GE - Healthymagination

im waiting for 3/8 to come.

CROSSING ALL MY FINGERS AND TOES.........

meanwhile...there are some decisions that I have to make....but before I bore you with more of my emotional rollercoasters, here are some heart candies for you :)

Introducing my absolute FAVOOOORITE campaign: GE Healthymagination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-61mpjFFtuw

Pick Yourself Up --- Interview With Ogilvy

For this huge day to happen, I spent more effort and time than I had ever for anything in my life. For the application, I worked on it for a week straight (during winter break), day and night, even on the car, on a computer that had a broken spacebar. I wrote and rewrote it at least 3 times, and used all the resources I could find, including finding an ex-associate and asking for her advice.

After I got the interview offer, I read 5 books on Ogilvy and advertising to prep for the interview. At the airport from Dallas back to NY, I read for 7 hours straight, and prepped for my interview in an overnight flight.

The day before my interview, I took work off to rest and got a haircut to gain some fresh air and good luck.

Today was my interview, and I woke up at 10:00am. My interview was at...10:00am. FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK. For some reason, my 2 alarm clocks had failed me/I had subconsciously turned them off without knowing. I threw my clothes on, tied my hair in a ponytail, forgot to brush my teeth and put on my glasses, and ran out the door at 10:02am. Record time.

Getting out of my apt, I jumped on a cab and begged the driver to get me to union square ASAP, explained my situation, and said a few more words my mom wouldn't have wanted to hear.

I got to the interview at 10:25am. My interview was only supposed to go until 10:30.... After apologizing my head off, the interviewer sat me down and gave me 15mins for the interview. I knew I fucked this one up reallllll bad. However, I did my best to answer the questions (which was a case study) and received some positive feedback. The question was based on Accenture's crisis with Tiger Woods and his scandals. I was lucky because I had thought about this prior to the interview, so I knew what I was talking about. At the end of the 15mins, I was guided out the door. Without my glasses, I somehow got home and cleaned myself up. Sad and angry, I did not wanna give up, I knew this was a test to see how much I wanted this, and I am a firm believer in the process of getting up after you fall.

So...I ended up deciding to go back to Wasserman to see the interviewer again. I knew he had interviews until 6pm, but I was afraid that someone would take his shift earlier on and that I would miss him. So, at 1pm, I went back to Wasserman, gulped down half a slice of pizza, and waited for him.

5 hours later, he came out. I could tell that he was pretty shocked to see that I had waited for him. He then sat down with me for a few mins. I got to hand him my updated resume (with BBDO in it) and talk to him on a more personal level. At the end of the convo, he shook my hands and gave me a positive remark. That was when I knew that I had made the right decision. He said, "these kinds of things happen in life (eg, sleeping through an important interview), but it's about how you go on from there." I made it clear that I really love advertising and I really want to work at Ogilvy. We parted, and I smiled for the first time in the day from the bottom of my heart.

2 Lessons I Learned:

1. SET 10 ALARMS, all at different times, and never interview in the morning if you're not a morning person. but more importantly...

2. It's not about how you achieve, but about how you pick yourself up after you fall. Thats what creates character.


~ nanz

How to become an Advertising Man --- By James Webb Young

Ignoring the sexist title and the 1963 publishing date, this book is a great crash-course for those interested in advertising. It is small, thin, and easy to read. However the best part of this book is that it theorizes a practice that is otherwise very difficult to pinpoint... which is, ofcourse, "how to become an advertising man" *cough* woman.

Briefly but sufficiently, he outlines 7 types of knowledge he/she must possess or have access to:

1. Knowledge of Propositions - what can you offer to the consumer that will appeal most to them?

2. Knowledge of Market - Who are you targeting and what are their ever-changing characteristics?

3. Knowledge of Messages - Knowing how to captivate your audience and drive the message home. Interest -> Desire -> Action.

4. Knowledge of Message Carriers - Where should you advertise?

5. Knowledge of Trade Channels -

Favorite Ads...

... at the Superbowl 2010:

Tie between Doritos "Home Rules" and Google "Parisian Love"

In terms of which made me more entertained, Doritos BY FARRRRR. It was simple, relatable, and most of all it demonstrated how important Doritos was (I mean, there were only two rules...keep your hands off his mama or his doritos.)

As for the Google one, the reason it ranked high in my list was due to the memory factor. When I had to think back to the Superbowl ads and pick out my favorite, Google's came to mind first. Also, it was the only ad that made my friends go "I wanna see that again!" Voluntary views are kind of...amazing. Second, it demonstrated how Google is incorporated into our everyday lives. It no longer is a simple search engine that we turn to for random inquiries, but rather a platform for all our needs throughout all the milestones in our lives. Embedding a search engine into our life/love story is pretty epic imo.

However, overall I was a little disappointed by the ads this year. There were far more "bad" ads than great ones, and even the great ads are quite controversial. The Green Audi ranked highest in favorites, but also highest in least favorites! At least that proves one important thing: not everyone likes the same thing you do.

David Ogilvy's Epic Interview...

The Secret of New Business

Today will mark my second day at BBDO, and so far I have been thoroughly enjoying everything I'm experiencing. I can definitely feel the intensity and expectations from a large firm compared to DeVries, but I am quite happy about that since it would make the best learning environment.

Most of all, I really like the people I am working with. My boss is the VP of New Business at BBDO, her boss is the CMO and the Vice Chairman of BBDO North America, and my intern buddy is my good friend Ryan from school :) My other boss is the PR director, so I get to work with senior levels, which is super exciting.

As for what I am doing...that must remain top top secret :(. Apparently, the work we do at New Business is only known by 4 people: CMO, VP, Ryan, and I. Nobody else at BBDO knows about what we are doing. Eeks! So I have to be careful to not slip anything out.

On a side note, I am prepping for an interview with Ogilvy Associates Program. As for this opportunity, I have mixed feelings about it. I was hoping that my friends and I could prep for it together, but now I'm a lone soldier. :( sigh.

I heard that the interview was going to be super intense, there will be questions such as "what is an advertisement that represents you?" and apparently I should read David Ogilvy's book because they will ask you about it. :S There goes my life for the next week!

The best thing, though, is that they SPONSOR VISAS! That is my current BIGGEST fear and I thought the reason I got the interview is because I didn't state that I'm not American... However, the HR lady emailed me and told me that they do sponsor! WOoooot!! This is one step closer to anti-deporting-nanz.

Anyways, I am in this Marketing Research class right now and we are learning about ANOVAs and Cross-Tabs in analyzing market data... There is this new software I am getting to learn called SPSS, exciting!!! Work is in 1h and I can't wait!

:) <3>