"Prepare for the End of the Web as We Know It"

Once again, Ad Age posts an article that is insightful, well-written and brings up new terms and ideas that help me reshape my outlook on internet marketing. Check this out...

It's Time to Prepare for the End of the Web as We Know It

I think "content snacking" is the perfect term for the most common manner that people are consuming media these days, and the three new behaviors are dictating how consumption will be evolving. Gotta love media!

Chapman University wins the National Student Advertising Competition

(a shot from Chapman University's presentation of the "Feel Free" Campaign for State Farm; specifically, the Public Relations initiative section)

On Friday at approximately 1:45 p.m. EST, the winner of the State Farm national student advertising competition was announced. A small private university located in the heart of Orange County that goes by the name of Chapman University took the honors.

As I reflect on the past year, I can't say that I ever knew we would win. I knew we worked hard. I knew that our product was high quality and that the effort we put into the work shone in every aspect. I knew that many of our 50 person team ate, slept, breathed and bled State Farm to produce a beautiful campaign we could be proud of. It's a personal flaw, I would say, that I'm reluctant to predict the outcome in projects I'm close to, so I just believe that working my hardest is going to be the best reward I can receive. Winning only helped to verify that all of the work was worth it.

I am just so happy and proud to be part of Circle Advertising this year. I didn't think I could be more proud to be part of this team than I was last year, when I first joined; now I'm even happier. These people are my peers but also my teachers. I've learned more and been motivated more by the excellence and talents on this team than I have by many professors. How did we do it? Remarkable outreach for fundraising from communities, families and friends. Partnering with the incredible film school talents who were graduating as well. Frugal efforts on our part to get the best deals on our projects. Oh, and a strong partnership with our father club, Chapman Ad Club.

The most remarkable part of this victory is the reception we received after the results were announced. Many of the competing teams reached out to us to congratulate and compliment. They wanted to get to know our team members and spend time with them while we were all in Orlando. This speaks volumes to the fraternity and maturity of these teams, which is complementary to their talents. Each presentation that I saw had a strong, cohesive campaign to be proud of. The advertising industry can breathe a sign of relief with minds like these coming into the work force within the next few years. I can only imagine what next year's work will be for everyone, including ourselves, for the new client, J.C. Penney.

If you're looking for the future of advertising, you've found it. It's not just at Chapman University, but in all of the NSAC teams who bleed for their campaigns and produce something they are proud of.

#NSAC Goes To Orlando

This week, teams from all over the United States will bring their comprehensive campaigns for State Farm to the National Student Advertising Competition national championship, in Orlando, Fla.
The #ChapmanPRA group will be presenting our #FEELfree campaign on Friday. We're excited, optimistic and eager to see what our creative counterparts from all over will be bringing to the table.
I hope State Farm looks at their current campaign and uses the millions of research impressions and new ideas that we present to create a campaign that resonates with their target demographic.

Check out Tom Arthur's portfolio to see our commercial and our book. Wish us luck!

(thanks to Kayla Glass for her photo!)

McDonalds France: "Come As You Are"

McDonalds France released a viral commercial this week, depicting a young homosexual man and his oblivious father.

There are so many possibilities as to what the motives are for this commercial, I don't really know where to start. An appeal to the homosexual audience in France? Support of a social movement? Rebranding as a "hip" restaurant who opens its doors to the changing times? There are arguments for all of the above. But since I enjoy anything French, and things that are generally positive and accepting of all different lifestyles, I'm just going to leave you with the link. Enjoy.

Chapman - District 15 Champions, 2nd Year!

I am so, so proud to announce that the Chapman NSAC team, Circle Advertising, has done it again - we won District 15 competition for the second year in a row!
This week has been insanely busy preparing for competition. As one of four "hippers," or someone who has all of the answers to the judges' questions in her "hip pocket," it was my job to go through the book and find every hole in our plan and brainstorm a solution that we could present to the judges. Some of the questions our "hipper" team uncovered actually were asked, so it was very fortunate we prepared as well as we did!
One thing I constantly face in interviews is the question of whether or not I am experienced. Many interviewers don't fully understand what NSAC does - we create a comprehensive campaign from start to finish. I might be on the PR department, but I take part in every aspect, from research to promotions to creative to media. PR is just what I put the most time into. NSAC is the essential experience that employers don't even know they're looking for. And now I have two beautiful plans books that I can say placed first in their district, one of them fourth in the nation, and hope they complement my attempt to explain the experience this has given me.
NSAC is by far the smartest choice I've made since starting my college career at Chapman. It's one thing to sit and listen to professionals, take notes and imagine how you can apply the pointers one day; it's entirely another to listen to the professionals and then go do what they're doing, but with their guidance. Someone from Y&R isn't going to give someone from DraftFCB pointers on how they can improve or spill the secrets to success they've learned, so this is us taking advantage of it while we still can.
I'm so proud of our team and the work we accomplished. It makes everything feel so worth it.

Reflecting on the National Student Advertising Competition

Getting the campaign book last year was a very surreal moment. When I first got the Tio book and held it in my hands, it was so strange thinking that all of the work we had done had culminated in this small, 30-page book. It was phenomenal to see some of my work put into print and distributed in a classroom. The feeling wasn't as exciting this year when I got Feel Free book, but not because I was less excited about the campaign. There was a different feeling this time - one of satisfaction and pride, when I flipped through it and saw how much we all have grown since last year. We keep setting the bar higher and higher as a team to do better, reach further, and perform as impressively as possible. I also felt so grateful, that I was able to work with so many bright people. There are amazing minds on our Chapman PR team: it never fails to amaze me how talented and brilliant my fellow students are. It can be intimidating at times, thinking that we'll all be joining the job market and competing for those jobs; however, in some cases we'll be working alongside one another. To be able to work with these people again one day - that's something I would love to see happen.

The PR department, itself, is a very static element of the team. Last year, it was very uncertain as to what we were needed to do, since the campaign was for a nonprofit organization. This year, it was easier because it was a corporation. We developed a social media cause marketing campaign and I'm so proud to have lead my team. They are wonderful - driven, intelligent, and resilient. It was strange to be on the PR team two years in a row with two completely different groups of people, but not a bad experience in any way. I love both the teams for what they were, and appreciate every person I worked with because of what they brought to the table: passion and compatibility. Even the times we weren't working as efficiently as possible, we were learning and we got to a place we needed to be. That in itself was a great experience to have.

Because things often need to be tweaked to strengthen a campaign, it was bittersweet to see that many of our social media ideas had to be reworked in order to fit as cohesively as possible with the campaign. Timing wasn't on our side, as it rarely is, but I am pleased with how everything turned out. The core of what our department believed in is present. I printed out a copy of the original plan and stuck it in the book for interviews, to show how well we can work with other members of the team and our directors to change ideas but keep the integrity of the inspiration.

I can't wait to go on my next interview, so that I can bring in both books with me and show them to the representative.

A time for blogging

After a lot of dragging my feet and trying to focus myself on what I'm passionate about, I've come to the conclusion that I love Public Relations. I love it. I love everything about it. Sponsorships make my mouth water. Social Media makes me euphoric. Writing a press release... well, there's nothing fun about that because I'm overanalyzing what I'm writing.

I have a ton of advertising and public relations rants and raves spread across Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. I concluded that it is time to consolidate my thoughts and create a blog that presents important articles, resources and my own interpretations of the industry I'm going to join in a bit over a year.

Here's what you can expect:

Articles from various sources that I've found informative or useful. Mini-case studies that I will critique and commend after one catches my eye. Updates on my professional development, like PRSSA and Ad Club events. This blog isn't so much for everyone else, though it might be helpful - it's a way for me to organize my passion in one place.