My major is advertising. So it might come as a surprise (or not) that I’m saying this. But advertising is about to all go straight down the crapper. Why? Because advertising is that annoying little wasp that is flying around your head, waiting to get a sting. Does it actually get people to go out and buy?
I don’t think so. For me, unless there is a) a good sale going on and b) I have some extra cash to facilitate a shopping trip, I’m not going to the mall. With newspapers and magazines around the country suspending publications and businesses significantly reducing their advertising budgets, where does that leave advertising agencies?
The Marketing Arm, headquartered in Dallas, has taken an interesting yet effective approach to advertising. Big name clients such as Doritos count on TMA to not only advertise their company, but to do so from a promotional standpoint. Remember hearing about the Doritos campaign during the Superbowl? People submitted home-grown commercial ideas, and the winner was played during The Superbowl. If the winning submission was rated #1 out of all the other ads, the creators were awarded a million bucks.
That’s exactly what happened. I’m not sure on the accuracy of this, but it was something like 10 years that Anheuser-Busch had lead the top of the advertising pack (think the Budweiser Clydesdales). Two random dudes from who-knows-were (look it up) submit a few ads, one gets selected, and it ends up trumping all of the competition. Crazy, right? The ad was the infamous “snow globe” ad by Doritos. And TMA helped to come up with the concept for the contest and get everything in order. Check them out at http://www.themarketingarm.com to see all of their innovative work.
Speaking of, I had the pleasure of meeting Amy Erschen, the CCO of the company. Very witty and quick on her feet, Amy answered about a million questions I had for her. She was blunt, to say the least, yet positive, and she gave me some valuable info, although it wasn’t what I really wanted to hear.
– Jobs in entertainment: not going to be so hot this year, because nobody wants to expenditure millions of dollars to promote glitz and glam while we’re in a recession
– Don’t be above taking an internship. It’s your foot in the door for a job.
This for me was a little disappointing because hello, I am graduating from college and have had my fair share of internships. But this wasn’t the first time I’ve heard it. Maybe it will stick this time…
– Contract work will be on the rise.
Great. Get a job, a stable income for a few months, then what?
Anyway, all of this keeps reminding me that I have no post-graduation plans besides living in Fort Worth until 5/31 when my lease is up. Then what? Freaking out here!
Kirbie Johnson 