What would I do if I were in your shoes?

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OK, TIME TO GRADUATE… NOW WHAT?

My Big Picture Suggestions• Accept that you will likely have 4-5 different jobs in your life.

– Don’t panic, you aren’t choosing a job for the next 30 years; probably not for even the next 30 months.

• Assume you have 20 years to complete your career and plan accordingly.

• Start at the best name you can.– Media and Account People work laterally, Planners and Creatives work up– Where you start defines where you can go

• If you try something and don’t like it, move on.– “It’s not your fault you are in a crap job. It is your fault if you stay.”

• Sally Hogshead

• Sometimes the shortest route to where you want to be runs through graduate school.

• Make a plan; without one you will become a plate spinner.

My suggestionsAd Agency 1) Start in hot agency, 2) start in big semi-hot agency, 3) Start in next breakthrough agency

Marketer 1) Start famous packaged goods, 2) go tech, 3) get an MBA

Commercial Production

Choose by famous Director

Media Sales 1) Start in a Media Agency 2) start in the medium you want to stay in, 3) start in the most famous one

Direct Marketing 1) Start agency side in a specialist company like Digitas

PR Start in top agency jobs e.g. Hill & Knolton

INTERNET 1) Work for Google, 2) Work for not Google, but one of the biggies e.g. Yahoo

Sales Promotion Start Client side with a P&G or J&J type company

Entertainment Start with most famous company you can.

Sports Marketing 1) Start at Nike, 2) Start at not-Nike, 3) Weiden & Kennedy or Sports team, 4) sports marketing firm

Consulting 1) Get Harvard, Stanford or Northwestern MBA

Grad School Best name you can.

Media Firm 1) Biggest you can or Best agency that still has media in-house (e.g. Crispin Porter + Bogusky)

If you want to begin at an advertising agency…

• If I cared more about where I worked than where I lived, here are my top 10 (or so) best… today

– Goodby Silverstein & Partners (SF), Crispin Porter + Bogusky (Miami), Wieden & Kennedy (Portland),

– BBDO New York, DDB New York (or Chicago), TBWA NY/LA, Saatchi & Saatchi (NY)

– Naked (NY), Taxi (NY), The Martin Agency (Richmond, VA), GSD&M (Austin), Butler Shine, Stern (San Francisco), Anomaly (NYC)

– Arnold Worldwide (Boston), Leo Burnett Chicago, McCann Erickson (NYC), O&M (NYC)

Rating the cities:1. The very best agency you can get into wherever it happens to be located.

2. New York: world capital of advertising.“If I can make it there… I’ll make it anywhere; it’s up to you…” (you know the rest)

3. San Francisco: Wow, what a beautiful place to live. I predict SF will rival NYC in 10 years.4. Los Angeles: A city that really could re-invent this business next.5. Chicago: nice quality of life, but will limit your marketability a bit and it’s a shrinking market.6. Boston: My personal favorite city in America, but too close to NYC to have a very large

advertising community.7. Minneapolis: Think small Chicago with better agencies

8. Detroit: If you love cars or are from Detroit…

WARNING: THIS IS A HUGE STEP DOWN TO THE MINOR LEAGUES1. Seattle: This town has potential! Beautiful, expensive and traffic sucks but they are an innovative

and interesting bunch.2. Denver: don’t move here unless you care more about skiing than your career – it’s not there yet.3. Atlanta: Work for Coke.

New York: world capital of advertising.

• BBDO: Excellent history, back! DDB Worldwide: TBWA / Chiat Day: Best global agency right now. Jean Marie Dru probably the smartest person in advertising. Saatchi & Saatchi: all style and little substance is starting to work for them.

• BBH, Wieden & Kennedy: branch offices with some “restrained” potential.

• McCann Erickson: They’re really good, just a bit quiet right now.• Deutsch: excellent all around US reputation. Bouncing back. Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners:

Generally B+ agency with occasional A+’s. Terrific reputation.• Ogilvy & Mather: “Classic” excellent agency run by excellent people.• Publicis: No one can pronounce it, no one new is going to hire them.

• JWT, formerly known as J. Walter Thompson: Basically same as Ogilvy, but with less-talented management.

• Grey: Big, successful, still settling from WPP buy.

• Draft/FCB: Used to be very good, but network has fallen apart in past few years. New merge with Draft could end up being very interesting.

• Y&R: Should have turned around by now… hasn’t.• Euro RSCG: Lose the Euro part and you can be as good as you are.

• For creative Only: add Devito Verde at #2.5, “Mother” NY and TAXI. For media/planners: add Naked.

Los Angeles: A city that really could re-invent this business.

1. TBWA Chiat-Day: they were THE LA agency until Jay Chiat died and all the power went to NYC. Still excellent creative agency and very cool place to work.

2. Deutsch LA: same as NYC but this office may be better creatively.

3. RPA: Terrific independent agency that does all the Honda/Acura work.

4. Team One: Saatchi’s “luxury” agency for Lexus, etc.

• Tier 2: Wong Doody, DavidandGolith or Ground Zero: sometimes great, sometimes not so great. Still well respected across the country (where it’s known).

• Tier 3: JWT, Saatchi LA, O&M, Y&R,

Chicago: nice quality of life, but will limit your marketability and it’s a shrinking market.

1. DDB: Chicago is their creative powerhouse although NYC takes the bows. Bottom line: damn good agency that will allow you to go most anywhere you want to.

2. Leo Burnett: Probably represents 50% of Chicago billing (or more) and still well respected across the country. If you are staying in Chicago for the rest of your life; this is a good place to go.

3. Element 79: The Gatorade agency now and forever…

4. Cramer-Kressalt: excellent smaller agency. Name recognition a bit of an issue, but you know their work.

5. Draft/FCB: Very interesting concept that will either be a home run or a dud. I’m guessing it will be a home run.

6. Y&R, O&M, BBDO, Huge step down. 7. Euro RSCG: freefalling! JWT,

Boston: My personal favorite city in America, but too close to NYC to have a very large advertising community,

plus, two former hot shops are cold as ice!.

1. Modernista: No one knows the name but you know the work. (Hummer, Bud, Gap, MTV, Converse).

2. Digitas: Direct marketing agency (including Internet) that will continue to do very well in the future.

3. Arnold Worldwide: bleeding at the moment, but has been excellent in the past.

4. Hill Holiday: started the Boston Ad business and has excellent creative. Getting good again. I believe they could become a national force again.

5. Mullen: excellent agency stalled at the moment (moment in its 4th year).

Minneapolis: Think small Chicago with better agencies

1. Fallon Worldwide: still one of my favorite agencies in the world. They WILL make a creative comeback.

2. Carmichael-Lynch: excellent creative. 1/2” from breaking out into a national power.

3. Martin-Williams: same as above but 2 years behind.

4. Campbell-Mithun: big boring agency full of nice people and large clients in Minneapolis. New Creative Director will have difficulty shaking things up too much.

5. BBDO Minneapolis: small but occasionally very good.

San Francisco: Here’s a bold prediction: San Francisco will grow to the #2 ad market in

the US within 10 years.

1. Goodby Silverstein & Partners: They’re back. REALLY smart people. This “Got Milk” agency has had some ups and downs, but it’s still the largest collection of smart and talented people in San Francisco.

2. Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners: Damn good agency on the verge of becoming very famous. Mini.

3. DDB: DDB is a great agency no matter where you look.

4. Publicis/ Hal Riney: Hal made SF an advertising city. He’s retired, but the reputation lives on. Publicis was too stupid not to leave the name alone.

5. BBDO, Grey, McCann, Mad Dogs and Englishmen: can you name one thing they’ve ever done? Yeah, neither can I.

6. DRAFT/ FCB: could be very interesting. Great history here.

Detroit: If you love cars or are from Detroit…

1. Doner: large, successful, respected, independent.

2. Any large agency from NYC working on cars.

WARNING: THIS IS A HUGE STEP DOWN TO THE MINOR LEAGUES

Seattle: This town has potential! Beautiful, expensive and traffic sucks but they are an

innovative and interesting bunch.

1. Forget advertising, go work for Microsoft or Starbucks.

2. Cole Weber / Red Cell: Regionally hot with global potential.3. Avenue A: Could become famous.4. Wong Doody: this is their headquarters.5. DDB, JWT, Publicis, FCB

Denver:

Don’t move here unless you care more about skiing than your career – it’s not there yet.

1. Crispin Porter + Bogusky: live in Boulder, work in Boulder.2. McClain Finlon: they make terrifically (produced) TV commercials that

suck. They need good planner!3. Thomas & Perkins: They want to be great, but all talk, no action.

Connecticut: ride the damn train at least for a year!

1. North Castle Partners: well run, but not really going anywhere.

2. J Brown: interesting business model but part of Grey.

Atlanta: This is where old people move. You’re not old! Seriously, I’d try to work for Coke and forget the agencies if it were me. Otherwise, probably pick any large agency. No creative shops have hit the national scene yet.

Media: Start large and work your way to smaller companies only if you don’t

feel you are getting ahead fast enough.

• Starcom / MediaVest

• Media Kitchen

• Mindshare or OMD

• Initiative, PhD, Caret, Zenith, Universal McCann, Mediaedge, MediaCom, MPG

Creative: Remember you are looking for: 1) the best person to work for,

2) an agency with a great creative reputation and 3) the best clients with potential.

1. Goodby Silverstein SF

2. Crispin Porter + Bogusky Boulder

3. Wieden & Kennedy Portland

4. TBWA Chiat-Day LA

5. Saatchi & Saatchi NY

6. DDB, BBDO, TBWA NY, Leo Burnett7. Arnold Worldwide Boston (they still have some

great creative talent)

Future Planners

• Nearly no one hires jr. planners– Planner is all about credibility, how can someone with

no experience have credibility?

• Start at respected research company perfecting qualitative research (1-2 years)– Consider post grad “planning schools”

• Start in either account management or media planning, suck up to the planners and make your move.

I want to work internationally like you did!

• Plan A: – Work on International account, develop a

speciality (brand) and ask to be transferred.– Will take minimum 5 years in media or

account work and 10 years in creative.

• Plan B: – Get yourself a plane ticket and

one of these

“Road Less Traveled”

Interactive: It is the future, and someone is going to own it…1. Google, Yahoo, some other famous Interactive company in Palo

Alto, California.

2. Tribal DDB: Great clients/great agency.

3. R/GA: Interactive agency of the year.

4. Digitas: Really well run with scary business model.

5. Capps Digital: (Leo Burnett) $$$

6. Digital@JWT: Fine.

Direct Marketing: Largest segment of advertising; becomes more and more important as

we move toward “one-on-one” marketing. Excellent training.

1. Digitas: their business model.2. Draft: they’re just good. (IPG)3. Wunderman: Les Wunderman basically invented direct marketing.

(WPP)

Sales Promotion: Where many marketers spend up to 80% of their budget.

• In-House for major marketer (e.g. P&G)• 141

Healthcare: Hey, the baby boom is getting older and older and older…

• Any major agency’s healthcare agency • GSW (Columbus, Ohio)

Whining I usually hear…

• But Professor Russell, I’m tired, I want to take the summer off…

• I really want to work at a small company…

• I don’t know what I want to do…

• What if I don’t like it?

• But I want to work in fashion

Career Moves that WorkStarting Job Marketing Account

managementMedia Media Sales Creative Research

Company

Can move to Most anything except creative

Media

Media sales

Planning

Ownership

Media sales

Account management

Client side media

Different media

Start over in media planning/buying

Planning

Ownership

Planning

Client-side research

Career Moves that don’t WorkStarting Job Marketing Account

managementMedia Media Sales Creative Research

Company

Can move to Creative Creative Creative Media Planning

Creative

Account Management

Client side (with a few exceptions)

Creative

Timetable

Acct. Management /

Marketing

Media Research / Planning

Creative

Make “hit list” October January October October

Get contacts November February November November

Complete Resume / Portfolio

December February December December

Begin contacting alumni

January March January January (show everyone that ill look at your portfolio)

Apply for Job (assuming May graduation)

Mid-March Mid-March Mid-March Continue above

Free for Interviews

April April April Anytime, anywhere.

Begin looking for apartment!

When you have a job.

April When you have a job.

When you have a job.