Feed the Interns

Spring 2012 Interns!

2012-02-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

Another semester means another set of new interns for Bailey Gardiner! We may all come from different schools, different backgrounds, and have different interests but one thing we have in common is that we all rock the intern corral. As of now we are brainstorming ideas to actually make it more "corral" like...suggestions welcome.

Without any further ado...drum roll please...

Nicole Younger (Ad Intern 1)

Home: Cambria, CA

School: University of San Diego- Communication and Marketing
Favorite Food: Sushi

If you had a super power: Time Travel
3 Fun Facts:

My first car accident happened when I hit a school bus full of children! I promise I'm a good driver now!
I've never had braces or a cavity!
I love musicals!

Life Goal: To work for a national advertising agency as an account executive and to pay it forward to all those who have helped me reach my goals!

Matt Diez (Ad Intern 2)

Home: Livesmore, CA

School: Art Institute San Diego - Advertising
Favorite Food: Lasagna

If you had a super power: Shape-Shifting
3 Fun Facts:

Surfing since I was 14
Hosted a college radio talk show
Currently learning to speak Greek

Life Goal: Travel to every country.

Kelsey Powell (PR Intern 2)

Home: Dallas, TX
School: SDSU
Favorite Food: Chocolate
If you had a superpower: Reading boys' minds
3 Fun Facts:

I am the director of special events for PRSSA
I live for yoga. Namaste.
I've been stung by a jellyfish. Ouch!

Life goal: To travel to every continent.

Travis Weger (PR Intern 3)

Home: Brownsville, OR (Population 1,285)
School: University of San Diego- Communication and Marketing
Favorite Food: Pizza and beer (beer is a food)
If you had a superpower: Time travel
3 Fun Facts:

Secret nerd (Shh...Don't tell anyone)
Just got back from Hong Kong, my 40th country
Obsessed with stand- up comedy

Life Goal: Be the next Richard Branson

Jennifer Yi (Graphic Intern 2)

Home: Cupertino, CA
School: The Art Institute of California- SD- Advertising
Favorite Food: Bacon
If you had a superpower: The power of flight
3 Fun Facts:

I am sensitive to some styles of art because it acts up my tryptophobia.
I went skydiving before my BG interview and it killed the jitterbug.
I had the Dawson's Creek theme song stuck in my head for over 3 years now. I've never seen an episode.

Life Goal: To live a content life doing what I love.

Get to Know Your Hungry Interns

2011-11-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's never too late to get to know the intern corral! We may be at the bottom of the hierarchy here at BG, but some might say we are the legs that hold the table up.. so, you're welcome Bailey Gardiner.

Claudia Huizar (PR Intern 1)
Home: Oxnard, CA
School: San Diego State University - Public Relations and Spanish
Favorite Food: Baby Back Ribs
If you had a super power: I would know every language in the world
3 Fun Facts:

Can't pronounce "minestrone"
Used to co-direct a non-profit
Use six packages of Ketchup when I eat a burger

Life Goal: Own my own PR Firm

Sarah MacQueen (PR Intern 2)
Home: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
School: University of California Santa Barbara - Communications and Sociology
Favorite Food: Sushi
If you had a super power: Mind Control
3 fun facts:

Citizen of New Zealand, England, and USA
Obsessed with English Bulldogs
Went backpacking through Europe after College

Life Goal: To be happy (Awe)

Kelly Logan (PR Intern 3)
Home: Morgan Hill, CA
School: San Diego State University - Public Relations
Favorite Food: Sushi or Pizza
if you had a superpower: Teleportation
3 Fun Facts:

My mom's sister married my dad's brother
I am family friends with a few MLB players
Ireland is the coolest place I have ever been

Life Goal: To be part of something extraordinary!

Sarah Allen (Graphic Intern 1)
Home: Temecula, CA
School: Art Institute San Diego - Advertising
Favorite Food: Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi
If you had a super power: To be able to Fly
3 fun facts:

I had my finger torn off when I was 5.. but they sewed it back on
I've zip lined over the Hawaiian mountains
Used to get my exercise by slow dancing to Bob Marley

Life Goal: To be a Creative Director

Kiera Ross (Graphic Intern 2)
Home: Washington DC
School: Art Institute of San Diego - Graphic Design
Favorite Food: Thai
If you had a superpower: Invisibility
3 Fun Facts:

I used to collect turtles.. 9 of them
I hate tomatoes
I really enjoy the sound of trains

Life Goal: To go cage diving with Great White Sharks

Matt Diez (Ad Intern 2)
Home: Livesmore, CA
School: Art Institute San Diego - Advertising
Favorite Food: Lasagna
If you had a superpower: Shape-Shifting
3 Fun Facts:

Surfing since I was 14
Hosted a college radio talk show
Currently learning to speak Greek

Life Goal: Travel to every country.

José Higuera (Ad Intern 1 "aka Me")
Home: Mexico City, Mexico
School: University of San Diego - Marketing and International Business
Favorite Food: Indian Buttered Chicken
If you had a superpower: be Superman.. (lots of superpowers)
3 Fun Facts:

I've traveled to over 40 countries around the world and even lived in Hong Kong a while
I've jumped off the worlds tallest Bungy
I have a twin sister who is a foot shorter than me with red hair and green eyes

Life Goal: Take a Virgin Galactic flight to the Moon

How a Viral Marketing Campaign can Take Over the World

2011-10-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

Especially When It Puts You In Gotham City

The most fun that I have ever had taking part in a marketing campaign hands down has to be the 'Why So Serious' campaign done by Alternate Reality Branding company, 42 Entertainment in preparation for Warner Brothers' The Dark Knight. This interactive campaign was so detailed and elaborate that it was impossible not to stay glued to my computer waiting for more.. plus, pretending that I lived in Gotham City for about a year was a fanboy dream on its own.

Why So Serious?
In the months leading up to the release of The Dark Knight, an alternate reality experience attracted more than 10 million viewers to real time Gotham City, a city where the Joker had begun leaving his mark on posters and bills, and started building an army of henchmen all over the world. Whysoserious.com started leaving clues from the Joker, revealing coordinates that would eventually lead players to Comic-Con 2007. Here, players gathered to take their first orders from the Joker, which they found typed up in the sky as a few planes left a cloudy phone number above. Players hit the streets dressed as their leader and Gotham City began to spill into the real world, building excitement and anticipation for The Dark Knight.

The website then left ransom notes for 49 cities and location descriptions for people to look for new clues as to where he would strike next. Their efforts put together yet another piece of the puzzle, which revealed one of the first official images of the Joker. In a request to hit local international landmarks in full Joker get-up, a worldwide community formed. A Gotham City newspaper led made this world even more realistic, a world where nothing was saved from the Joker. The Gotham Times kept players up to date with Gotham news and even a televised news channel was made available starring Anthony Michael Hall as the news anchor, along with Police reports and audio tapes to expose crooked cops. The next clue was a list of specific bakery locations where players had to arrive and introduce themselves as Robin Banks to receive the joker’s special present, a cake, at a first come first serve basis. The hidden package inside of the cake held a Joker phone, card, and press badge to keep in constant contact with this Gotham underground world.

I Believe in Harvey Dent

A campaign to take back Gotham City from criminals like the Joker came into play as well. Prospective D.A. Harvey Dent contacted phone carriers for their support in his campaign with the slogan “I believe in Harvey Dent.” Dent asked for players to show their support. The response was overwhelming as pictures from around the country poured in. Dent-mobiles brought Harvey Dent’s message to 33 cities as citizens took to the streets and marched, protested, rallied, screamed, and chanted “Harvey Dent! Take Back Gotham!”

As the immersive marketing campaign was reaching a critical mass, it even reached bowling allies around the world. The website once again showed a list of cities, but this time with a list of addresses with numbers attached to them. The numbers turned out to be locker numbers and combinations at specific bowling alleys. Inside the locker, the lucky player would find a bag containing a custom Jokerized bowling ball, another Joker phone, and more clues that eventually led to the reveal of an exclusive trailer of the dark knight.. but the Joker got there first. The trailer had been vandalized with smiley faces and “Ha Ha Ha’s” as soon as it became available.

Citizens for Batman

The campaign reached its climactic ending during the week of the Dark Knight’s theatrical release. Hundreds of players gathered, calling themselves ‘Citizens for Batman’ in downtown New York City. At 10pm sharp, the bat signal was projected against one of the nearby buildings. Once again, the Joker had plans of his own. The bat signal was quickly vandalized in front of everyone’s eyes, along with everything else in Gotham City. Every website, every newspaper, every article, every piece of this alternate reality was market by the Joker as his final act of chaos before the events of The Dark Knight.

So just in case anyone thought it was cute but a waste of money, The Dark Knight went on to have the highest opening of all time and was the top grossing film of 2008. Since then, I have yet to see a campaign as immersive as Why So Serious, but with The Dark Knight Rises in theaters next summer.. here's hoping we'll get some of that fun again soon.

Up, Up, and Advertise

2011-10-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

So about a year ago, I was recommended a book called 1000 Places to See Before You Die because I love adventures, and therefor I eat that stuff up. The book covers anything from touristy clichés to places off the beaten path around the world, and while looking through the United States section, I stumbled across a little festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico called the International Balloon Fiesta. After a quick Google search, I found out that Oct 1, 2011 launched the 40th anniversary of the festival.. So I decided to book a flight and see what the fuss was all about..

The Fuss
The fuss was that over 600 hot air balloons from across the globe gather once a year in Albuquerque to pretty much block out the sun (but not literally). Impressive was an understatement. If I had to use one word to describe what it was like to see that many balloons in the sky at once, I couldn't. It was amazing, magical, and, not gonna lie, it was nice feeling like a little kid again staring endlessly at all of the pretty balloons for hours. But after I was done drooling, I was able to get myself back into Ad-Man mode and started noticing that a lot of companies do go the extra mile in finding ways to get their names out there; even in quirky hot air balloon festivals.

Care to take a guess as to how companies advertised their brands at this particular festival?

While there are hundreds of normal balloon-shaped hot-air balloons at the festival, a lot of people go to see the crazy shapes that people come up with to make hot air balloons out of. There were Goblins, Witches, Penguins, a Spider-Man Pig, and even a massive Darth Vader head (crowd favorite.. and mine too). Obviously.. a lot of companies showed up to jump on the bandwagon. This friendly lookin' Cow comes courtesy of the New Mexico Dairy company, Creamland. It doesn't stop with the balloon either. They spent the day handing out trading cards of Airbelle (the name of the cow) that displayed the history of both the company and the balloon.

Another company that was all sorts of enthusiastic about their ballooning was Wells Fargo. They actually brought three balloons with them; two normal shaped balloons with Wells Fargo printed along the sides and one shaped like their famous Stagecoach. The wagon was instantly recognizable (they didn't really need the other two in my opinion) and it was refreshing to see that banks can have a fun side too! In fact, the Stagecoach even stuck around for the Twilight Glow; basically about 80 of the balloons returned at dusk to inflate and light up sporadically for about an hour while everyone just watches in awe before the night time fireworks show. Good for you Wells Fargo.

Mind Ninjas
After leaving the festival, I realized that I didn't learn anything about any of the brands that were advertising in Balloons.. BUT, I was able to walk away with warm fuzzy feelings towards them because they were part of the whole experience for me.. and they do it for 8 days! Not only is that commitment, but it's something they don't really have to do at all. Granted, an average of 100,000 people usually show up on any given day of the festival, but in competition with 600 other balloons, no one's attention span will stay on one balloon for too long. Budweiser advertised in a Bottle-shaped balloon, Pepsi in a Can-shaped balloon, and even Farmer's Insurance was there. These are all companies that take part in the balloon festival just to be part of the eye candy for the crowds and, in the process, they plant a little seed for people to remember them. So the crowds walk away liking brands for just that reason... those mind ninjas.

This is me after a day of being attacked by mind ninjas. Enjoy.

Geeks Need Advertising Love Too

2011-09-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

We watch, we react, and then we form an impression; this is the whole point of advertising. But in this new age of advertising overload, it seems harder and harder to retain anything you see out there.. point being, how do you stand out from all the clutter these days??

Over across the pond they've recently come up with some pretty awesome ways to stand out and turn advertising into one memorable experience.

The Lightsaber of Zeus
To mark the release of "Star Wars: The Complete Saga" on Blu-ray, the famous London BT Tower was transformed into the World's Largest Lightsaber. Now, coming from someone who watched the original trilogy about 50 times and may or may not still have all of his Star Wars action figures locked away in his closet, this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen as a fan of Star Wars or as a person on this planet. Personally, I think whoever realized that the BT Tower looked like a Lightsaber handle was a complete genius because if there was any way to grab the attention of every person in sight of the London skyline, this was it..

There to kick off the event was Anthony Daniels, otherwise known as C-3PO, who launched the release by pressing a massive power switch that was following with the classic roar of the Lightsaber ignition. Then, the state-of-the-art lighting projected a beam of light 200m into the air from the top of the 189m tower. More than 60 4,500W lights (standing 1.3 m high and each weighing 124kg) combined to produce a parallel blue ray of light.

Off in the distance, platoons of cosplay Stormtroopers and one very convincing Darth Vader gathered with fans for photo ops to keep the celebration going. You've seen the cliché shots of people holding up the Leaning Tower of Piza or pinching the point at the top of the Taj Mahal, but holding a giant Lightsaber from off in the distance has to take the cake on this one; even though Darth Vader's Lightsaber was red.. what's up with that??

The Wizarding World of.. Hong Kong?
Over across the other pond, Hong Kong advertisers transformed the Times Square Mall on Lantau Island into a little taste of the Harry Potter experience as part of the promotion for the summer release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I was actually in Hong Kong to see this exhibit in person (I didn't go just to see it mind you), but it was pretty spectacular nonetheless. The HK Metro stops right under the mall, which was perfectly fitting for the fact that the famous Platform 9 3/4 along with the Hogwarts Express was parked right outside of the Station. Then you walk into the mall, which has a big open area in the center and quite fitting for the replica of the Wizard shopping district of Diagon Alley..

Did you wanna get your own wand? Ollivander's had you covered. Maybe you could pick up a copy of the Daily Prophet to read up on your Magical news stories. Books? Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, was there too. Even a Pet-shop to buy your own fake pet owl! I'm not much of a Harry Potter reader myself, but this definitely grabbed my interest and I actually felt like a child for the short time I spent exploring this little exhibit. The movie soundtrack was even playing through the corridors and you actually felt like you were in this magical world.

In terms of advertising; this was a home run. I can't think of a better way to attract people to watch the movie than putting the viewer in the movie themselves! I'm sure even non-fans went and bought a ticket after getting a taste of this little wonderland, I know I did..

Vacation or Vocation: The Road after College

2011-09-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

What's up peeps, the start of a new semester means the start of a brand new Ad Intern here at BG, which means you all can officially refer to me as AdIntern1! (just trying to keep it original). It might be the start of the school year for us college students but its my last semester at USD and finally that time to start having those nightmarish thoughts about what in the world am I supposed to do with my life as a college grad; work, travel, nothing, military, CONVENT?!? The conflict that most young people have is whether it's worth dedicating the rest of their lives to a career in order to satisfy the life they want around them, or doing something out of the box and satisfying the life they want within.
Here is what I decided..

The Dilemma: A Successful Career takes TIME.. No Time for Travel
In the last four and a half years of college, you wouldn't believe how many times I've heard the phrase "It's so hard to get jobs in this economy" and "these days the job market is SO competitive for recent grads".. it's depressing and I don't like it. It's obvious that these phrases are grilled into our heads in order to motivate us to work harder and do more to stand out, but it leaves you with the bad taste that maybe life is going to be an endless competition to get the best job and continue to try hard to stay ahead of the game. Unfortunately, I totally get it. Bad economy means that every incoming grad is desperate for the best job they can get and if they don't then they settle for something less. The more grads settling for lower positions, the harder it is to prove that you deserve to be at the top. But how do you differentiate yourself enough to get that dream job?? Sure, you can get lots of work experience by interning (aka what I'm doing right now) and getting good grades, maybe even involving yourself in a club or two, but then you finally land the job before you graduate and your life transforms into a 40 hour work week and so on.

It may happen or it may not; but I don't want to look back one day and say "I should have seen more of the world back when I had TIME."

The problem is that insecurity we have of being left behind in this cookie cutter road; go to school, get a job, start a family, die. If we actually gave ourselves the time to go explore what's out there, we may not get the job because applying to a job as "unemployed" is very different to applying to a job as a "student".. right? The scary employers might look at us as lazy for taking some time to ourselves before dedicating our lives to them.. right? I don't think so.

The World is Too Small.. and Life is Too Short
Between traveling with my family, studying abroad twice, and interning abroad for a summer.. I've been to roughly 40 countries around the world, and yet I still feel like I've only grazed the tip of the ice burg. Through travel we learn humility, we become multi-cultured, and we have the ability to comprehend just how small the world really is and how beautiful the people who live in it are. We live in a globalizing world and the more that time goes by, the more connected we all become. Simply put: if an employee decides to look down on the fact that you took some time to see the world before joining their organization, then it may just be time to find a new place to work.

Rough It and Do Good.. It's Good for the Soul
One thing I've learned from traveling is that it doesn't matter if you are in the Amazon, on a Safari in Africa, or deep in rural China.. you've gotta rough it. The sweatier, the dirtier, the more disgusting the food is, and the more uncomfortable you are.. then the more amazing the experience will be. A Hilton hotel gives you NO insight on what the culture of a country is, or what any of the people living there are like. Staying at a gross hostel.. you see a different side. It's something real, and it's worth doing. Going to China doesn't mean seeing the Great Wall. It means staying in a village and getting to know what day to day life is like somewhere far from where you know. Of course, you can't rough it forever. the older we get, the more difficult it becomes to make all of those hikes and sleepless nights and long days with little food; but as a young person we can. We can take it. We can endure these experiences, and they could very well define who we become.

Now, at what point in our lives do we have enough time to travel without the responsibility of a job and are perfectly capable of roughing it here and there without getting into too much trouble..? RIGHT NOW

I think that if you have never traveled on a large scale before then now is the best possible time to open your horizons and see what's out there.. and if you have already traveled and you think it's time to get a job because you already got enough worldly experience: WRONG. Then you have the perfect chance to do even more; go live somewhere, volunteer, do non-profit, give back to the world for a few months before you dedicate the rest of your life to yourself. There are problems in the world that no one will ever hear of and mostly because they aren't encouraged to learn about them first hand. Think about it: looking back and saying to yourself "I remember those months I spent volunteering in Africa after college" sounds a lot more interesting than someone who wishes they had done something like it. Yes, I could probably get a job to start right after I graduate; but taking a puny little fraction of my life to keep the adventure going, I couldn't imagine a better way to start it all.

So there you have it peeps. My advice: GO TRAVEL. Go see new things, meet new people, do something for someone else and in the end it will be the best thing you did for yourself in the first place.

So come December, look out world, I'm on my way.

BG University: What I've Debunked Since Graduation

2011-08-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this is my first blog post as the Graphics Intern here at Bailey Gardiner! I knew that working would be different than my four years as a Graphic Design major at SDSU, but I wasn’t positive about how it would actually differ. I’d like to share some of my previous misconceptions and what I’ve learned so far from my time here.

College is the peak of learning

Sure I learned the elements of design and useful skills in school, but I’ve learned so much in just six months at Bailey Gardiner. In college I would sometimes work in Photoshop or Illustrator in roundabout ways, but since I’ve been here, I’ve learned to create much more efficiently. From “aha!” moments using the pen tool, to the diligent management of layers, the learning never ceases. This is one of my favorite aspects of working here, that I’m constantly forced to learn how to do things that I’ve never encountered before. Whether I’m learning it from Google, asking a coworker, or just poking around in a file someone in the creative team has worked on, I’m always eager to gain knowledge of new methods.

Clients are just like teachers.
Nope, they’re not. They’re similar in that we are attempting to please them with the work we present, but they are vastly different in other respects. We were essentially paying teachers to help us become better designers and get a degree, but clients are paying to help their business. It doesn’t matter if I really like the color blue: if I can’t defend how it’s going to benefit the client, I’m going to use the color they want.

You do the work, send it to the client, and it’s done.
The process of creating here is much more involved than I anticipated. Work passes by numerous pairs of eyes, internally in our office and externally with the client. It’d be a disaster if the Traffic Manager and Coordinators didn’t keep us organized. Job bags with CSRs and print outs circulate through the office, where coworkers initial and mark changes, then it’s sent back to the Creative Team to make the revisions. This process is repeated before it’s ever sent or presented to the client, who then has more adjustments. This series of steps is repeated a few times before the final piece is approved and can move to production. This differs greatly from school, where we completed all revisions as students, and teachers made comments which were much more vague and discretionary. When we turned in work to be graded, we never really knew what grade we’d receive. Conversely, when you finish work with a client, you know they are pleased with it or they wouldn’t have signed off on its production. Sometimes getting to this point is a challenge, but it’s always rewarding to see something you’ve worked on come to fruition.

People at work will be boring compared to people at school.
The office, at least here at BG, is actually more laid back than most of my classes were. I feel lucky to be here, which is home to a ping-pong table, a hula-hoop and an office full of awesome people. My coworkers find a way to balance being productive with actually enjoying their time spent here. We spend more time at work than anywhere else, spend more time with our coworkers than anyone else: it’d be miserable if nobody talked or laughed or played music for the office to enjoy. I’ve met some of the coolest, funniest people here. Although two of the greatest ones recently left (miss you, Ashley and Michael!), there is rarely a shortage of camaraderie here at BG.

Marketing a Fallen Athlete

2011-07-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

When Lebron James entered the NBA he did it with a 13 million dollar contract from the Cavs and a 93 million dollar contract from Nike. Obviously Nike, with no rules on how much they could pay him, believed that his once in a lifetime talent combined with his charisma would leave them with a marketing monster. Fast forward 7 years and Lebron, for lack of a better term, made a big whoopsies.

Nike was not new to marketing for a fallen athlete and has in their past created many redemptive advertisements that attempted to restore an image. In the following four commercials, Nike stuck to a theme of individuality while adding a personal twist for each athlete.

Charles Barkley: "I'm Not a Role Model" Ad

This was the original villain ad. Charles didn't really make a big mistake. He was only guilty of being Charles Barkley and saying loud outlandish things that people tended to wag their fingers at. This reputation for not caring about what he said led to criticisms that he was a poor role model. Nike capitalized on this and made a commercial where Charles bluntly stated that he was in fact not a role model. Nike emphasized that Charles was a cavalier and individual, whose job was to play basketball, and that Charles was very good at his job. The ad was simple, strong, and effective.

Kobe Bryant "Hate Me" Ad

Living in Southern California makes it really easy to dislike Kobe Bryant. If I run away to another country and lose contact with everyone it's probably because a Laker fan drove me insane. In 2003 when Kobe was accused of rape he had a lot more hatred to deal with. The case was settled, but an already embattled Bryant needed to make a mark for Nike and himself. In his commercial, Nike emphasized Kobe's legendary work ethic and his obvious success as a basketball player. Kobe speaks directly to his "haters" and leaves them having acknowledged that its his success that breeds the hatred.

Tiger Woods "Earl and Tiger" Ad

Unless you are an alien or an infant you probably heard that Tiger Woods had a tough go at it recently. Nike, who had hung their hat on his consistent marketability, needed to push forward in order to restore his brand. Where the previous two commercials highlighted the athlete's workmanlike attitudes and successes, Nike painted a picture of Tiger as a man, not a golfer, who needed to reflect. They didn't make the past go away but instead showed Tiger attempting to harness what he had done so that he could become a better person. The ad received its fair share of criticism, especially for using the voice of Tiger's deceased father, but it garnered at ton of attention and paved the road back for Tiger's public perception.

Lebron James "What Should I Do" Ad

I am one of approximately six Lebron James supporters outside of the city of Miami. When Nike took this ad public I was amped. It's a very well made commercial and it addressed many of the issues people had with him. Looking back on it now, I realize that Nike missed big time, and the ad fed the fire of the people that turned on Lebron. Instead of sticking with a theme of showing Lebron as a basketball player, he became a caricature of a tragic hero. Lebron asked us a rhetorical question that we had answers to. We knew that the way he did what he did was wrong, and by asking us what he should do facetiously he was putting down our intelligence. Like the Charles and Kobe ads, in his ad Lebron should have been playing basketball and not feeling sorry for himself. Nike sure got a lot of attention, but the commercial became the cherry on top of the poop sundae that Lebron James made that summer.

Subliminal Advertising

2011-07-19T09:36:00.001-07:00

It has always been obvious to me that psychology is a major part of advertising, but until this past semester none of my classes had really delved into the intricacies and relations between the two. My social psychology professor spent a class period on the subject, and nothing surprised me until he got to the subject of subliminal messaging. It turns out that shockingly, subliminal messaging does, to a certain extent, work.

Check out this old George Bush campaign advertisement. On the surface, it seems fairly straightforward, but after watching it one time go back and press 8 repeatedly. The Bush crew decided that when the word bureaucrat flashed onto the screen in reference to Al Gore, the word "rat" would be emphasized for a split second. They believed that the viewer would subconsciously think of Al Gore as a rat after seeing this. Turn out, despite what we may have thought, they may have been onto something, but only if the rest of the commercial was effective in priming the viewer to think of rats, or more likely Al Gore, in a negative light.

In a 2001 study at Waterloo college researchers performed three experiments surrounding the idea of subliminal messaging. In each of the experiments the researchers checked to see that the students were unaware that there was subliminal messaging. In the first study researchers wanted to see if priming individuals subliminally would effect behavior when there was motivation surrounding a task. They did this by getting the participants thirsty and flashing thirst related subliminal messages on a computer screen. The results (graph below) show that thirsty individuals who received subliminal messages drank more water than thirsty individuals who were not shown subliminal messages and non-thirsty individuals who received the subliminal cues. If people were shown subliminal cues and motivated to drink water they drank more than those that did not receive the cues and were not thirsty. Motivation + Subliminal message= behavior.

In the second experiment, researchers tested whether the persuasiveness of an advertisement could grow with a subliminal message. They followed the template of the last experiment for the most part, but showed the participants two ads for very similar energy drinks. One energy drink had subliminal messages that emphasized how thirst quenching the drink was, while the other drink used subliminal messages with words referencing how many electrolytes it had. At the conclusion of the experiment participants who were thirsty and got the subliminal primes were more likely to choose the drink with the subliminal cues emphasizing thirst than the other drink. This was not the case for thirsty individuals who were not subliminally primed as well as non thirsty individuals who were, as they chose the two drinks equally.

The third study looked to see if the results carried over for something other than thirst. Researchers primed participants subliminally by flashing a sad face on the computer screen and then showed them an advertisement for a CD that wold hypothetically make them happier. Individuals who were primed with the sad face were more likely to believe the CD would be effective in raising happiness, probably because the subliminal message had put them in a sad mood subconsciously and they needed the attitude raising effects of the CD.

Based on these findings, the Bush ad should have worked, but only for people who were already motivated to find Al Gore's flaws or think of him as a rat. It is scary to think that our subconscious can be toyed with to a certain extent by advertisers, but if nothing else there results show that the worst thing that will happen is we will confirm or act on our original disposition.

Interactive Advertising

2011-06-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

This past year something wonderful happened in my life: the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. The Giants are by far my favorite sports team and have given me headaches since I was very young when they kept finding new creative ways to lose. Their championship gave me a huge boost and sense of joy that I haven't experienced in my lifetime surrounding sports.

The one player that probably most benefited from the championship is Brian Wilson. His combination of a ferocious fastball and even more ferocious beard has made him excessively marketable. Major League Baseball used his growing persona and began a marketing campaign surrounding him and his beard. Fans are able to go to a web page where they can click on sections of his beard and watch a short video of what happens at that section. I spent 35 minutes one night clicking on the different sections and laughing my tail off at the imaginative happenings that take place within Brian's beard.

This style of interactive advertising has been utilized more and more lately as advertisers find new ways to grab consumers attention. Below are a few of my favorites that I have seen.

Tipp-EX

In this hilarious interactive you-tube video Tipp-EX allows the viewer to choose interactions between a bear and a hunter. Type in "eats" and "marries" for a good laugh.

Johnny Cash Project

This website won the Webby award for best use of online media. On the sight the user is able to get creative with some portraits and submit them to the sight. The portraits are used later in an online mu sic video for the song. The first video they made was pretty cool.

Sharon's Sale

Really cool ad. Cannes film festival asked people to submit videos to bring attention to a world cause. In this entry you can move your mouse over the items in the video to see the prices. One of the things for sale holds some shock value.

Welcome to Foodie Friday!

2011-06-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday kids!

Welcome to the first installment of our new series, "Foodie Fridays." You should know that we take food very seriously here in the intern corral - after all our blog is called feed the interns, right?

Today for lunch we ventured down to our favorite lunch spot and San Diego gem, Mexican Fiesta... where the food is appetizing and ambiance is questionable. On a scale of 1 to Mexican deliciousness, the interns give it two thumbs up. If it had a legitimate Facebook page, we would "like" it.

Our dishes of choice:

Alessa and Robin - bean, cheese and rice burritos
Michael - chicken burrito (which "tastes like it was barbecued)
Ashley - California burrito

Next time you're in Little Italy, check it out! See you next Friday.

Things I am Liking...

2011-06-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last blogged on Feed the Interns and boy, do we need to catch up! I'll be here all summer with a colorful cast of characters inhabiting the in the desks at Bailey Gardiner.

For my first entry of the summer season, I'd like to share some things that have caught my attention lately.

1. I'm liking (aka loving!) the intern corral at the Bailey Gardiner office. As I begin my extended internship at BG, I'm excited to announce that I have a lot of company in here! There are four full-time interns this summer... creative intern Alessa Sotelo, ad intern Michael Harris and PR interns Ashley Shafer and your's truly.

2. I'm liking the NYC PR Girls Blog. These three sassy ladies working in the big apple share fashion trends, industry events and hot spots in the city. A recent post, Summer Intern Survival Guide, is a great read for fellow interns. My favorite "Must Have" is a journal. It's a great way to catalog your thoughts after a hard day's work. Track things you're proud of as well as opportunities to grow.

3. I'm liking Facebook Insights and Google Analytics. A slightly nerdier thing to admire but I'm serious. I'm helping the BG team out with the Del Mar Racetrack account this summer and focusing a lot on social media. You can learn some pretty awesome stuff from both of these tools. All PR pros and new pros should utilize these facts and figures.

4. I'm liking this super neat-o consumer PR meets social media meets tech campaign. I found this little gem on Twitter a few days ago. TopShop, a trendy little store in New York (and a few other international cities) will feature the iPad, Instagram and Facebook to create an awesome in-store digital experience this summer. Customers wanting to participate will get a free styling session and their make up done. Then they can snap a pic on the new iPad 2 in their TopShop outfit and select an Instagram filter. Next, the customers turned models can print their photo and upload it to Facebook. Talk about integration!

5. I'm liking @SFMoMA's tweets - Who ever is responsible for this Museum's tweets deserves a high five! Their tweets are human, funny and engaging. Last week, they asked what modern artists inspired a tattoo you have, or who would inspire you to get one. They had so many responses that they put together a collage! How cool is that?

What are you liking lately? Let me know!

My Advertising Development

2011-06-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

I have taken 10 psychology classes in my life. In every one I have had to sit through a lecture about Sigmund Freud. If you aren't familiar, Freud was an absolutely crazy cocaine addicted fiction writer/ evil genius who moonlighted as a psychologist. Despite saying almost nothing logical, psychologists still admire Freud as a stalwart in the field. He did contribute to the idea of developmental stages, which if nothing else is an average way of organizing life. Going along with this idea, I figure the best way to begin my blogging is to mix my psych knowledge with my past advertising experiences using stages.

"I Want It" Stage Ages 2-8

My first memory of advertising happened when I was five or six. I was at my buddy Donald's house during a commercial break of a Power Rangers episode. During every toy ad I listened to Donald declare over and over, "I want that." He wanted every Hot wheel and every action figure no matter how big, small or far from his interests. Donald was a year older than me, which naturally made him cooler, so I followed suit, excitedly declaring my need for each toy on the screen (minus the Barbies, those were for girls!) Each ad was the same. They all had two older boys doing the most elaborate thing they could do with a simple toy and a loud narrator acting way too excited about the product for a man his age. It didn't matter to me what they were selling, all I cared about was being as cool as the kids in the commercial and my friend.

Beer Stage Ages 10-13

No, I did not drink beer when I was 13, but I did love beer commercials. To this day I remember laughing my face off at the first Budweiser "wassup" ad. I obviously could care less about the product at the time, but the hilarity of the beer commercials that were and are still thrown at Americans left me feeling like I had just watched a mini sitcom. I could not buy my own things, so I evaluated ads not by the message but instead by how entertained I felt after each commercial.

Smart Teenager Stage Ages 14-18

In the 9th grade I had an assignment to find a fraudulent advertising claim. This was a dangerous task because giving a teenager a reason to be cynical about the world is like giving Sigmund Freud pen and paper (I won't stop until my professors do.) I became the kid who after every ad had something critical to say about the product. I thought this made me intelligent, but instead I was just annoying. In my evaluations I wasn't thinking about the advertisement as much as I was finding ways to criticize the product. To follow a teenage tradition, I will now use hormones as a scapegoat for my stupidity.

Intelligent Stage 18-Present

I realize how self-serving and conceited this title is, but I don't care. I am a smarter evaluator now. I have put aside my cynicism and have instead moved on to using the knowledge I have gained about people in order to think about why an ad is successful.

Going forward as a fresh new intern at BG, I plan on learning as much as I can from the experts that surround me so that I can both contribute to the best of my abilities as well as grow individually. If that doesn't work I'll just become a psychology professor and give sarcastic, half hearted Freud lectures while he laughs at me from the grave.

The Good, The Bad & Social Media

2011-04-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

As a graduating college senior enthralled in all things social media I began to wonder if I could use my social interests to my advantage. Turns out you can! All the time I spend updating my #Twitter and stalking Facebooks pages can actually help me develop my life in the "real world" a.k.a. get a job. It is just all a matter of what type of content you produce. Here are the suggestions I felt were most helpful:

Twitter:It is not just for sharing what you ate for breakfast or how you feel about the weather, it can be used as an effective networking and job search tool. The CEOs, HR reps, and recruiters of all your favorite companies are on Twitter and communicating with them directly is at your finger tips!

Friendly and Professional Profile - don't use your old aim snfrom middle school where you were "HoneyBun101" (that was not mine, jfyi) and don't put music lyrics in your biography section (unless, maybe you work in music). Use the bio section to tell the twitter world what you do and what your goals are. You want to be easily found and followed by people that share your interests
Following and Followers- Use Twitter to find and follow new people. It is very easy for them to follow you back
Posts - Make your posts public, there's no use in using twitter as a tool is important people can view your posts. Be consistent; post often and about interesting (and appropriate) information. Use hastags, # on key words like #job, #jobsearch, or with the company's name your trying to work for "Looking for an amazing and fulfilling #internship. #bgsd, do you have anything available for summer?".
Link your resume to your Twitter - in the website section place the link to your online portfolio or resume. If your like me and haven't created one yet, use the link to your public LinkedIn profile.
Promoting - this is a tricky one, as much as you want to promote yourself first, it is best to promote others before yourself. In return they may do the same for you!

Facebook:

Now, we all know Facebook is the best/worst culprit of prolonging procrastination in students and today's youthful workforce. There is just so much to look at and so many people to "creep" on. I never would have guessed it could be used to help find my next job, but some sources say if you play your Facebook cards right it can. I'm not completely convinced I should mix my Facebook life with my professional one, I like to have a little separation, but here's the how-to.

Follow Co.'s Facebook Pages - this can give you more of an idea of the company's personality and culture. They sometimes post job listings as well - be the first to see them!
Contact Employers Directly - Facebook, like twitter, puts you on a level playing field with employers. Using Facebook you can directly message them, instead of just being another resume that is submitted online.
Job-Proof your page - Let your network know you are on the search for a job. Make sure your job search information is available to everyone and everything else is only available to your friends. Make sure to fill out your employment history. If you have a professional site you'd like to share it can easily be added to your information field, and some application, like Slideshare now even let you showcase past work.
Other suggestions I haven't played around with: Consider using Branchout to professionally network with Facebook friends. Another idea is to utilize Facebook Ads to target and gain attention from certain employers.

Hope these help!

If you have any questions you can find me on twitter @_sadiesades

~Sadie (Ad Intern)

Tips from an Ad Intern:

2011-04-01T11:09:00.000-07:00

On poster distribution and hanging

This post is not so much about the art of taping up a poster, although I will touch on that. It is about my experience distributing promotional posters and flyer all around San Diego. These tips I learned fist hand from my biggest task off the #bgsd campus yet- distributing the Seaport Village's Busker Festival promotional material. The event is next weekend April 16 and 17.

It looks REALLLy cool.

Tip #1: Choose the best locations to reach your audience.

It's tough these days to find space available for public postings, but I had pretty good luck focusing mainly on cafes and small shops. The cafes that were targeted were both small privately owned coffee shops and large chains like Starbucks. The shops that were chosen were a mix of salons and clothing stores with customer bases that seemed to fit the demographic of people interested in a busker festival.

This array of location choices should give us a good mix of people being exposed to the flyers. A wide variety of people frequent these locations; families, singles, college kids and people interested in the arts and community.

Tip #2: Google maps is your new best friend.

Not only can you add multiple locations to your route, but you can also rearrange your different locations to create the most efficient path.

Step one; organize your locations by zone in the city. For example my selected areas were Little Italy, Downtown, Hillcrest, and North Park.

Step two; plug in all location you wish to visit, chose your mode of

transportation (bike, foot, car, public transport), and then click and drag your via points to create the best route.

And your done, Tah-Dah!

Tip #3: Park efficiently.

Chances are even if your locations are in walking distance from one another; you'll need to park your car. Don't always pay at the first lot you see, especially in the downtown area. The prices can range from $5-12 an hours sometimes. If you spend an extra few minutes driving around you can usually find a 30 min spot, or at least a metered spot that you can pay $1 to for an hour and use up some of that change weighing down your purse or pockets.

Tip #4 and #5: Be prepared and smile.

People react more happily towards happy people! It's science. Be polite, seem interested and always ask questions with a smile. Storekeepers will want to help you out more if you seem interested in your product and care about their company.

Shop owners also appreciate you coming prepared with scotch tape and thumbtacks. The only surface I wasn't prepared for in my distribution path this week was magnet boards. All of the Starbucks in San Diego that I went to had "community boards" which was amazing, but they were all magnetic. This only caused problems when there were no open magnets, but they did allow me to move things around in order to post my flyer.

Best of all, I got to see parts of the city I'd never seen before & enjoy a few beautiful days.

~Sadie :)

New Facebook Questions: Yes or No?

2011-03-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Most of you have probably noticed something new in your Facebook news feed... a query, a cute little bar chart, a couple options to choose from and your friend's thumbnails. What is Facebook up to now?

As frequent Facebookers know, the cronies and comrades of Mark Zuckerberg are always trying to improve the social network of our generation. This new application is simply called "Questions." It allows anyone to type up and ask a question to the entire Facebook nation. The service is supposed to act as a resource for everyone, from students to businesses.

Why should I care about Questions?
Questions are informative; as Facebook puts it, "learn from your friends." Whether we admit it or not, we care about what other people think. Where is the best place to eat in San Diego? Are you going to the Lady Gaga concert? NorCal or SoCal? Everyone wants to know what everyone else is doing, saying, liking, etc. I mean, isn't that why we are on Facebook so much in the first place?

What makes Questions different than other Q&A sites?
Unlike other websites like Yahoo! Answers and Quora, Facebook Questions is not open-ended. Answers are definitive and can be suggested through a drop-down menu suggesting existing Facebook pages.

What does this mean for marketing and public relations?
Informal research just got a lot easier. Businesses and organizations can now speak directly to consumers and publics. They can make better informed and appropriate decisions by simply asking a question they would like answered. What's your favorite flavor at Yogurtland? Who do you want to see in concert this summer? Where is your favorite place to go shopping?

My next question is, will you be using Facebook Questions?

What Makes a Celebrity Icon?

2011-03-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Is it a pretty face?

great body?

pure talent?

Or, do some people just have that certain "something"? As more and more articles popped up surrounding Elizabeth Taylor's passing I began wondering not just how, by why she had lasted in Hollywood as long as she did... which was basically her entire life. She was in countless movies, prom

otions and ad campaigns. Her performance deb

ut came at the ripe age of three when she performed ballet before the Queen. She first appeared in film at age ten and her last motion picture was just a f

ew years back. She had 8 husbands, a love affair with expensive jewelry and food, and was always on the brim of eloquently having a double chin. However, she was at one time regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world. Would that happen in this day and age? She wasn't a stick, she didn't have a personal trainer and hadn't had plastic surgery like the Hollywood stars of today.

The truth was that she had a remarkable symmetrical face, which has been pro

ven time and again to equal beauty. Taylor

therefore didn't have a bad angle and had men and women alike swooning ov

er her.

Back to my question... why did she become such an iconic figure? Perhaps it was natural talent. She had very little professional training and was able to play a wide range of roles. For a good part of her career on the silver stage, all you had to do was cast her name in a movie and it was a hit.

Maybe it was elegant beauty, her face could sell almost anything and she never had lack of activity in her love live. Her eyes and smile sold shampoo, fragrances, boxes of chocolates, and even carpet flooring. Ad Week's blog, Ad Freak, takes it as far as to call her a "marketing pioneer" - she w

as the first celebrity to launch her own line of perfume in 1991, which is now commonplace practice.

Ms. Elizabeth Taylor was able to have a 7-decade long career in an industry known for loving the young and beautiful, and passing on the older and already viewed. She beat the odds. She wasn't supper

thin, and she had flaws she allowed the world to see. Taylor captured the heart of America and is rightfully placed in the same category as Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, and Grace Kelly.

Who will be our generation's iconic Liz Taylor or Marilyn Monroe?

Why them the

m? Why Liz Taylor? What creates and preserves and icon?

~Sadie

Professional Association Involvement: A PR Must!

2011-03-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

As a Bailey Gardiner PR intern and the president of San Diego State's Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter, I am a huge advocate for professional associations and the benefits that come with participation.

The public relations world is small and the quickest way to jump in and familiarize yourself with the community is to join PRSA (if you're a professional) or PRSSA (if you're a student).

PRSSA is the largest organization for students interested in public relations. There are over 300 chapters and 10,000 members in the United States. If your college or university doesn't have a chapter, PRSSA National offers an affiliate program that connects you with the closest PRSA chapter and professionals. PRSSA supports the advancement of the public relations field and the professional development of future practitioners. Every year they hold a national conference, national assembly and regional activities.

Another option is to join the Public Relations Society of America San Diego Imperial Counties. PRSA SDIC holds networking events, socials and workshops for local professionals. There is even a NewPros committee to help introduce us newbies into the professional world.

Personally, I've seen my professional association involvement pay off tenfold. I've met some of my best friends, grown as a professional, expanded my network and learned a lot about public relations. But most importantly, I've built relationships and isn't that what PR is all about? Not to mention I've done a bit of traveling with PRSSA, which wasn't too bad... :)

I encourage fellow interns and students out there to get involved and see what kind of benefits they reap. Hopefully I'll see you at a few events coming up in the near future.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, let me know!

Best,
Robin

Little Italy, Home Sweet Home

2011-03-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

Hello World,

Not only have I had a blast spending the last few months getting to know the staff and goings-on at Bailey Gardiner, but I've also had the opportunity to further acquaint myself with Downtown San Diego, an area I previously refused to drive around in (one-way streets have never been my thing).

Just before I started in January, the office picked up and relocated from Hillcrest, a move many at BG were excited about. I'm here to say that the enthusiasm for the new digs is still goin' strong, as I received many a chipper response to a recent inquiry of mine. Since I am going to be interning here until June (yay!), I thought I'd send some love to BG's new(ish) Little Italy neighbors and share the responses from my question: "What is your favorite thing about Little Italy?"

Drumroll please...

Melina Cazimero: 1. Filipis 2. Bon Appetito 3. dog friendly

Anne Cornetta: Mexican Fiesta is legit..so what if its not Italian or really legal....

Erika DiProfio: I love my new running path- straight through Little Italy, down to the Embarcadero and through Seaport Village. Makes my runs go by a lot faster.

Callan Green: MEXICAN FIESTA.

Katy Harrison: It's a great place to go for a run - we can just make our way down to the harbor. As for eats, I love Spicy Pickle Formaggi's for lunch and InFlux is great for coffee meetings with clients, friends or colleagues.

Katie Levien: The fabulous running route along the embarcadero. Woot!

Theresa Schell: My favorite thing in Italy is kinda nerdy but I'm not ashamed- Blick's Art Supply Landini's.

Carrie Shields: Windows. Lots of windows. Designated parking spots and fewer homeless. And access to so many great restaurants and boutiques.

Alex Tuthill: Does Mexican Fiesta count?? JK I love how clean and beautiful it is.

Maya Wasserman: Mexican Fiesta.

Lizzie Younkin: Everyone boasts about Mexican Fiesta (YUM) but you can cut the line by going to Taco Express. Just as good but way quicker! I'm a secret fan of the frozen yogurt place. And there's nothing better than jogging along the bay, past the Star of India and through Seaport Village. We get a nice workout on the Convention Center stairs too. :)

As we can see I think there are two real contenders here...at very opposite ends of the spectrum. Running vs. Mexican Fiesta...hmmm...

Regardless of the true winner, (though I believe Callan and Maya's simplistic answers show true dedication to their decision) I think I'll have to make it a personal goal of mine to visit/try out all of the things on this list.

Thanks guys!

- Elli

PS - I'm getting much better at the one-way streets thing for those of you who were concerned. :)

Tweet-TV or Tweet-V?

2011-03-02T11:27:00.000-08:00

What should we call this new phenomena?
Gone are the days of waiting to chat with your friends at lunch about the latest Gossip Girl (GG) or football game. Now we can share with our friends, followers and readership instantly. With a few strikes of a keyboard and a click or two of a mouse our ideas race off across the web for the world to see. Responses can come just as quickly. We can direct our messages to a small audience or send them out onto the ever-growing stage of social media to see who joins the show. This instant interaction has proven to be infectious.
Real time chatter about favorite programs, award shows, and game highlights is a blessing or a curse, depending on your side of the conversation or outlook on social media vs face-time. The leading platforms for the real time chit-chat are Facebook and Twitter, which is obvious to those interested or involved in social media. Because of this new buzz around instantly sharing thoughts and opinions regarding live broadcast, networks are racing to find new ways to engage the younger crowd in real time.

Social Media and Commercials

To really make an impression, a TV spot doesn't cut it. Now-a-days consumers need it all. We need a Youtube clip, Facebook page and Twitter profile we can interact with. Oh, and it all has to be easily relatable - no one wants to work to understand the connection between platforms.

The goal of using social media in a ad campaign is to build buzz among the audience and consumers before, during and after the program airs. The Super Bowl, Grammys, and most recently the Oscars all had mixed media campaigns that fell along side them. Twitter has become an amazing resource in tracking the interactions of consumers to the TV program and more notably the response the Ads that premier during the program itself.

Eminem vs. MnMs

The Super Bowl:

Equals, the biggest day for ads all years! Companies pay $3,000,000 to play their ad during the big game. It's one of very few times during the year that people actually tune in for the commercials. To capitalize on this, a "Brand Bowl" was created to track the twitter responses of ads aired during the game. The scores were tracked with the help of the #brandbowl hashtag. The winner was Chrysler featuring Eminem.

Oscars:

During the Oscars the MnM "Hostage" commercial captured the strongest brand association among Oscar viewers. Mars Inc. has a firm grip on the idea that social media has become part of today's culture. They know they need to be everywhere and interacting with their consumers on their website, Facebook, in the bloggosphere and on Twitter.

~ Sadie

P.S. I'm becoming a pro scanner/emailer/copier - the job is tougher than you'd think.

5 Tips from a New PR Intern

2011-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Being a first time blogger for the Feed the Interns Blog, as well as a first time PR Intern, I thought it fitting to share what I've found to be most helpful during my past eight weeks at Bailey Gardiner. As a newly initiated member of the Public Relations Intern Club, I've still got a long way to go and lots to learn, but hope these tips prove helpful for those also diving headfirst into the professional world.

1. Learn to adapt and be flexible - Every office or agency has a particular way of doing things, whether that be filing documents on a server, using the copy machine, or cleaning the kitchen. Going in with an open mind and your putting feelers out to pick up these types of things quickly makes the transition easier for you and everyone else you work with so you can get right down to business.

2. Ask questions - Rolling right along and merging into tip number two we find a common and even seemingly obvious piece of advice. Regardless, asking questions is sometimes hard to do when starting work in a new place. And I know, "there's no such thing as a dumb question" (even though I've definitely tested those limits), but in most cases questions are welcomed, as your superiors realize you are there to learn...not to mention there is a better chance you'll successfully accomplish whatever you've been set out to do, which makes everyone's lives easier.

3. Welcome all types of projects - Personally, interning at Bailey Gardiner I have had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects and from every one of them, no matter how simple or how complex, I have learned more about the way PR professionals function internally as well as how their work reflects externally. If you focus on the big picture, every task you put effort into will contribute to your bank of knowledge.

4. REALLY utilize social media - And I don't just mean Facebook stalking. Before BG for example, I had no idea what Twitter entailed, but have since been shown the light and the real potentials of the network. Not only can you stalk celebrities instead of just your friends, BUT you can keep up to date with trends in the industry as well as local/regional publications your company works with and even other Pros who really know their stuff. There's an indescribable amount of knowledge to gain from all the social media platforms out there -- especially when they are all so integrated with PR and marketing strategies today.

And last but not least...

5. Don't be afraid to take a breather every once in a while - By all means, make sure to maintain a professional and appropriate attitude and work ethic, but you don't need to take yourself seriously 24/7/365. As interns we have been given the opportunity to learn and grow on our path towards accomplishing our professional goals, but live in the moment and have fun with what we've been given. There is definitely a line between being driven and driving yourself over the edge and finding your own balance is key to a successful and happy life.

- Elli

Media Relations 101

2011-02-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that media relations is the bread and butter of public relations. It is at the top of most practitioner's responsibilities and daily to do lists. After only two months at Bailey Gardiner, I've had the opportunity to test my media relations skills. Here, I've learned a few important steps that can hopefully help fellow interns out there.

1. Research!
It is always important to do your research. Know what you are pitching, inside and out. Ever try to sell something you didn't really like or use yourself? You probably weren't very persuasive. If you know what you're talking about, you will be more invested and passionate about your pitch. Also, know who you are pitching to. After making your media contact list, Google them! Make sure they are a good fit for your story. See if you have something in common. Find out what their interests are. It will make that phone call or email much more genuine and well-received.

2. Pick up the phone!
One time, in a research methods class, I called over 150 random digit telephone numbers and tried to have them complete a 10 minute survey. And I thought that was scary... Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and dial. If no one picks up, leave a message. If someone answers, do your best. If someone totally rejects you, life goes on. All three have happened to me. But to be honest, it is so rewarding to hear someone on the phone express interest in your story. That one telephone call will accomplish more than 20 emails.

3. Follow up!
After a journalist, freelancer or blogger agrees that your story is newsworthy, make sure to follow up with them. If they need photos, send them images. If they need additional information, reply quickly and accurately. Good follow up and follow through help you establish rapport and a relationship. Then the next time you pick up the phone to call them, it definitely won't be so scary.

So grab your press releases, write your pitch and call away. Good luck! I'll be reading your stories in the San Diego Union-Tribune news room...

Can you spell i.n.t.e.r.n.?

2011-02-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

Blogger-me-Blogger

In the last month I have made my debut as a bg intern, candy-cart salesmen, intern blogger and a model (twice!). Okay, okay, those of you who have met me, you know I am not the model-type. Nor will I be going into that profession, but it was fun while it lasted. I am much more interested in the behind the scenes aspects of advertising. Learning about account services, account management, and placement of advertisements is what really excites me. Not so much staring in them. For those of you who don't know me yet, "Hello!" My name is Sadie and I will be blogging away for the next few months as Ad Intern 1. My new partners in crime, the PR interns will be posting also. [see our profiles below]

Next Top Model

My modeling premier took place at Seaport Village during a Bailey Gardiner photo shoot. Seaport Village is a beautiful location and one of the bg's clients I will be working with. Participating in the photo shoot was exciting. I love all things photography and the outdoors - it is not everyday an intern gets to spend their morning on the clock under the San Diego sun and in the salty sea air. My second modeling shoot was for the San Diego Council

on Literacy's spelling "BEE" benefit event next Thursday, February 24th. Although it is only a shot from behind, I am modeling the agency-designed event t-shirt, so it definitely counts as shoot number two.

At this rate, by the time May and my graduation rolls around I'll have a stunning resume and modeling portfolio.

Candy-Cart Sales(wo)men

Never underestimate the power of snacks at 4 o'clock on the Friday afternoon. You can learn a lot about people while pulling a child-sized wheelbarrow of snacks around the office. Did I mention it has cowbells? Interpersonal skills and office relationships are formed over the candy-cart. I now know everyone in the office on Fridays, where they sit, and I am beginning to know their snack preferences; salty, sweet, drink or a healthy alternative.

Down to Business

Listed above are some of the perks of interning here at Bailey Gardiner, not to mention the amazing tea/coffee/hot coco machine in the kitchen area and the occasional free goodies left on the table. The real work is much more plentiful and sadly doesn't involve the cowbell. However, my daily tasks are interesting. Every morning I learn who in the USA has taken an interest in Aladdin Bail Bonds, while updating excel files. Some of the relationship descriptions are humorous, for example "mother of his son," which takes away all personal ownership. Contact information can also make for a laugh. For example, one guy last week wrote only the 3-digit area code "818" as his contact. People like this really brighten my morning. I also work on online marketing research and analysis using Google AdWords and Google Analytics. I am getting to be a pro at scanning and filing invoices and starting to get a handle on Workamajig.

Stay tuned for more on my improvements, specialties and ad talents in future articles.

~Sadie

New Roundup at the Bailey Gardiner Intern Corral

2011-02-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

Not only has Bailey Gardiner moved to a bigger and better office in Little Italy, they've picked up four snazzy new interns as well. The newest additions to the BG team are here to introduce themselves.

Sadie Soliozy

Title: Ad Intern
Hometown: Ipswich, MA (heard of it?)
Favorite Food: Egg n' cheese on a whole wheat English muffin, salted with a side of ketchup

Fun Facts:

I have never lived more that 10 miles from the ocean.
I drink at least three cups of tea a day.
In elementary school I played on a boys baseball team because I refused to play softball (may have been my dad's favorite years).

Why you are here: To be an amazing intern!

What you want to learn: To learn about and build the skills necessary to work in account service, account management, or maybe even media at an ad agency.

Community Involvement:

Student Business Advisory Board, USD Student Member
Ad Club, USD Chapter President

Theresa Schell
Title: Creative Intern
Hometown: Poway, CA
Favorite Food: Chocolate anything

Fun Facts:

My favorite musician is Jack White.
I love black and white photography.

Why you are here: To learn about the advertising industry from the inside and find out if that's the kind of graphic design work I'd like to do when I finish school.

What you want to learn: How the process of design work is in the real world, what kind of problems do designers face in this industry, and most importantly how to be a better designer.

Elli Vacca

Title: Public Relations Intern
Hometown: Ventura, CA
Favorite Food: Movie theater popcorn

Fun Facts:

At 5 years old on the YMCA swim team I won every race because I was the only one in my age bracket.
Last year I was bit by a dog and broke my ankle in the same month. The E.R. nurses remembered me.
I was a contestant on The Price is Right - and my price was right.

Why you are here: Bailey Gardiner offers such a fun and inspiring environment - it is the ideal place for an intern to get a feel for the industry.

What you want to learn: Anything and everything.

Community Involvement:

Pi Beta Phi, UC San Diego Panhellenic Association
UCSD Undergraduate Communication Society, Member

Robin Canedy

Title: Public Relations Intern
Hometown: Mission Viejo, CA
Favorite Food: Churros

Fun Facts:

I can tap dance.
I own over 20 pairs of Nike shoes.

Why you are here: To see what PR looks like outside of a textbook or classroom and to be part of the Bailey Gardiner team.

What you want to learn: I hope to pick up and learn the skills necessary to be a great PR practitioner.

Community Involvement:

Public Relations Student Society of America, SDSU Chapter President

Farewell Intern Blog...

2010-12-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

It's time to say goodbye to the BG Intern Blog. It's been a wonderful and hectic last month (hence the lack of updates), but it's not really goodbye at all- I am thrilled to be graduating over to BG's Don't Drink The Kool Aid blog! After six months of action-packed interning, I have been hired on as Bailey Gardiner's newest Advertising Account Coordinator. I feel so fortunate to get to continue to work at such a wonderful place and learn from such an outstanding group of

people.

Thanks for reading along throughout my adventure- there will soon be three more outstanding BG interns to share their thoughts and experiences on this blog. Make sure to tune in and I will see you over on the big kid BG blog.

Over and Out.

Alex Tuthill

More additions to the resume...

2010-10-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while because I have been very busy accumulating new skills and roles here at BG to further diversify my resume. What might those skills and roles be you ask? They are some of the most coveted skills and titles employers are looking for and I will list them exactly how I have listed them on my resume:

1. OFFICIAL JUDGE OF A 30 HOUR CAROUSEL-RIDING COMPETITION.

I served as official judge for Seaport Village's 30th Anniversary event-- 30 people riding a carousel for 30 hours to win $10,000. This was a very prestigious position-- my primary job was to ensure that nobody barfed. I was also in charge of enforcing the no sleeping, no leaning, no eating, no drinking rules for all 30 riders.

This was a really fantastic event that received a lot of media attention for Seaport. Tons of people came down to cheer on the contestants and Mr. Mark Papenfuss of La Mesa, California took home a giant $10,000 check. It was amazing to see how much time, effort, and attention to detail goes into planning a contest like this.

2. OFFICE GARDEN-GROWER.

Spent hours of time planting words out of flower and radish seeds in prepartion for an event next year. I now have an extensive knowledge of stenciling, planting, gardening, germination, etc. I also have a newfound respect for anyone in the topiary business because I have learned that it is damn hard to make plants cooperate enough to spell things. Despite the difficulty, these are going to turn out really great and are such a unique idea.

3. PROFESSIONAL HALLO-WINER.

I have recently joined the marketing committee for Home Start San Diego, a great organization that helps prevent family abuse and provides assistance to improve parenting. On Tuesday, I attended their annual Hallo-wine event fundraiser, which was a huge success for the organization. There was a great selection of wines to taste, great appetizers, and fabulous gift baskets to bid on. I also discovered the greatest appetizer idea of all time- little grilled cheesies perched on the rim of a martini glass full of tomato soup. Brilliant. (And check out Home Start's blog)

4. OFFICE DECORATOR.

Melina and I got to spend the afternoon Halloween decoration shopping, and we are making sure that the last Halloween in this office building is the best one. We bought a severed arm, some bloody shower curtains, spiderwebs, skeletons, and bags of candy to make BG as festive and frightening as possible...

"If you write something down, you remember it"...

2010-09-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

First off- this article is about CAPTCHAs, and while everyone has encountered one, most people don't know they have a name. CAPTCHA stands for ""Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" and was coined to describe those pesky type-in word combos required when you buy tickets or post a comment. The purpose of CAPTCHAs is to ensure that it is a real-life person using a site and not a computer posting spam.

Now that we are all on the same page, on to the interesting/exciting news: CAPTCHAs are now advertising space! Ad Age announced that a company is officially launching CAPTCHA ads today and Toyota is one of the first companies to jump on board with it.

How does it work? The CAPTCHA box will now be a small ad and instead of asking the user to type in random letters, they would type in "Toyota Moving Forward" if that's the text that appeared in the ad. Toyota also tested using CAPTCHAs of their car's features like "Star Safety System." The ideas and reasoning behind this are as follows:

1. "If you write something down, you'll remember it"- users will have to type the ad message and are more likely to remember the word or phrase

2. "Banner ads are easy to ignore"- as websites become increasingly cluttered with ads they become easier to ignore, and this is a way that people cannot ignore ads

3. Using "Untapped space where users are forced to spend time"- there are no ads in this area and people are required to see and use the CAPTCHA so it's a new space and more direct way to get people's attention online

I don't know why this is so intriguing and exciting to me, but I like this idea very much. Just when I think advertising has completely taken hold of the internet, something like this comes out and opens up more possibilities. It's like the discovery of a new continent or a new planet... just when we thought we had it charted we find something else! It's going to be really interesting to see how this works out for sites and advertisers; I wouldn't be surprised if in a short while, this became the norm on popular sites.

@Netflix vs. @Blockbuster

2010-09-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

All the ad folks here at BG have been assigned a book report to present starting this week. On Thursday I will present my report on a book called "Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the new Global Neighborhoods" by Shel Israel, and in honor of that, I've decided to do a comparison of two Twitter accounts: Netflix and Blockbuster.

A combination of Twitterville and a C-Net News article titled "Netflix soars as Blockbuster plans bankruptcy" inspired me to take a glance at both of their Twitter accounts. After reading Twitterville, I have become very curious about the correlation between the current success of a company and the content/quality of their tweets and overall presence on Twitter. I am beginning to understand that it's no coincidence that Southwest Airlines and JetBlue are the current superstars of air travel and they have the best Twitter accounts in the industry. In most industries, the companies with the best Twitter accounts are the ones who are successful right now because it means they are understanding the modern landscape of technology and social media while engaging with their customers on a more personal level than ever before.

These corporate giants that used to seem so far removed from individual customers can now personally interact through Twitter and it's changing the way people see these large companies. The question is- is this personal interaction changing the way customers see companies for the better? For Netflix, it's a yes. For Blockbuster, it's a serious no. Let's look at @Netflix and @Blockbuster and see if the interaction they have with their customers is indicative of their current situations:

Tweets from @Netflix cover a wide variety of topics that cover all things entertainment that engage followers and prompt a response. Almost every tweet ends in a question that asks followers to tell them their favorite movie, show, performance, song, thoughts, etc. Tweets are about box office results, current events (Fashion Week, VMAs, Emmys, film festivals), movie castings, and announcements. @Netflix rarely tweets about the actual company business of Netflix and instead chooses to focus on asserting itself as an authority for entertainment and movie industry news.

It is also clear that @Netflix has a true understanding of the Twitter community: they respond to personal tweets and add an engaging question to make it applicable to all their followers, they retweet, use hashtags and brilliantly incorporate current events and celebrity tweets. Examples:

Toronto Int’l Film Festival buzz: The Town, Black Swan, 127 Hours & Never Let Me Go. Which are you most excited to see? #TIFF
#dontarguejustacceptit: __________ is the greatest movie ever made.
Sept. 1st - the first day of school at Hogwarts for Harry Potter & Friends! What house would you be sorted into?
What film makes you want to pack your bags @TravelChannel? For us, it’s The Motorcycle Diaries.

Tweets from @Blockbuster are much simpler to explain- 99% of tweets are customer service responses to problems or complaints about service/availability. Although it is good to see Blockbuster trying to individually assist customers over Twitter, it makes it seem as if Blockbuster only has problems. Examples:

@LivingontheBlock: Sorry for the delay. I talked with a buyer who said we're working with the studio to get Dexter and other titles in ASAP.
@Pharrel1: Please make sure you're reporting them in your Queue so we can pull them for inspection.
@indiestace: Yeah, it's very long wait due to the high demand. I don't have a date yet, sorry.

I think the Twitter accounts are indicative of the two companies as a whole- Netflix is modern and has a true understanding of what their customers are looking for in a movie rental service as well as the experience they are looking for from a company. Blockbuster has shown that they are unable to adapt to the current industry and aren't doing a great job impressing the few customers they have left. Because of this, Netflix is on its way up while Blockbuster is headed for bankruptcy.

The way a company interacts with customers and the overall tone and message of their Twitter account can really impact the way people view the company. Netflix is positive, informative, and entertaining, while Blockbuster only further highlights the misfortunes and difficulties their company is currently facing. The bottom line is that while Twitter can be used to enhance customer service, it is not a platform for addressing problems and apologizing; it is a tool to engage positively and personally with customers while keeping them informed and entertained. Netflix understands that, Blockbuster does not. Nice knowin' ya Blockbuster.

Things I am hating right now...

2010-09-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

Two months ago while driving on the 5-North en route to Los Angeles, I noticed that there are an unusual number of billboards for "Lap Band Weight Loss" or "1-800-Get-Thin". They caught my attention just by their overwhelming quantity but also because the billboards are painfully tacky and tasteless. I spend most weekends in LA and it seemed like on each trip I noticed and more and more of these terrible billboards. They had taken over the freeways and cities and struck a nerve in me that made me angry every time I saw them. Here is the worst part- THEY HAVE MADE THEIR WAY TO SAN DIEGO. My beloved city is now littered with these awful things and I pass three of them in my 20-minute drive to work. I hate them.

Here were some of my thoughts and questions:

1. "Holy crap, this must have cost a fortune... how can a medical procedure afford to advertise like this? Most major hospitals can't afford to advertise this ferociously, how is this Lap-Band Procedure making enough to spend this much?" (Things I've learned at BG: Good placements cost good money.)

2. "Goodness these billboards are ugly... if this group can spend so much on billboards, couldn't they spare a few dollars to make a billboard that isn't so basic, tacky, and unappealing?" (Things I've learned at BG: It is always worth it to make sure ads look outstanding.)

3. "There's no way this is legit... very few people can even qualify for a gastric-band procedure so it must be a scam if they can afford to advertise this much to everyone."

That third thought is what motivated me to do some research on this product and company (Things I've learned at BG: research is the key to everything). Here is a brief summary of my findings:

The Weight Loss Centers is a part of a medical group in Beverly Hills called Top Surgeons that is owned by a pair of brother doctors that were featured on Dr. 90201 a few years back. Only nowadays, both of them are no longer doctors because their California medical licenses have been revoked: one for lying about attending UC Irvine (because he was expelled from UCI for stealing exam papers) and the other for negligent practices for unsafe liposuction procedures. The LA Times revealed that a majority of the people involved in this "Lap-Band Miracle" are former doctors with revoked licenses.

The billboards claim that insurance will cover the procedure when, in reality, most insurances only cover gastric-band surgeries for individuals that qualify as morbidly obese on the BMI scale. For anyone who is not covered by insurance, the Top Surgeons company offers a Care Credit Card to put the bill for the procedure on... with an incredibly high interest rate. The company has been scamming people by charging them outrageous fees even if they don't go through with a procedure; there have been a tremendous volume of lawsuits against the company for fraudulent billing, breach of contract, and violating the state consumer protection law. Violating state consumer protection laws is when a business fails to tell you relevant information or misleads you in any way about their rates, return, or warranty.

I feel satisfied in discovering that I was right in all of my assumptions about these billboards- most importantly that this business is a scam. As satisfying as that is, it makes me hate these billboards even more. Not only is it luring desperate people into an serious medical procedure while scamming them out of money, it is this kind of garbage that gives advertising a bad name. So many advertisers like Bailey Gardiner create beautiful, effective and tasteful ads for good clients and it's infuriating to see companies like this use advertising to deceive people. I hope people start realizing how shady this Lap-Band Surgery is and how disreputable Top Surgeons group is so that they can go out of business and I never have to see their awful advertising ever again.

Carrots turning into junk-food...

2010-08-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe that title is a bit misleading- carrots are still going to be as healthy, crunchy, and delicious as ever... but the bag they come in is getting a makeover. A junk-food makeover.

Baby carrot companies are joining forces and planning to let Crispin, Porter + Bogusky spend $25 million of their hard-earned carrot money to repackage and rebrand baby carrots for the masses. The USA Today article provided these campaign plans:

•Packaged in Doritos-like bags. Three different designs are planned.

•Sold out of cool school vending machines. Tests are underway in Cincinnati and Syracuse, N.Y.

•Sporting slogans like this on billboards and packs: "The original orange doodles."

•Touting seasonal tie-ins. Coming this Halloween: scarrots.

•Offering a phone app powered by the sound of folks munching carrots in real time.

•Airing TV spots that tout baby carrots as extreme, futuristic and even, yes, sexy.

The idea is that packaging baby carrots like their junk-food competitors will make kids think carrots are as cool and delicious as other bagged snacks and will taste just as good. Or that seeing a bag of carrots in a vending machine of junk food will eventually make people equate carrots with a fun treat instead of a healthy vegetable.

I am so entertained by this. My first thought is "what is this world coming to when we have to disguise health food with junk food packaging to trick people into eating it" but that is an issue that really cannot be tackled in one blog post. What can be addressed though is how fabulous it is (for everyone in advertising business) that now even individual vegetables require a $25 million campaign to make people eat them. Not just brands, not just products- even an individual vegetable that has been on this planet forever requires advertising services.

It's going to be really interesting to see what CP+B comes up with to pump up the country's interest in carrots and even more interesting to see if other vegetable industries follow suit and roll out big campaigns. It seems like in today's eco-friendly, organic-food climate, this could be surprisingly successful and do really good things for America's veggie industries and our country's waistlines. It may seem a little bit crazy to those of us who have grown up with Cheetos as junk food and carrots as health food, but if we begin seeing both these things as equally cool and equally tasty, maybe this could be the start of a healthier lifestyle for all of us?

Things I am liking right now...

2010-08-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun making a numbered list in my last post that I am going to do another one... Today it's going to be a short list of things I really like that have caught my attention recently:

1. I like that today is the first day of my extended internship and my volunteer days are over. I like that very very much. Thanks BG for keeping me around.

2. The Last Exorcism on ChatRoulette:

I have never used ChatRoulette but I am definitely aware of the site (mostly because of the reputation it has built as a constant parade of genitalia). Lionsgate's new movie The Last Exorcism is coming out soon and they've been doing some interesting things with promoting it but this one is definitely my favorite-- they have a pretty girl on ChatRoulette who looks like she's about to start unbuttoning her shirt for the skeezy guys she's connected with. There's two different videos- in one her eyes roll into the back of her head and she attacks the camera, and in the other her neck completely snaps sideways. Both are incredibly creepy and then TheLastExorcism.com flashes on the ChatRoulette screen. They have posted the reactions of the guys on the other side of the chat and they are absolutely hilarious.

There are a lot of companies using these kinds of sites in inefficient or boring ways (Fancy Feast was one of the first) and it's so great to see a cool idea that gets great reactions and publicity. I'm sure this means that other companies will start creative stunts on ChatRoulette that will soon get old, but props to Lionsgate for having one of the first really cool ones.

3. Piperlime's new "Let's Get Dressed" Campaign:

Recently, GAP-brand Piperlime has come under fire for it's "Let's get dressed" campaign that focuses on motivating people (particularly women) to get dressed nicely when they go out in public. Their print campaign has taglines like "Say no to sweat pants," "Hang up the hoodies," and "Step away from the sneakers" while their Facebook page offers advice like "Let's put Saturday-night effort into Sunday afternoon." Some followers of their Facebook page got all offended by the "snotty" and "bitchy-girl status posts" and removed the site from their favorites.

I love this idea and I don't think it's catty or rude at all- let's just all agree to not go to the store in our pajamas or our unflattering workout clothes. I'm all for comfortable and casual but I do not need to stand behind a girl in line wearing spandex pants with a cut-off shirt cut so much i can see 85% of her sports bra. Some things just don't belong out in the world for others to see. As someone trying to make the transition from college campus to working world, I like having a little reminder that how you present yourself is important whenever you're out and about.

4. I recently stumbled across PhotoshopDisasters.com, which I'm sure is not new to a lot of people but I just recently discovered the joys it has to offer. As a self-taught Photoshopper, I really like seeing common mistakes to learn from and also just to laugh at. They have everything from awkward body angles to missing limbs and everything in between... it's incredible to see how easy it is for professionals to mess up photo-editing and it makes me have even more respect for the flawless work that comes from BG's creative team.

Ten-ish reasons why YOU want to be an intern at BG...

2010-08-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Since this is the last few days of my official internship at BG, I am substituting the traditional goodbye post with some excellent reasons why interning at BG is an exciting adventure that you wouldn't want to miss out on:

1. YOU GET TO PUT TOGETHER

EXTRAVAGANT GIFTS FOR CLIENTS.

This is a little package I got to hunt down and assemble one day: a stuffed wiener dog and a wooden hand with decorative mini-beverages as a collar. You would not believe the look I received when I asked an employee at Babies'R'Us if "they carried wiener dogs and wooden hands"... it was like she wasn't sure whether to laugh or call the police.

2. YOU GET TO RIDE THIS BADASS BUTTERFLY BIKE (PURSE NOT INCLUDED).

As an intern at Bailey Gardiner, this beauty will be your primary mode of transportation. It is stunning and it handles like a dream. You are sure to get some serious attention when you ride this bike around town for your errands.

3. YOU GET TO GO TO THE DEL MAR HORSE RACES.

BG has a lot of really cool San Diego clients and a great perk of having cool clients is getting to do cool things. BG Day at the Races is a really good time that you will definitely enjoy.

4. YOU GET TO WATCH ROSCOE SUNBATHE.

Jennifer's dog Roscoe joins us for work every Tuesday and his favorite past time is working on his tan in the window. He is like a supermodel and this is the reason he is BG's official mascot.

5. YOU GET TO DRIVE AROUND WITH A GIANT GRAPE VINE IN YOUR FRONT SEAT.

There are days when someone at the office will need a grape vine and it is your job to track one down and bring it to the office. When you return, it will be your job to cut the creatures out of it and decorate it.

6. YOU GET TO HANG OUT IN RECORDING STUDIOS.

When BG records radio commercials you will get to go and hang out at recording studio. Not only will you learn a lot about how a radio commercial comes together, but you'll get to feel pretty cool and tell all your friends.

7. YOU GET TO CREATE THE OFFICE BABY BETTING POOL WHEN THERE'S AN EXPECTING BG'ER.

When there's a baby on the way at BG, you will get to create the chart and take down the bets for what kind of baby that baby will be.

8. PEOPLE HERE DRESS REALLY FANCY.

People here at BG take fashion really seriously- checkered pants and seersucker suits are pretty typical. And when BG'ers dress extra fancy, you will get to take their photo.

9. YOU GET TO GO BOWLING.

I hope you are good at bowling because past BG interns (I'm obviously talking about myself) have really set the bar high for intern performances at BG Bowling. Bring your A-game.

10. YOU GET TO PHOTOGRAPH THE REFRIGERATOR.

You will find that the BG fridge has a lot of wisdom to share and it will be your job to take its picture on a weekly basis and share that wisdom with the world.

AND LASTLY...

SOMETIMES THERE ARE GORILLAS IN THE OFFICE.

There have been times when a gorilla gets loose in the office and that always makes for a fun day.

This post may have quickly turned into a photo scrapbook of crazy things I've encountered during my time here at Bailey Gardiner, but it really does show how much fun every day is in the office. Not only will you do some really interesting

things, you will also gain experience in so many different aspects of advertising. You will become a master of research on many different topics and you will get to see how things come together within an agency to make great work. There is no better place to learn the business of advertising and work with some really fantastic people. You would be a fool to want to intern anywhere else.

Levi's aren't just for dads anymore?

2010-08-12T11:13:00.001-07:00

Levi's has never been on the top of my list of "cute jeans I would like to wear" because I've always considered them to be pants for dads. In fact, I have always thought of Levi's as a jean brand for older men and women who wear their pants too high. I know they advertise their jeans as sexy and cool but I have never considered them to be either of those things.

But I've recently taken notice in Levi's because of their Go Forth campaign commercials-- they're artsy and funky and seem like an attempt to catch the attention of the young-adult hipster crowd. Not that they necessarily appeal to me, but I acknowledge the effort they're putting in to connect with a younger and cooler audience. This was the jump-start to my reconsideration of the Levi's Brand.

Levi's has just launched a new women's line of jeans called Curve ID- and I must say I have found a new appreciation and am beginning to form a new opinion on Levi's as a brand. The Curve ID line uses the tagline "All asses were not created equal" and has three different fits of jeans for three different body types- Slight Curve, Demi Curve, and Bold Curve:

I like this idea as is- I always love clothing brands that recognize the real shapes of women and make clothes that celebrate that- but this Levi's line is especially awesome because of the amount of research that went into creating this line. Levi's (with their agency Wieden+Kennedy) did 60,000 body scans of women and conducted a global survey that they used when creating the three fits for three different body types (that make up 80 percent of women's shapes). The results of the survey are also very interesting to me because I consider myself one of the many girls that dedicates an entire weekend to finding one pair of comfortable jeans:

54% of women try on at least 10 pairs of jeans to find one pair they would buy
87% of women wish they could find jeans that fit better than ones in their closets
67% of women believe that jeans are designed for women with "ideal" figures
Only 28% of women believe that jeans are designed to fit their body types

Not only is Levi's doing a cool thing for society by acknowledging the diverse body shapes of women, but it's a really smart way to interest women in Levi's. I don't know many females my age who would say Levi's is their favorite jean brand, but combining a cool campaign with jeans that look good and actually fit could be the recipe for success with younger women. I'm impressed to the point that I would consider trying a pair on and even if I didn't buy them, at least Levi's has done a good job of changing my perceptions about their brand.

Coke. GIANT COKE....

2010-08-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

Since I gave Coke a bit of a hard time in my blog about Pepsi's stunt in Argentina during the World Cup, I have decided to dedicate this blog to the cool things that Coke has been up to in Argentina:

Argentina and other Latin American countries celebrate "Dia del Amigos" (Friend's Day) every year on July 20th and this year Coke joined in on the fun with a giant Coke vending machine. The machine was twice the size of a normal machine and dispensed two Cokes for the price of one- the catch being that one person had to lift their friend up to be able to reach the money and buttons. There was only one machine and it was placed in a sold-out movie theater in Buenos Aires and it sold ten times the amount of bottles that a normal machine does.

Let me get this out of the way-- why is Argentina getting all this great advertising?! How about some American brains start thinking of entertaining and innovative stunts for brands? And I also think it's fantastic that these Latin American countries celebrate Friend's Day to this extent; what a wonderful thing to dedicate an entire day to. It has become so popular in recent years that almost all restaurants are booked days in advance and the mobile network in Argentina temporarily crashed from all of the communication between people on Friend's Day.

Okay, now that I've gotten that out... I love when companies incorporate their brand or product into an event, holiday or occasion. It can be done so well and it's a free partnership that already has its own great publicity. The ultimate success in a stunt like this is that not only did it delight people and draw attention, it upped sales! A lot of companies sink a lot of money into getting their brand out there without seeing their investment pay off in an immediate way (or perhaps at all), and this is a great way to be able to instantly measure success.

I think Coke hit a home-run with this on a very unique holiday, I just wish they would have done this in more than one location. The lone jumbo vending machine was such a hit, it's a shame they didn't think to roll out vending machines all across Argentina (or all across Latin America even). They had a great idea and they should have run with it... and I'll definitely be paying attention to Dia del Amigos next year to see if Coke can top this one.

BG Day at the Races...

2010-07-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

I have been counting down the days until BG Day at the Races... and it was worth every second of anticipation! Yesterday we all headed down to the Del Mar Race Track (thanks to Melina for the lift) and settled into our perfectly positioned tables to watch the horses go. The weather was perfect and the track was beautiful as always.

Our table ordered an unreasonable amount of food (I highly recommend the Crunchy Tempura Green Beans from the Stretch Run Grill) and made bets on all 8 races. There were some really great races (including a photo finish) and some really fabulous horse names. I have realized that I have a lot to learn about the horse racing biz and how to not suck at betting... or "voting" as my table calls it. I tried to pick up on the tips and tricks from the masters (Jon, Becca & Susannah) but it still didn't help my awful luck very much.

After a full day at the track, I left $2.80 richer with a pretty interesting sunburn but I had a fantastic time. Thanks to BG for letting me tag along on such a great day.

Macaroni & Cheeeeeese...

2010-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting to see something dynamic from Kraft Macaroni and Cheese ever since word got out that they moved their business over to Crispin Porter + Bogusky in March of this year. Only recently have I taken notice of their new advertising and it intrigues me as both an adult Mac & Cheese lover and an appreciator of interesting advertising.

But first off, here’s what they’ve got going on:

Spending $50 million promoting this campaign for the year (30% increase from last year)
Moving from their economy-motivated taglines emphasizing price to slogans that focus on making adults feel like it’s okay for them to love Mac & Cheese too: “You know you love it,” “The most fun you can have with your stove on,” “Outgrow outgrowing it,” “Imported from your childhood,” and “Parents need warm cheesey hugs”
The usual advertising: Commercials, Print, Billboards, Online, Website and Social media
The not-so-usual:

Noodle Art (20 feet long and 9 feet high macaroni sculptures) placed in national landmarks (Wrigley Field, Fisherman’s Wharf, etc.)
Interactive store front displays that say “Cheese” and use face recognition technology to make the noodle smile at customers in the top 3 markets
A Homestyle Tour that visits 15 midwestern state fairs to showcase the Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese
Die-cut noodles on taxi tops in New York
Wallscapes in New York, Chicago and LA

I really like the new look of all their advertising and think they did a good job of giving it a look that adheres to the traditional Mac & Cheese style but with a more sleek and grown-up feel. And I especially appreciate the fact that this iconic Kraft brand isn't kicking back and letting their very well-known brand continue selling boxes based on their brand recognition- they are out aggressively advertising to a new audience and looking to add another dimension to their brand.

Not only are they advertising heavily, Kraft and CPB are doing a variety of really interesting things that should set the standard for other major food brands. Even though macaroni sculptures are a little crazy (possibly bordering on obnoxious), it's a cool idea and a fun take on OOH advertising. I really liked the new YouKnowYouLoveIt.com website they launched that has an interactive roulette wheel that you can spin to win points for coupons and I'm also impressed by the amount of social media they're incorporating into their campaign. I also like the idea of adding a tour to the campaign and I think they targeted all the right cities. After attending college in the midwest, I learned very quickly

that "homestyle" anything is the preferred dish of choice there and displays at state fairs is a great way to engage homestyle kind of people in a very direct way.

The only criticism I could present is the overall lack of focus and cohesiveness from this campaign- there's a lot of different taglines and messages and goals- but I think that an enormously popular brand like Mac & Cheese can just barely pull that off. The brand recognition and loyalty have long-been established, they're just looking to gather new customers that are already aware of the brand. I think this is a really cool new take on Mac & Cheese, an interesting new direction for their brand, and an exciting new standard for food product advertising.

A "Brand New Day" for the YMCA...

2010-07-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows the YMCA. When someone says this acronym there’s generally no question as to what they’re talking about. Some people may not know that it stands for Young Men’s Christian Association or that it’s one of the oldest and most important non-profit organizations, but just about every person has a familiarity with the letters YMCA.

This is exactly what the YMCA found troubling- every person was familiar with the letters YMCA but a lot of people had no idea what the organization actually did or the values they stood for today. The YMCA realized that there was no clarity or cohesiveness in their logo, brand, or message throughout their thousands of YMCAs across the country and invested time and money into the most extensive research the organization has ever conducted.

With their findings, the YMCA has just rolled out a new nickname and a new style with a clearer message:

The YMCA will begin being known officially as “The Y.” They will of course be keeping the full YMCA acronym in their brand, but they will be emphasizing their identity as "The Y" because that is how they are known in the community.
Rather than letting every Y branch pick their own style of Y logo (this has been the case for about 50 years and there are thousands out there), there is now only one usable Y logo that comes in 5 colors. The new logo is a more modern, sleek, and vibrant variation on their traditional Y logo
The Y has had dozens of mottos, slogans, and missions between branches, and they have now replaced their old “We build strong kids, strong families, and strong communities.” The new slogan is: “For Youth Development, For Healthy Living, For Social Responsibility.”

This rebranding campaign was launched ten days ago and all of their websites have already fully incorporated the new logo, as well as making the new logo launch a big part of their Wikipedia page. Although this seems very abrupt, the full integration of this brand revitalization is scheduled to be very gradual with the entire new look and message completely incorporated by 2015.

I did gymnastics at the Y for 13 years, worked at the Y since I was 16 and even spent four years on the San Diego YMCA Board of Directors, so I am no stranger to the organization or its message. I had been hearing whispers of a rebrand for about a year now and I was delighted when they finally unveiled the new logo and ideas at our staff meeting last week (I was the only one taking diligent notes on the presentation).

I am extremely impressed with the direction they're going- I think so many people have really inaccurate and dated perceptions of the YMCA and it's really important for the Y to finally address this. The YMCA has always had strong brand recognition because they are so prominent and well-known but it's really great to see them start to be in control of their brand and pay more attention to the message of their organization. I think a 5-year window is a very realistic goal to get this rebrand in full swing and it's smart to do it at a slow pace so that people aren't thrown off by it or start thinking their "favorite YMCA is trying to get all hip" on them (that's actually what I was told by one of my level three gymnast's grandmothers).

This is a really great move for the YMCA and they are yet again setting the bar for other non-profits to follow. But that is one thing I find so interesting and incredible- even non-profits are now finding it necessary to pay close attention to their public image, perceptions, and brand! Non-profits do wonderful things and amazing work but even that is not enough anymore; companies who do tremendous good are finding it necessary to take a more hands-on and active approach to how they are perceived by the public. I think that just proves how powerful good advertising and PR are for every company and it's amazing to see one of the country's oldest and most influential non-profit organization jumping on board with that.

Intern News...

2010-07-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

As a current intern, I have a vested interest in the world of interning… and I finally stumbled across some very interesting news about my little world:

The Facts: New York digital agency MRM is providing five interns a 6-month internship with the company while living rent-free in an Ikea-furnished 3-bedroom Brooklyn apartment. The program is called “The Apartment” and the interns share their experiences in New York and at MRM on a blog.
The Reasoning: MRM Execs say they are offering this to interns in order to better recruit the top ad students because, in recent years, MRM has missed out on top intern talent because students choose to line up at agencies like Weiden & Kennedy or Goodby Silverstein.
The Interesting: The thing I find most interesting is that this is not funded solely by MRM- because the interns are considered billable staff on accounts, MRM clients like Microsoft, Exxon, Mastercard and Diageo will be footing part of the bill to house these interns.

This seems like a really cool idea from an intern perspective- getting to live rent-free in New York while interning? Pretty good deal. But I have two major issues with this and I will address them accordingly:

1. Should clients really be footing the bill to house these interns?
I understand that, when it comes down to it, an agency runs on billing clients. But if I were an MRM client and saw my advertising dollars being spent to put interns up in a Brooklyn apartment, I’m not sure how thrilled I would be about that. MRM definitely has some big-budget clients, but no matter how much money I had to burn, I would much prefer to be putting that into a better campaign rather than funding some students to live in NYC. It’s reasonable that some companies arrange housing for interns, but a deluxe swanky NYC loft seems like an inefficient way to spend client money.

2. If you want to attract the top ad students in the country, put your energies into becoming an attractive top agency rather than just bribing students with extravagant accommodations.
While I can’t knock MRM for launching an effective way to get interns significantly more interested in their program, it does seem like a bit of a cheap way to go about it. They obviously have an abundance of money to throw around and I feel like it would be better spent doing innovative and creative things for their clients to make MRM as attractive and desirable to interns as Weiden & Kennedy or Goodby (or Bailey Gardiner) are.

All-in all, I think this is a dynamite opportunity for interns (I’ll always applaud fellow interns for getting a sweet hook-up and I do love Ikea furniture) and it’s cool to see interns get cool recognition in Ad Age for being involved in something like this. However, from an agency perspective- I’d rather have people intern because of a genuine interest in the company and not because they’re looking to live rent-free. I think, in the long run, I’d prefer to have a company built with loyal people that were all there because they sincerely believed in the work being done.

Halfway-mark recap...

2010-06-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

After almost week off to help with the national gymnastics event I've been involved with (it was exhausting but went wonderfully), I am back in action at BG and ready to brighten the day with a fresh blog post. I was asked by my internship coordinator at school to submit a short account of my internship experience thus far for our department website. It is a nice little summary of what I've been up to for the first half of my internship here so I have included it as today's blog post:

Life at Bailey Gardiner is an adventure, every single day. Located in beautiful downtown San Diego, I attend client meetings at the office, I ride a beach cruiser bike all over the city to deliver things to clients, get to tour local print shops, and contribute to the intern blog. I’ve placed third in the office bowling trip, put together cheese platters for a freelancer open house, I’ve tested client websites and watched a dancing gorilla in a tutu serenade one of the ad execs at his desk. As the only resident BG ad intern for the summer, I am here 9 to 5 every day of the week and have already gained an incredible amount of experience in more areas than I could have imagined.

There are parts of this business that have been exactly what I learned at Ball State- brainstorming, creative briefs, mock ups, design, production- all the small pieces are what I expected to see. What has awed me the most is the way these pieces are put together at Bailey Gardiner; learning the processes, attention to detail and communication required for every project and every client interaction is something you could never learn in a class and has been extremely valuable.

Most importantly, my internship at Bailey Gardiner is showing me how exciting a career in advertising at a great company can be. Collecting a group of enthusiastic, creative and talented individuals makes for a wonderful adventure each day and is something I am grateful to be a part of here.

World Cup + Pepsi...

2010-06-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

I love any kind of global sports competition- whether it’s a World Championship, an Olympics or a World Cup- because I love watching countries support their best athletes in hopes they will prove themselves the best in the world. I love seeing the enthusiasm and the pride these kinds of events bring to each country and, of course, the way advertising is used in these enormous events.

For this World Cup, I have been paying particular attention to Pepsi, even though the official World Cup sponsor is Coke. Pepsi has been weaseling their way into the World Cup with their “Oh Africa” video online and on TV. The video has received more views and attention than Coke’s videos since it went viral in March. It is a two-and-a-half minute high-budget video featuring soccer superstars (Messi, Lampard, Henry, and Drogba) playing soccer in Africa and is considered a World Cup video even though it does not directly associate itself with the competition.

I appreciate any effective and creative ambush marketing techniques, especially for an event like the World Cup, and Pepsi’s newest ambush technique is one of my favorites: Argentina’s famous and controversial former soccer star and current coach Diego Maradona said if Argentina were to win the World Cup, he would run through the streets of Buenos Aires naked. Pepsi has capitalized on this quote from Maradona by taking out print ads in Argentina featuring a Pepsi bottle with no label and only a tag around the neck with “If the coach goes naked, we will, too. Pepsi promises.” Pepsi is promising that if Argentina wins and Maradona makes good on his naked victory lap promise, they will distribute Pepsi bottles in Argentina for one week with no label.

I’m blown away at the speed of Pepsi’s response and their innovative way to further connect themselves to the World Cup without being an actual sponsor. No matter how many times Coca-Cola is printed in association with this year’s World Cup, it will be Pepsi who is remembered for the creative way they capitalized on a soccer legend and the global World Cup fever. At this point, I think Pepsi has already won even if Argentina does not come out victorious. But if Argentina does win, Pepsi will have cleverly and very cost-effectively associated its brand with what is sure to be a joyous and monumental moment for Argentina. Brilliant.

My first dose of real-world PR...

2010-06-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

I was reading a great article on Adweek called “Your Culture Is Your Brand” by the CEO of Zappos about their company’s culture and hiring process, and (although they’re not the main focus of the article) a few key sentences really stuck out to me:

“With the Internet connecting everyone, companies are becoming more transparent whether they like it or not. An unhappy customer or a disgruntled employee can blog about a bad experience with a company, and the story can spread like wildfire. The good news is that the reverse is true as well. A great experience with a company can be read by millions of people almost instantaneously… The fundamental problem: you can't anticipate every possible touch point that could influence the perception of your brand.”

These words are absolutely true for an agency but even more applicable to companies who aren’t professionally trained in advertising or public relations. When I’m not at BG, I’ve been helping with some marketing and design work for the 2010 YMCA National Gymnastics Championships that is being held in San Diego. It’s an enormous event (over 2,500 attendants) and the Y has created and maintains a Facebook page for the event. A company with no real advertising or PR knowledge can undoubtedly manage an event without assistance, but the Facebook page has seen a surprising number of problems. It has made me realize just how vital attention to PR is for any company and the amount of effort it takes for anyone who puts company information on the internet to interact with their customers in a positive way.

Oops #1: The Opening Ceremonies of the event are being held at Sea World- Shamu Stadium in particular. As soon as plans were finalized and the announcement could be made, it was done via Facebook with the message “Who’s excited to see Shamu??!” Unfortunately, this was done less than a week after the Florida Sea World trainer was killed and got a response from a little girl that said “Well I was excited… until Shamu killed that lady.”
Lessons learned:
-Paying attention to timing is everything. Knowing when to announce information for the best possible response is a skill that requires experience and constant attention.
-It also requires being up to date with everything involving your company or brand and making sure that is prominent in your mind when connecting with customers, particularly online. It can be so easy to post things online that it’s sometimes done without a tremendous amount of thought, but for a company, every post or comment should be analyzed and double-checked to prevent a costly mistake with customers.

Oops #2: One team entered to compete had to be disqualified from the meet for not technically being a YMCA. The team was informed of their disqualification on Friday before Memorial Day Weekend and the event Facebook page immediately exploded with spiteful, angry and hateful responses from their team and parents. By Tuesday morning, the entire page was filled with threats, protests, and negativity that had gone unsupervised and unregulated for days, which was really damaging for the event.
Lessons learned:
-Whenever something negative happens, try to anticipate how and where this will influence your brand. Being on top of things when something negative is on the horizon could prevent a lot of trouble, time, and money for a company.

Helping with this competition while being at BG has been incredibly valuable for me- I find myself constantly relating things between the two and using experiences or knowledge I’ve learned here to help plan this event. This has been my first real venture into public relations and I’m finding it is so much more complicated than I thought. I’ve realized that anticipating fluctuations in a company’s image and being vigilant in preventing negativity is a full-time job that requires constant thought and effort. I am planning on paying much closer attention to BG’s outstanding PR team and how they manage a brand’s image and reputation on the internet now that I’ve witnessed how easily things can change for a company!

A change of scenery...

2010-06-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Today I am moving desks. After three weeks at BG in the intern corral near the front, I am heading… North? East? I don’t have a compass on me but I am heading to the back to sit with the rest of the ad team!
I have gotten pretty comfortable up here in the front of the office but this is PR and creative territory; I am the only advertising person for as far as the eye can see. My new desk will be back in what the singing gorilla** called “the penalty box.”

Things I will miss about the intern corral:
-working with the other interns and Melina
-getting to see Melina’s adorable and adoptable pitbulls throughout the day
-seeing all the people go in and out of the office
-listening to all the PR girls make their calls
-sitting next to the famous Orange Couch and Rockem & Sockem

Things I’m excited for:
-not having to walk the length of the office to get to Becca or Ryan’s desk
-getting to hear all the action that goes on in the ad room
-having trees painted on the walls around me
-being closer to a window with a pretty view
-getting to see “keep calm and carry on” everytime I walk to my desk

It’s time to start gathering all of my important things for the move later today, and maybe on my next post I’ll have a completely different perspective on things from my new location!

**If you’re wondering if “singing gorilla” was some kind of mistake or a misread, please note that it certainly was not- yesterday for Steve’s birthday, a singing gorilla wearing a tutu and sunglasses came into the office. My new desk will be directly to the right of where the singing gorilla was standing...

Fresh on the Bailey Gardiner intern scene…

2010-05-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

Things I’ve done:

· Took an outstanding tour of a print shop

· Rode a bike to Balboa Park

· Drive-by bench photography for Hazard Center

· Strolled through Seaport Village

Things I’ve learned:

· Creative brainstorming is most effective with the help of 10 Red Bulls and a box of candy

· Jennifer is only kidding when she tells you an intern duty is collecting a stool sample from her dog

· The parking you get at 8:45am is not anywhere near the same parking you will get after afternoon errands

· How important it is to double check things and how costly it can be if you don’t

· “Interning” is actually a synonym for “wear comfortable shoes because you are going to be doing a lot of walking”

· Microsoft Excel, while very useful for the extensive amount of research I’ve been doing, is this fussiest computer program ever developed

· And lastly, I have learned to always keep a pair of shorts in my car because my first bike ride errand was on the day I decided to wear a dress… I’m still hoping that everyone on Sixth was staring at me because the Electra bike was so cute and not for other reasons…

After my first week and a half as the newest resident in the BG intern corral, I am starting to realize a lot of things no one in school ever told me about life in advertising. Some are just small observations: the level of organization necessary to run an agency, the number of meetings, the amount of communication, how unbelievably complex a printer can be- little things like that. As a highly organized, scheduled, and task-oriented person, I’m learning how to roll with the surprises and am starting to embrace the unpredictability of each day here.

On a much larger scale- I had always assumed that businesses need advertising, so they would simply select an agency to provide that service and it’s a done deal. I’m realizing that this is not at all the case and I’m beginning to understand how much time, effort and creativity go into putting together a pitch to win over new clients. I have sat in on a new client brainstorming session and have assisted with creating an image board for a new business pitch and I am so impressed at the ideas and effort everyone at BG puts in to winning new business.

I'm really liking picking up on the ins and outs of agency life and I am reassured that I chose the right career path (and thank goodness since this is the last part of my advertising degree). I am loving the work, the surprises and challenges that everyday brings and I am loving the atmosphere and energy of the office. Two weeks in, I have tackled my telephone, the coffee machine, the printer, and navigating downtown without a GPS so I’m excited to see what my next 3 months will bring!

Farewell BG

2010-04-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day at Bailey Gardiner. I’m sad to be leaving, but excited to move on and take all my unique experiences with me. In the last three months I have learned quite a bit about the advertising industry as a whole. Most importantly, the long hours and hard work that is needed to be successful in this business as well as the special attention that is given to each and every client. I have also witnessed the energy and creativity that is needed to win a new client. (I hope you guys get it!) . I feel privileged to have been able to attend the Addy Awards. I saw great creative work not only from Bailey Gardiner, but also from many other agencies and students in San Diego.

I have received some great advice from Becca about what it takes to be successful in this business. And I want to thank Melina for all the printer help she has given me. She truly is amazing for understanding how to work that monster machine.

But beyond all the seriousness, I have also learned:

- Good parking spot in the morning = guarantee to run an errand and
thus lose your amazing spot
- Excel is my good friend
- Chick-Fil-A can deliver mass orders (but won’t deliver fries??!!) Weird right?!
- Basic office lingo like EOD and DND
- Taking the bike to Balboa Park is amazing and much better than driving
- Social media is more important than just stating what you did last night
- Research is key!
- Bailey Gardiner is a great company to work for!

So thanks to the Bailey Gardiner family for taking me in under your wing. I truly had a great time working with all of you and hope to run into many of you in the future. Best of luck!

Krystal

Farewell Bailey Gardiner

2010-04-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

My internship duties here at Bailey Gardiner are coming to an end today. It is truly a bittersweet moment. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences here but it is time to say goodbye. Maybe there will be an opportunity for me to come back full-time someday (wink!). I have learned so much over the past 5 months about advertising as well as quality research and retrieving stolen bicycles. There was never a dull moment here and I will definitely miss the Bailey Gardiner family.

In reflecting of the things I will miss the most, I have come up with a laundry list; Dogs running around the office, Melina bringing massive, very sweet pit bulls. Opportunities to do voice-overs in the studio with the creative team. Intern chatter. Endless opportunities of learning. Nice, funny, caring people. Creative environment. Researching pet energy bars. Having drinks with the CEO at a networking event (thanks again for the drinks Jon!). Working in a fun neighborhood with endless amazing restaurants. Volunteering at the San Diego Ad Club for the Addys.

Family photos of the agency. The orange couch. Seaport Village errands (always so pleasant down there). Riding the Electra cruiser bikes through Balboa Park. Brainstorming for Brookfield Homes. Social networking. The candy cart. And much much more...

But alas, my time has come to move on. It has been a great learning experience both personal and professional. Thanks to all who have helped me and given me opportunities for growth.

Jason

Research, My New Best Friend

2010-04-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

Lately my work load has been focused on researching new online publications and data for one of our clients, Aladdin Bail Bonds. Working with our new Account Supervisor, Ryan, he has been having me research new media outlets that we can potentially utilize for our online efforts for Aladdin.

Researching this kind of information isn't as simple as just 'Googling' what you want to find and clicking on the first thing that pops up. I am trying to find publications that have the ability to Geo-target the specific market and demographics that we are looking for. Trying to find data to correlate broadcast ads generating a direct online response has proven to be quite difficult. Also searching for data that illustrates the socioeconomic status of various demographics of internet users and what they are utilizing the web for, is somewhat difficult.

So far, I have used a couple different research websites to try and dial down the exact information I am searching for. But I am still searching for some information regarding socioeconomic status of various demographics and tying that into what they are using the internet for. Also searching for data regarding a direct online response after an offline advertisement is challenging. There are so many factors playing into it that there may or may not be data supporting the idea.

Nonetheless, having the ability to produce solid research is always a great trait to possess. Today after researching all morning, I had the pleasure of taking a nice bike ride through Balboa park to document the new on-site 'Art Alive' banners for San Diego Museum of Art. It was a fantastic day for a bike ride, sunny, cool breeze, not to mention always nice to get away from staring at a computer screen all day.

But alas, back to the office and straight to researching. Nice little break and always a great reminder of how wonderful it is to intern at such an amazing, fun, active company.

Quite a Night

2010-03-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Few interns ever get the chance to attend professional events. This last Friday I got the honor of attending the San Diego ADDY Awards with the Bailey Gardiner advertising crew.

In case you are unaware, the ADDY Awards are the world’s largest advertising competition. The competition gives students and professionals the chance to showcase their creative work and be recognized for their efforts. If you win, your work gets sent to compete based on your district and then those winners get sent to the national advertising competition.

As a current marketing/advertising student, I was more than excited to get the chance to attend. My day began by running around and looking for table tent stands (which, by the way if you are ever in need of table stands, I suggest purchasing online. After running errands I helped set up for the event and I even helped create an awesome creative backdrop featuring ADDY’s posters.

Putting all the fun aside, more importantly I got the chance to network with locals in the advertising business and even got a couple business cards (Go Me!) I’m sure everyone can agree on how important networking is in this business and chances like this come far and few for students.

Overall, I really enjoyed getting the chance to see a lot of great creative work from local San Diegans. I really want to thank Bailey Gardiner for giving me the chance to tag along and want to send out congrats on winning five awards!

Way to go BG!

Another Beautiful Day in San Diego

2010-03-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Most intern errands require walking to get bagels or driving to drop something off with a client, but how many interns can say they get to ride a beach cruiser to take pictures for a client?

Today I got the pleasure of taking in the extraordinary weather here in San Diego by taking pictures for one of Bailey Gardiner’s clients. Not only was the weather perfect, but the beach cruiser I got to ride on was Awesome!! (note.. the many compliments I received on it).

Upon getting to Balboa Park I realized how I rarely take in any of the sites, so after completing my errand I took a seat on a bench, grabbed a tamale off a side cart and spoke with a couple visiting from Ontario. Jim and Delores were a sweet older couple. Naturally we chatted about the weather and their visit.

After finishing my lunch a few crazy things happened. I nearly got side-swiped by a car and even saw two dogs jump out of a car and nearly cause an accident on 6th avenue. Thank god nothing happened to the dogs or myself for that matter.

Overall, besides nearly getting side-swiped and having to come back to the office because the camera lacked any form of battery power, I would say I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

Plus, the little exercise I got wasn’t too bad either.

Help a Girl Out

2010-03-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

So here I am a few months from graduation and with a huge dilemma on my hands. I am deciding on whether to stay in San Diego or move to Chicago.

Now, I know you are thinking….why on earth would you want to move away from San Diego to live in the cold?...well for a few reasons….
First off, I have family back in Minnesota that I would love to be able to visit more often. Plus the opportunities for advertising/marketing jobs are more abundant in Chicago and I feel if I have the chance to move and try new places…now is the time to do it!

I visited Chicago a couple times last year (granted not in the deathly winter, but none the less I love it!) I have lived in cold weather for most of my life so adjusting really would not be that bad. I actually miss wearing jackets and boots sometimes. My family thinks I am crazy to want to move from such a great place (I think they just don’t want to have to pay for hotel rooms when they decide to visit San Diego).

However, San Diego is a great place to live. No one can argue that statement. I have been here for over four years and have loved every minute of it. To be able to wear flip-flops year round is truly a big perk, and living five minutes from the beach really doesn’t hurt either.

What should I do?

I’m open to all form of suggestions, comments, professional advice, etc.

Waiting, Wondering

2010-03-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

Waiting for an important potentially life-changing answer is never fun. I have been waiting for an answer about a job that I interviewed for last Tuesday at a large advertising agency in North County. I am starting to really get anxious and hope that this growing anticipation over the last week is going to be worth it. I am positive and confident that I did my best and feel as though it is meant to be, but you never know.

The interview went really well. I nailed all the questions they had. Had some really good questions of my own. Not to mention the second gentleman I interviewed with just happened to live where I grew up and worked at the same company my sister used to work for. We hit it off from the start and I feel that having that connection gave me a solid leg up.

I did my due diligence after the interview. I emailed my interviewer shortly after and thanked him for his time, as well as sent a thank you card to keep me fresh in his mind. It's been a week and maybe I am overreacting but I am still seeking a response or at least an idea of when I should expect to hear back.

This waiting game is stressing me out. Trying not to be stressed at a time like this is hard. I am poor, burnt-out from job searching, and starting to lose all hope in this economy. I am hoping to hear back today and prove all my doubts wrong. Send positive vibes my way please.

A Second to Breathe...

2010-02-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

So here I am 3 months from graduation and more busy than I have ever been in my life. Hey, I’m not complaining! I actually thrive off of being busy. Upon taking the internship here are Bailey Gardiner I knew I would be taking on a lot, but I’m really glad I got the opportunity to do so. In the three weeks I have been here I have researched more about advertising for cycling apparel then you could imagine and am getting use to the giant over-powering printer. Plus, I got to attend a vendor meeting which gave me a brief snippet about what my future may be like if I continue down this path.

As a server, it really takes me some time getting use to sitting down on my butt for five hours straight. So if you see me meandering around the office just smile and realize I don’t have ADD, I’m just stretching. As for learning Mac, I have taken it in with ease. As a business student I have grown accustomed to PC’s and was a little hesitant (read: anti) Mac, but I feel we are really growing to have a wonderful relationship with one another.

When I’m not learning new things here at Bailey Gardiner I spend most of my time at Red Lobster (no, I really don’t like the bread anymore, but if you want me to bring you some I can!) I’m also finishing up my degree and will graduate this May (YAY!!) In doing so, I hope that I will have gained a lot of experience here at Bailey Gardiner that will take me places in my future.

So after spending 50+ hours a week on working and school it can be hard to relax and get a second to breathe, but I must admit I love it. As long as you enjoy what you do it never really feels like work. I can’t wait to learn more about advertising and put my skills to use. As for now…Coffee is my new best friend as are bagels!

Hire Me

2010-02-18T15:16:00.000-08:00

Today's blog post is going to be a bit different than others I have produced in the past. It won't be about board sports, hurting myself, or stealing back bicycles. It's about trying a different approach to getting hired. After getting sick of writing the quintessential cover letters, I thought I would try something a bit different.

To start off, I understand that 1 million+ other young professionals are in my shoes at the moment. Trying to land that solid entry-level job. Possessing the skills, knowledge and know-how is not the question. I am sure myself and others are all roughly around the same skill set. But differentiating myself is key to landing that stellar position that I want and oh so need.

I have a college degree. Bachelor's of Science degree in advertising and a Minor in business marketing. Me and about a trillion others. I have internship experience at a creative and innovative advertising agency as well as roughly a year experience working in corporate America. I am very technologically savvy, I know and understand most computer programs and if I don't it will take me 30 seconds to figure it out. I understand social media and have had a Facebook account since it began back in 2004. I know I am a veteran. I consider myself to be creative. So does my mom. She always hung up my drawings on the refrigerator. When I was in middle school one of my poems I wrote in class was published in a nationally renown book of literature.

I strive to be a trendsetter, my newest accomplishment has been bringing the 'high-five' back. Think it's not back or hasn't gone anywhere? Think again. It was all me.

I have had a very diverse background. One that I feel makes me fairly well-rounded. I once worked on a commercial fishing boat in the Bering Sea. Similar to the show "The Deadliest Catch" only not in the dead of winter. Being out at sea on a 32' boat with only two others; a crusty, grumpy captain and a crystal meth addict going through withdrawals for a month straight was no easy task. Not to mention the 20 hour days...

I also worked as a wild-land firefighter. Saving mother nature's gorgeous landscape and foliage from destruction. As well as protecting homes and people's lives. I've seen a few dead burnt cows and enough rattle snakes to fill up a dump-truck.

I used to instruct celebrities how to snowboard. Well one or two celebs. Meg Ryan count?

I saved a resort building from burning down from a chemical fire. Harker Center in Elkhorn, ID, still have the letter of appreciation if you want to read it.

I volunteered and taught underprivileged children with disabilities how to swim in Seattle, WA.

I have worked in many restaurants, created my own hot sauce, made a rap song, was an All-State basketball player in high school, drank Kava with a prince of a small island in Fiji, well that one is kind of irrelevant and I am not sure if he was a prince, that's just what he told me.

I have compiled a 'Man Resume' as I call it. A list of all the things I want to accomplish before I die. Most current between #46- Surf in Nicaragua and #48- Save dolphins from the Taiji, Japan dolphin slaughter, is land a job with a solid salary and good benefits. I really hope I accomplish #47 before I die. Or before I have to move onto #48 cause that plane ticket will be $pendy.

If you or someone you know is looking for an outstanding, handsome, hardworking young man with a hunger to learn and willingness to do just about anything, feel free to shoot me an email: jayhofman@gmail.com.

Healthcare Reform, Please?

2010-02-09T14:22:00.001-08:00

It started out as a gorgeous sunny Southern California day as I made my way up the 5 freeway towards LA. Sun glistening like a million little diamonds across the ocean as I pass Camp Pendleton and charge north. 5 minutes later a monsoon came down and rained harder then Seattle, WA in the winter time. Trust me, I used to live there. Traffic came to a crawl and the drive just reached unbearable.

My destination was Mammoth Lakes, CA. Where the beautiful Mammoth Mountain resides. The word big is not a good choice for describing the sheer size of the mountain along with the massive amounts of snow it receives every year. After hurdling through the cesspool of horrible drivers known as LA traffic, the open road and beautiful mountains ensued. As well as a handful of small Indian Casinos. My favorite was the Paiute Palace in Bishop, CA, frankly because myself and my two companions doubled our money in 10 minutes by playing blackjack. Money won and Mammoth bound!

The snow was towering, taller then myself and I am 6'7". The level was almost to the second story balcony at our condo. It was fantastic, the snow conditions were great. Although they didn't open the top half of the mountain due to high winds, the bottom half still sufficed for my snowboard fix. Two hours into our first day on the mountain, I was off in the trees getting some un-tracked lines. After dropping off a small cliff, I ran into a semi-protruding rock under the snow. Bang, right on my left shin. It was like being kicked by a girl back in elementary school. You know how flirting was back in those days. A solid bang, but nothing I haven't felt before.

After taking a breather, I continued snowboarding for 5 more hours without checking my shin. When it was time to leave, I was rolling up my pants to take off my boots and my long-underwear was completely blood drenched. A thick red all the way down my shin to my sock then dripping on my shoe. I knew it was bad at that point and pulled up my long-underwear only to reveal a large gash right on my shin down to the bone. I won't go into details but it looked like something out of a horror flick.

I knew I had to get stitches and I was upset about it. Not having any health insurance due to being laid-off almost a year ago and not having sufficient funds to afford it, I knew the bill would be the worst part of this experience. Luckily the family medical center in Mammoth Lakes was open on that Saturday so I didn't have to go to the Emergency Room. That would've cost me probably 5 times more.

They squeezed me in roughly 7 hours after the incident occurred. 5 stitches and $435 later, I was sewn up and broke. It was outrageous how much it cost for only being in there for 45 minutes and only having 5 stitches done. I understand that it would've been much cheaper if I had health insurance but still, come on, $435 are you kidding me? Not only that it was the first day of a supposed-to-be two day snowboard trip so I had to lay on the couch all day Sunday watching the snow fall.

The doctor recommended that I have another doctor take a look at it down here in San Diego as well as remove the stitches in two weeks. Sadly that isn't going to happen because I cannot afford to go to the doctor again this month. As for the stitch removal, my Mom who is a nurse, gave me some medical tools awhile back so I will get a chance to put them to use.

I know, I need to get health insurance. But even if I get a plan that is affordable to me, the deductible is going to still be fairly high. Help me out here President Obama, so I can go snowboarding again and worry about how deep the powder is, not about getting injured.

Working for Free

2010-01-28T10:21:00.001-08:00

Graduating from school a year and a half ago and still not having a solid career is becoming very frustrating. Everyday I search through the job boards, connect with people and hope that soon I will have that job I've been looking for. With the economy we are facing and me being a recent college grad with little experience, it is very difficult and frustrating.

I came over an opportunity the other day that at first I was a little hesitant to accept. But after contemplating the pros and cons I have decided to pursue it. As an action sports enthusiast (surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding), I have always wanted to work within that industry. Whether it be advertising or marketing, I have a pretty solid grasp on the sports and the direction they are heading.

My sister who has worked in the industry for almost 6 years now, told me about a friend of hers who started-up a website dedicated solely to action sports news/products/athletes/etc... I reached out to him in hopes that I could pick his brain and get an idea of what he is trying to create. After getting the background on the company and his experience in the industry, he offered me an opportunity to do some freelance work and help out with marketing and advertising efforts.

There were a couple key factors that made me decide to take his offer. One being that it is the industry I have always wanted to work in. Also, being able to utilize my education, what I have learned here at Bailey Gardiner, and my work experience/background in the action sports culture. It is a great opportunity for me to get some real hands-on experience, take ownership, and the potential to be apart of something big. The only kicker is that I will be working for free, no salary or hourly pay. I will however be getting some free gear and receiving shares of the company.

I figure I have been poor since I went to college (2004), graduated poor (2008), still currently am poor and foresee myself being poor for quite sometime. Right now it's not about the money so much, although it would be nice, but being apart of something with a lot of potential and getting some great hands-on experience is worth it to me.

The website launched a couple months ago, Action Sports Today. I am very excited to take part and to be able to continue learning and getting some great experience. If it works out or not, I know this will prove to be very beneficial for me down the road.

Experience is a productof everything you do

2010-01-24T22:11:00.000-08:00

A young designer will face fierce competition while attempting to break into the industry. This is doubly so in San Diego, where only a limited number of advertising agencies and design studios exist. A sluggish economy further limits the opportunities available to a fledgling designer. Having freelanced for design studios and ad agencies since my 2008 graduation, I've experienced first-hand how exhausting it can be to find your niche in a highly competitive industry.

When I was offered an internship position at Bailey Gardiner in November of last year, I couldn't wait to start. Though I've worked in fairly broad range of studio environments, the experience I've gained over the past two and a half months at BG has been invaluable. In addition to collaborating with a diverse group of creative professionals, I have also been given the opportunity to produce work for a variety of clients. My mentors at BG provide effective art direction which allows me to use my design ability both efficiently and effectively. I'm also given enough room to spread my wings and maximize my creativity — a rare luxury for an intern.

The quality of art direction, the level of client interaction and the efficiency of the organization as a whole has been inspiring and the number of portfolio-level pieces I've produced is exciting. My experience at Bailey Gardiner has been fantastic and has steeled my resolve to excel in my chosen field, regardless of the obstacles I may face along the way.

My Most Exciting Moment While Interning at BG

2010-01-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

Everyday is an exciting day here at Bailey Gardiner, however today has become the most exciting day of my Intern career. It started out as a fairly normal day, I came to work and continued my regular routine. Coffee, emails, receiving of my daily schedule, voice mails (rarely have any), continuation of my daily projects, coffee, whatever they throw at me, etc... Today, oh Google AdWords, how very exciting! It seemed to be a normal day until my immediate boss, Becca, included me in a special top secret project: Operation Bike Retrieval.

I have had some experience in the past dealing with hostile environments, none of which however would've prepared me for today's mission. Becca had a beautiful pink Electra cruiser bike that she loved so dearly until it was stolen from her two days ago. She was devastated, couldn't eat anything, couldn't sleep, couldn't continue on living. Until she found her bike for sale on Craigslist and hope was then restored. Becca continued to set up a time with the seller to check out the bike and confirm it was in fact hers. Around 13:00 PST Thursday, January 14th, 2010, we met the enemy face to face. Nerves were running high as we entered the thieves hideout. Becca took the bike for a test ride and confirmed the bike was in fact hers. Questions ensued about how the man obtained the bicycle. He fabricated some unbelievable story, then Becca unveiled the truth, that the bike was hers and the man was busted.

He was defensive, about ready to fight and attack Becca until I stepped in and intervened. Becca took off with the bike, I wrestled the man down with a sleeper-hold maneuver I learned in Boy Scouts. I submitted him into the ground, he was out cold. We escaped the situation with the bike and our lives. I'll never forget that moment, most exciting moment while interning here at Bailey Gardiner, Intern turned Super Hero...

Then I snapped out of my day dream and we rolled up to the house. Becca knocked on the door and the man showed her the bike for sale. She said it was originally hers and that it was stolen. He said go ahead and take your bike, and that was that. Case closed, Operation Bike Retrieval was a success. No ninja moves were needed, just a simple, "Hey, that's my bike and it was stolen" and a "Okay, go ahead and take it back". I look forward to the next top secret Bailey Gardiner Intern mission.

A Very Swell Christmas

2009-12-29T10:23:00.000-08:00

A very yuleTIDE Christmas and happy holidays to everyone! For me, Christmas was fairly uneventful this year. I didn't make it home due to outlandish airline ticket prices as well as frigid temperatures. Instead I opted to stay here and start a new Christmas morning tradition. Surfing. Santa Claus was generous this year with a very large Christmas swell hitting the coast throughout the weekend.

I have never surfed during the winter months, nor experienced a large winter swell of this magnitude so for me it was quite the occurrence. While being up in Los Angeles over the weekend, my sister, future brother-in-law and I took a short drive up to Ventura, CA to surf the famous "C Street" point break. When we got there, the surf was massive. There were a lot of people out in the lineup, but just as many if not more on the beach watching the show go down. Paddling out is particularly tricky at this spot because there is such a strong current flowing down the beach. If you are not careful or not a strong paddler you could end up a mile or so down the beach into the pier.

The waves were huge, I took a serious beating just paddling out to the lineup. They were growing every minute and they would break farther out then the previous. It was getting serious, waves were taking guys out left and right. About after an hour a sneaker set rolled through and I was caught on the inside of the wave. Just facing a 15' + mammoth about to break on top of me, which is exactly what it did. A sheer nightmare for what seemed to be forever. I was tossed around like a rag doll, got the wind knocked out of me and held down in the dark abyss. I remember opening my eyes and only seeing pitch black. When I finally reached the surface, another wave came in right behind me and did the same. I was absolutely certain that I was going to die right there. Somehow I managed to reach the surface again, climbed back on to my board and made my way to the shore. As I threw up the remaining salt water in my lungs and stomach, I couldn't believe I made it out of there alive.

It was a Christmas to remember at the least.

Trying to correlate advertising during a recession and surfing big waves is tough but if you have a little imagination you can see the similarities. Surfing big waves is like advertising during a recession- companies are afraid to spend ad dollars due to the tightening of budgets and the risk of going bankrupt. Surfers are afraid to surf big waves due to the risk of injury or even death. But if you take the chance, whether it be spending more ad dollars and setting yourself apart from the cowering competition or take off on that big wave for the ride of your life, the end result is definitely well worth the risk.

Ad Intern 1: Full, but not stuffed

2009-12-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well, the day has finally come. I’m nearing the close of my last day at Bailey Gardiner. It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling at the moment. I’m excited to have some extra time, which will sadly be taken up mostly by studying for finals. However, I’m definitely sad to be leaving this office. As I was saying in my last blog post, I have learned more here than I ever could have learned in a classroom. Before starting my internship, I was skeptical because of stories I’ve heard or things I’ve seen on TV shows, movies, etc. Would I be making coffee and licking envelopes all day? No, definitely not. I never made coffee for anyone but myself thanks to the wonderful Keurig. And my wonderful supervisor, Becca, let me in on the secret to sealing envelopes – wet paper towel. As you can see, two possible issues were easily averted. They’ve got your back at BG.

I’d like to focus on some of the things I was able to be a part of during my semester long internship. I was able to attend multiple meetings with clients, one being a focus group, where I was able to see first-hand how people would interact with a new product and service (2 out of 3 meetings included a meal, which is definitely a score in an unpaid position). I was able to research companies that I’d never heard of and find out that I might even be the type of person they’re targeting. I was able to talk with several publications and negotiate rates for insertions. I was able to start the coordination of a project for college students that helped a client with their market research needs. I was able to flex my editing muscles on test messages and Eblasts. I was able to learn about paid advertisements on Google and start a new campaign with keywords. I was able to express my thoughts on an intern-run blog. I was able to make some new friends, both interns and full-time employees. But one of the most important things I was able to do, and I believe this is true for all interns, was that I was able to add experience to my resume.

When you look at it on paper, it may be only a few words, sentences, or lines of information. But in reality, it’s a whole lot more than that. The next words I’ll be able to add to my resume will sum up an incredible opportunity I was given. Obviously, a few lines won’t do it justice, but hopefully future employers will understand how much it meant when I answer any questions they might have. In a time when so many are finding it difficult to land an interview with an employer, let alone a job, a resume plays a critical role. It is important to have your resume stand out and stand out for the right reasons. Having your resume stand out because of grammar or spelling errors, doesn’t count. I haven’t entered this scary new job market yet and I have a feeling it will be a long process until I find a good fit for me, but starting out with a well prepared resume is definitely what I plan on focusing on. So wish me luck as I enter my last semester of college and eventually join the job search.

Ad Intern 1 is definitely full from a wonderful meal at Bailey Gardiner, but I’m leaving room for dessert.

This Economy Sucks, I am going Snowboarding

2009-12-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

Around this time of the year I have a tradition to get myself prepared for the upcoming snowboard season. It starts with digging my snowboard out of a pile of assorted sports equipment in the garage. Always a daunting task because it is constantly at the very bottom. Then dusting it off, prepping it to be waxed, and making sure I have plenty of ice-cold Pabst at hand. I'll throw my goggles on for good measure, turn the iron on, grab a nice fresh stick of deliciously scented wax, pop in one my favorite snowboard videos, and wax away.

Lucky for me I grew up by a well renown ski resort and only had to drive 5 minutes to get to there. Living in San Diego is a completely different story with the closest decent mountain being 6 hours away. I never had to plan out a ski vacation ahead of time, it was more or less looking outside my bedroom window in the morning to see how much it had snowed the night before. For the average consumer, deciding the morning before or even a week before is not an option. Or is it? With the economy in shambles and an unclear future, consumers are finding it unrealistic to book a ski vacation 4 to 6 months in advance. Making reservations for 1 to 2 weeks in advance is seemingly becoming the norm. At least for Vail Resorts.

After watching a interesting clip featuring the CEO of Vail Resorts, Rob Katz, he explained how they have completely changed their marketing efforts for this upcoming season. By focusing on Social Media and advertising with real-time messages as opposed to committing to print ads 4 to 6 months in advance or long-lead traditional advertising. Attracting consumers with weekly real-time messages and being able to "accelerate the consumer decision cycle" is proving to be the new route. Attracting consumers with videos on social sites of skiers/boarders jumping off cliffs, powder shooting everywhere, or as some put it "ski porn" versus traditional means is allowing Vail to adapt to the economic conditions at hand.

I am really not looking forward to the 6 hour drive, but after watching online videos of snowboarders hucking themselves off of cliffs into 4' deep powder, I feel myself getting more and more eager to go shred.

Advertising is... lessons learned from my first 5 days as an Intern

2009-11-24T13:28:00.000-08:00

Coming hot out of college, with my B.S. Degree IN Advertising, I thought I knew it all. Definitely not even close. As a newly appointed Intern here at Bailey Gardiner, (and one of the few men in the office), I am starting to pick up on a lot of things.

Learning is key in this position I recently acquired. The first lesson I learned here was not to operate the printer-copier machine on my own because it's basically rocket science to figure out. Other than learning to avoid the printer-copier, I have done copious amounts of research/excel work. Also expanding my knowledge on our current clients as well as learning about potential clients and new markets is very beneficial.

One of the highlights was getting invited to a brainstorming session at lunch for one of our clients, Brookfield Homes. I was very excited for a chance to display my creativity. I felt a little nervous about sitting in, not knowing anyone and hoping that something will jump-start my brain like a shot of creative-roids from the black market creative doctor. I mean after all, my Mom thinks I am really creative from all the paintings and projects I've done since kindergarden, but I wasn't sure that would translate into the professional world. It was a great experience to sit through the brainstorm and hear everyone's ideas on ways to market the new Rockrose development.

Next thing I am slowly picking up on is that Social Media isn't just about how many friends I have on facebook, or the banner ads consisting of "Meet hot girls in your area". Nor is about how sweet myspace is for listening to new bands or twitter updates about going to the beach or eating a bag of Cheetos. Social Media is about connecting brands to the users. I am still not exactly sure what people use twitter for, but I am confident that will be one of the concepts I learn here at Bailey Gardiner.

I feel like being one of the few men in the office comes into play with my point of view and also me being the Baritone in the Bailey Gardiner Christmas Choir (Coming soon). Which for me was another highlight here at BG Creative.

All in all being here has been a great experience and I look forward to continuing my education from some of the best in the business. I feel like there is a strong correlation between the contents of my first ever blog post and the advertising industry. A little random, complex (printer-copier), and constantly changing. Just like my time spent here. From brainstorms and social media, to researching "Pet energy bars", and also Bailey Gardiner benefitting from my exceptional vocal chords, it has been a great 5 days and I am excited for what the future brings.

Nearing the End

2009-11-20T15:29:00.000-08:00

Sadly, I now only have 7 days left here at Bailey Gardiner. Luckily, unlike a lot of intern stories I’ve heard from friends and family, I am actually sad about this fact. I have had such an unbelievable experience here at Bailey Gardiner and will truly miss the people and overall atmosphere that I have been a part of for the last 3 months. I came in not knowing much about this industry apart from what I learned in school and will come out with triple, if not more, the experience. The ad team graciously took me under their wing and taught me things that will continue to benefit me throughout my career.

During my time at the agency, I have learned quite a few valuable lessons:

1. Don’t forget your chap stick on the first day. But if you do, Rite Aid will assist you in whatever you need.

2. Thesaurus.com doesn’t just come in handy for college papers.

3. When they tell you there are enough mugs and you can use the Keurig whenever you want – they mean it. I brought my own anyways, but still.

4. I’ve added a few new acronyms to my AIM handbook. EOD (End of Day) and DND (Do NOT Disturb) and brought back an old favorite – BRB.

5. Beware of the toaster. You might think it’s on light when it’s actually on BLACK.

6. An errand to Hazard Center that takes 15 minutes total could easily turn into 45 when you return to find ZERO parking spots.

7. You can never own too much leopard print. Or argyle.

On a more serious note, I have obtained more experience than I could ever imagine. I have attended multiple client meetings, including a focus group, where I was able to witness first hand the interactions between clients, the targeted demographic, and the team here at Bailey Gardiner. I performed hours of research for clients – both new and established – including everything from suicide to birth control to San Diego casinos to seed embedded paper. Have I mentioned they have a very broad spectrum of clients here at BG? I researched naming rights and trademark information for new brands and campaigns. I’ve also had the opportunity to assist in putting together a media plan for a new campaign by researching the area’s publications and even negotiating rates for future spots and inserts. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my less glamorous intern days – filing collateral, walking back and forth between Seaport Village and the Convention Center – in heels (still have the blisters to prove it), braving the streets of both Hillcrest and Downtown San Diego with fellow intern, Jen, to put up flyers for one of our client’s events, having my fingers cramp up while tabulating results from surveys, and the inevitable newbie initiation – candy cart. But even tasks such as these have been a learning experience that will benefit me later on.

Throughout all of this, I’ve been able to improve my communication skills through email with people in the office, potential vendors, and many more. I’ve been a part of projects that have yet to hit the mainstream market. I even got to flex my culinary muscles for the Halloween potluck. I’m putting the past 3 months in a very special place in my memory and consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to call myself a Bailey Gardiner intern. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be able to send in my resume in response to a job posting on Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid someday.

Fingers crossed.

Product Placement

2009-11-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

Ever since starting my internship at an advertising agency in San Diego, I’ve become hyper aware of advertisements. (Duh, I know.) From the paid advertisements on Google to soda machine covers at trolley stations, I notice it all. But right now, I’m especially intrigued by product placement. I always knew it existed and even noticed it a few times before in movies and TV shows. But I never paid much attention. Shows such as American Idol (Coca-Cola) and Top Chef (Gladware) have exceptional amounts of product placement. However, no amount of product placement can compete with that found in one episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Between the tear jerking introduction to the needing family and the final reveal, copious amounts of product placement take place. Companies have found a gold mine in this show. Everything including window manufacturers (Pella windows) furniture brands (Sears), kitchen appliances (Kenmore), the family’s vacation (Disneyland Resorts), giveaway vehicles (Ford) and even gifted prescriptions to those dealing with an illness (CVS Pharmacy) are all featured on the show. Weekly. Ever wondered how they get all of this “free” merchandise to help build and furnish the house? There’s your answer. To me, this seems like the easiest and most effective way to get your brand name out there. In respect to Extreme Makeover especially, these brands are seen as generous and willing to help the average American, which speaks to about every person watching the show. It’s almost impossible to watch the show and not feel slightly guilty complaining about…anything. After watching a couple that already had 4 children of their own and took in their 6 nieces and nephews (between the ages of 16-22), no questions asked, into a 3 bedroom, dilapidated house - my life doesn’t seem quite so difficult. The products and companies lucky and/or smart enough to be featured on Extreme Makeover know what they’re doing. I’ve even caught myself googling (is that considered a word, yet?) some of the things I see. Hmm…mission accomplished? In a world where TiVo and DVR are becoming so prominent, it seems as though companies have found their loophole in advertising to the general public.

The Importance of an Internship

2009-11-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

As a student that wants to break into the creative side of advertising there are two main components for getting in. The first is an awesome portfolio filled with great ideas and the other is who you know. But what if you don’t know anyone in the advertising industry are you doomed to go from one closed door to then next, even try to see if you can wiggle open a cracked window? Well that may be the case but there is an easier way. Get an internship. A creative internship is beneficial for educating, networking, and getting real work.

Creative internship gives you education that you can’t get in a classroom. It puts you at the agency right in the environment. Where real projects are going on around you and the creative team is pitching ideas that can actually be published. You can get advice from Art Directors and Copywriters who are doing this everyday. They are there to give you the experience to get started in the business. A place to see where you fit in right, maybe it’s a small agency, maybe it’s a big agency, or maybe it’s somewhere in the middle.

Having a creative internship makes for great networking opportunities. Not only do you know all the people in the creative department by first name you have their email and phone numbers. And as long as you don’t screw up your internship they will probably answer future questions you will have once the internship is done. Possibly giving you letter of recommendations or a great reference for your resume. Another cool thing is that the advertising industry is a close knit one where a lot of people know a lot of other people in the industry. So your Art Directors and Copywriters know other Art Directors and Copywriters in the area or maybe even out of the area. Where one contact can easily become 5 contacts, then even 20 contacts. And for a business where getting in is half based on who you know, it’s a good way of meeting people.

A creative internship is also great for getting real work for your portfolio. This is based on getting an internship where the agency actually lets you do work, besides running errands and getting coffee (I’m very sorry if your in one like that). A student portfolio is based on make believe clients that a lot of agencies wish they could have. The thing is none of that work is published; the only place it can be seen is in your book.Interning gives you the chance to get your ideas published, and having published work in your book, as a student, is quite an accomplishment.

So I bet your wondering how you get in a creative internship. Well first you need to do your research, find out where you want to intern. Once you found where, you need to find out who the creative team is and you will want to contact them to find out if they offer internships. If they do offer internships then send them your resume along with some samples of your work. If they tend to take a little while to respond be patient, they are very busy people, but you can always send a polite friendly email asking on the status. If they ask you to come in for an interview treat it like an actual job interview, they don’t want someone who can’t be professional interning at their agency, so be prepared. Talk to your career services at your school for some tips. Most agencies are more willing to take on an intern than hire a junior with no experience, so put yourself out there and see what you can do.

Fall = Crafts

2009-10-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Why does fall make me want to make tea, bundle up in a sweatshirt and Uggs, and…craft? (I’m not sure that’s even an actual verb) I’m even more confused when I think about the fact that I live in San Diego, the land of limited seasons. Not that I’m complaining, but we don’t usually see our fair share of changing leaves. Of course, I have a 20 minute presentation tomorrow that I need to finish my PowerPoint for, but all I can think about is carving pumpkins, making wreaths, and glue…crazy amounts of glue. Because this is our second year off campus and we live in a neighborhood where trick-or-treaters are bountiful, I’m all about “keeping up with the Johnson’s” when it comes to holiday decorations. However, the fact that I’m not actually bringing in any money of my own right now creates a problem. Apparently, these things cost money? Luckily, there are plenty of helpful (depending on your interpretation of the word) websites with tons of do-it-yourself projects for those of us on a budget. My favorites so far are carving elegant pumpkins – I need to find these green ones with orange on the inside, decorating with fall leaves (see above for how disappointed I am about this one), and making luminaries out of dried gourds – I just like the title of this one, haven’t heard ‘luminaries’ in a while. But none of these really compared when I found out I could make my own clock. I don’t know why, but I really like clocks (my roommates thank me everyday for the Campbell’s Soup clock prominently displayed in our kitchen. Don’t worry, I took out the battery that enables it to play a song every hour). If I could have one in every room, I would and probably will at some point. But that’s beside the point. Being an intern in a creative environment (especially one that goes all out for Halloween) gets me really excited about things like this. I see things all day long that inspire me and I’m excited for this fall “season” so that I can put all of this inspiration to work through projects and crafts. Bring on the scissors and glue.

Brand Session

2009-09-28T15:10:00.001-07:00

Today, I got to live out the reason I’ve chosen to look into the marketing industry. When I learned about marketing in my classes, it interested me immediately. I had this vision of sitting on couches (now I envision an orange couch for some reason…) throwing around ideas and getting to use my creativity in a totally different way. Once I started at Bailey Gardiner, I immediately realized that there was WAY more to it than that, but today I found out that it is truly a huge part of this industry. I was invited to attend a Brand Session today for a new client on Friday evening and could hardly contain my excitement over the weekend. I told anyone and everyone who asked about anything relating to work and had my outfit ironed and ready to go by Sunday afternoon. At this point, I wasn’t entirely sure what a Brand Session was (being from Texas, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried…hot metal, anyone?), but I knew it would be an incredible learning experience.

So this morning, determined to be on time or slightly early (Jennifer had explained that we would be leaving promptly at 7:40), I arrived at the front door at 7:25. Problem. I learned the hard way that yes, it’s always good to be a little early, but don’t push it. Especially when you risk the chance of being the first person at the office. With no key. I stood at the door looking confused and lost to all the morning traffic on 6th Avenue. Luckily, Jennifer saved me 5 minutes later - during which time I took the opportunity to buy juice at the 76 on the corner. Essentials.

We left a few minutes later to head to the client’s office (I’m sworn to secrecy at this point, sorry guys), where we were greeted by a lovely spread of Einstein’s bagels, coffee, juice and fruit. I felt like I had made it big time. After the introductions and perusing of the goods, the meeting started. This is when the learning began. Jennifer took charge right away and led thought provoking discussions and activities. From magazine cut-outs to price sensitivity – everything was covered. Not to mention – my new obsession. Super-sized sticky notes. Those of you that know me, know how much I love sticky notes and making lists. Trouble. What I enjoyed the most was the balance between the BG presentation and client interaction. Neither side seemed to be overwhelmed and was able to share their point of view in order to give the Bailey Gardiner team enough information to create a brand that encompasses all of the important details while still being elusive enough that consumers will want to find out more information on their own. A pretty tough task, if you ask me. But this is what they do all day long and have obviously been extremely successful. I’m not worried. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

To sum up, I’m excited to see if anything can top what I was able to experience today during my next 2 months or so of interning. If anything, this just gives me that much more motivation and understanding of what I want to pursue when I finish school in May. I know I won’t always have days like this, but it’s a refreshing change of pace and a huge building block to add to my foundation in this industry.

Halloween Dilemma

2009-09-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Cute or sexy? This is a dilemma that every girl faces when trying to come up with the perfect Halloween costume. There are the tried and true options for those of us that aren’t up for showing off our assets – fairy, witch, vampire, clown, angel, devil, storybook characters…the list is endless. These all seem harmless enough, right? Wrong. Pretty much every idea you can think of also comes in a “sexy” version - with plenty of leg to spare. Even Belle from Beauty and the Beast comes complete with white thigh highs. Not exactly what I remember from my favorite childhood movie. Alice in Wonderland? Try “Miss Wonderland” with the description, “Play the cards any way you want, you sassy heartbreaker!” I don’t think White Rabbit or Cheshire Cat would approve.

I get it. People use Halloween as an excuse to wear whatever they want and not have to explain their morals. But when did it become so extreme? Celebrities definitely take advantage of this holiday. Anything from Naughty Nurse to Captivating Captain (including Louboutin heels…so not fair)

to Red Hot Flirty Firefighter is fair game. I’m reminded of a scene from Mean Girls when Lindsay Lohan dresses up as an “Ex-wife” and everyone is thrown for a loop. Definitely not what she chose for her real life costume…

And you would think guys’ costumes are free and clear. Again, wrong. A few options to choose from: Firefighter with Big Hose, Breathalyzer, and Catch of the Day Big Fish. I won’t go into descriptions for any of these, but you get the picture.

So what’s a girl to do? Being in my last year of college, I want to take advantage of my last chance to make a big deal out of Halloween. However, now that we’re in a world where social websites reign supreme, I have to keep in mind that any pictures that are taken could and probably will land on Facebook. Dun dun dun. Not so sure I want my current or future employer (let alone my mom) to see pictures of me as a Lucky Ladybug or Shipmate Cutie. My worry is that are other college students aren’t taking this precaution when picking out their Halloween costumes. I know, you have your Facebook page locked down and no one can see your pictures, right? I’m pretty sure there are ways around any of that. I know I’m not banking on that fact. I’m sure most wouldn’t take the time to override anything, but you never know. Trust me, I won’t be showing up anywhere in a floor length gown, but I will be taking these things into account when putting together my costume. Right now, my options are: Flapper Girl (I’m taking my inspiration from Lauren Conrad, which seems pretty reasonable)

or Katy Perry (I know, super conservative). But I’m pretty sure I can make either of them work without being too over the top.

I just wish the middle ground wasn’t so hard to find. Any suggestions?

Tweeting with Justin Timberlake

2009-09-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

I wish. So I’m new to the Twitter phenomenon - 28 tweets total as of now. At first, I tried to take the casual approach, “Ehh, I just want to see what celebrities are up to and find out where good sales are. No big.” THEN I started my internship here at Bailey Gardiner. This is when I came to realize that Twitter is way more than that. I had only considered the reasons why I would want to be on Twitter, not why those stores with crazy sales or new products were tweeting like crazy. It really has become a whole new way to advertise (I know, haven’t heard that one before, huh?). Whether users realize it or not, places that you follow are constantly advertising. Even celebrities are advertising. Whether it be a new movie, show or other venture they are working on or a magazine they want you to pick up to see their 5-page spread – they’re advertising, promoting, whatever you want to call it. THEN I started to see that some of these celebrities and places were tweeting back. Needless to say, I have a new task. I’m tweeting like crazy to anyone and everyone who might give me some props. Sadly, I haven’t had any hits yet. As of now, I have tweets out to:

Justin Timberlake - I asked for free tickets to his show in Vegas for my boyfriend’s 21st, which I thought was plausible since I also said he could hang out with us.

Rachel Zoe – Telling her I couldn’t wait for her show. Even included a countdown. Pretty sure I said “I DIE” and “BANANAS” a couple times for good measure.

Brad Goreski (from Rachel Zoe) – Told him that his bow ties were the highlight of my week.

Burger Lounge - I joined their following one day too late and missed the FREE burgers.

Rob Dyrdek - My boyfriend and I are convinced that he would want to be our best friend if he let us come hang out at the Fantasy Factory. Dream big.

And my latest one was to my boyfriend - If nothing else, at least I’ll get one pity reply. Hopefully.

So my question is…What gives? Am I just aiming too high or are there tricks of the trade that I don’t know about? I figured I’d start at the top and see what happened. I thought I’d get lucky with at least one, but no - Notta. Zip. Nein. I realize that being a 21-year-old college student/intern isn’t that appealing but c’mon people, have a heart. Of course, this doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying. I will continue to get excited/nervous every time my TweetDeck has a notification. I refuse to let this dream die. I will tweet with Justin Timberlake.