the Team Director and provided prospective employers with a printed plan book, visual and textual proof of my professional skills. I was confident in my interview with Dieste but I believe that the book sealed the deal.

I encourage current TAI students to embrace the department, the faculty, and the programs it offers (like Ad Team *wink*). While actually working in the field leverages your professional experience, TAI gets you there as close as possible. Additionally, I encourage you to embrace your niche. Continue to pursue your passions. Working at Dieste has further emphasized the importance of embracing cultures. Beyond ethnicity and heritage, the unique interests of people become parts of their culture. As advertisers, the better we can understand everyone’s interests, the better we can connect them to the brands we represent.

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ALUMNI UPDATE: Lucas Crespo ’18

I graduated with degrees in Creative Advertising and Film and Media Arts. Both majors involve conceptual thinking and storytelling. I am thankful that these areas of study are both in the Meadows School of the Arts. I utilized the school’s film equipment and knowledge from my production classes to build my advertising portfolio. Furthermore, my two respective but connected majors allowed me to focus my four years as an undergraduate student on the art and science of storytelling. 
 
During my senior year, I applied to over forty advertising agencies across the United States. Temerlin’s excellent professors, curriculum, and networking opportunities helped me secure a position as the art direction intern at BBDO in New York City. This is the first time that I have worked in a large agency with prominent clients. So far, the experience has been overwhelming but worth every second.