Day after D-Day: FFW Next Generation Day 2015

About Sheridan Advertising Account Management

Day After D-Day

Leo Burnett...

I am still reeling with excitement even a day after. It's one thing to hear advice from industry professionals in the first half of the day, it's another to hear it from the people behind the icons like Tony the Tiger and the Jolly Green Giant.

We got a quick tour of the place from Accounts to Creative. It was a quick tour to get acquainted with the place in case we get to work there in the future. Lighting was kinda dim. Most of the lighting came from the lamps each table had, which made sense since darkness can stimulate concentration to a certain extent.. at least that's how I like it. Poor Linda, she had a hard time giving the tour with her voice box being strained. It actually felt a lot better to know how determined people are there in Leo Burnett if they're willing to give a tour with a sore throat.

Next up we were brought to the meeting room for pizza and drinks. Social time for everyone. While indulging in free drinks and pizza, we got to meet the COO & President of Leo Burnett Canada, Dom Caruso. Pretty straight-forward guy, gave a short speech on what to expect for the day, tips in the industry, and answered a few of our questions. I had a few inqiries regarding the company's outlook or working habit titled, Humankind. Thankfully, Dom clarified it what I read in their website.

Pays to do your research before the actual interview or meet.

After the enlightening welcome from Dom, Marcus Sager of the Creative Department came into the room to introduce his experience in said department. At first I was expecting a winding conversation on art and the design...I have no problems with it since I want to work for the creative department. It's just that my drawing skills aren't exactly that sharp. But that all changed when we explained that he started out as a copywriter.

BOOM! That's a plus in the motivation line.

The slides he had were pretty simple and entertaining, expect no less from someone in the creative dept. I totally agreed with him when he said that ideas don't usually come from the meetings, sometimes it would just come out while having a coffee. An example of that would be the commercial for Ikea that highlighted the warranty of the products. The actors insinuated sex on the counter to prove just how much the warranty will cover. Shit that's taking it too far.

But hey, he said the client has to trust you a lot to give the OK for something so risque...another sound advice.

Too bad the talk with creative was short-lived. Up next was the Accounts department. And true to their objective or approach to all meetings, it was quick and concise. They provided words of wisdom (First person I remembered was Colin and his words of wisdom before every class). I appreciate the Accounts department, but sadly, I have no love for it nor do I want to work in that department.

Next on the itinerary was the digital or technology department. At first, I thought it was another way of calling the Media department then I was proven wrong by Felix. He talked about code and the people behind the scenes who made a really big difference. That's when it kicked me that they handled the traffic management and maintenance of websites and digital code. Very technical stuff and something most, if not, all in the room did not understand. It caught my attention, however, since I love techie stuff and the terminology was something familiar to me.

Enter the Triumvirate. I was actually surprised that I was the only one in the room who knows what the word means and signifies. I learned the meaning and symbolism of the word, Triumvirate, in Latin class. Julius Caesar, Pompeius Magnus, and Marcus Crassus --- boom there goes 4 years of studying the dead language.

Anyway, we had a brainstorming for ideas for the upcoming Ikea campaign focusing on Moving Day (April 1) in Montreal. Now, I'm not sure if whatever came out of that meeting will be used in the coming campaign, but I am very interested to know the outcome. As a gamer, I started mouthing out ideas like a website dedicated to helping out the families prior to the move, the website would be designed and played like Sims. The website would allow families to design a room based on the dimensions given to them by their real estate brokers and the website would create a mock design of the room, also allowing the users to place a plethora of furniture or appliances that are already available in store. So it's kinda like knowing what the room will look before you actually move...alleviates the stress of doing it on the spot after the move.

No mess, no stress...

Sadly, the afternoon/ evening ended a lot earlier than expected and we all had to say our goodbyes. Luckily, I got to [roughly] introduce myself to the staff and to the creative team. I hope to God that they'll at least consider what I have and what I can do when it comes to writing and conceptualizing.