This may come as a surprise to you, but I love my job. Shocking, I know. You may be wondering, "What's it like working in an advertising agency, Ariana?" Working in an advertising agency is sexy. I mean, full on appeal - there may or may not be some drooling involved. It's like grabbing the first slice of pizza and watching the cheese stretch. It's doing a double take, because one glance just isn't enough. It's an eyebrow raise and a 'you have what at work?'
We do [almost] everything a regular office would do, but we do it better. We have 'beer bravos' which are meetings where we talk about what a great job each of us is doing. We have beer kegs and a 'smart' beer fridge that texts our CEO when we're running low - which when he responds, delivers to us within the hour. Forget flying cars, smart beer fridges are the future. By the end of this post, you're going to think we're just a bunch of alcoholics - but I swear, that's just not the case. Get it?
No, but really, we're innovative, fun, and we have a great work space. We have 'Food for Thoughts', which is where we eat and learn about things that relate to advertising. We have holiday celebrations like 4th of July grill outs, and healthy competitions like our Halloween brand costume contest.
If I wrote down everything that makes me love my job, this blog post wouldn't end. "Enough bragging about your job Ariana, what happens while you're at work?"
Someone very important to me loves to use analogies, so I'd like to give it a try in order to paint a better picture. Working at an agency is like working in a restaurant. Which I haven't done - but I've heard things and I've watched Disney's Ratatouille, so count me as qualified to make this analogy. I'm also writing this while listening to Billy Joel's, "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"... if that helps.
So much happens behind the scenes before you get your five star meal. The client puts in their order with the account executives, which in this case will be our waiters and waitresses. Some clients give a very clear direction of what they want: no tomatoes, medium-well and only 4 seeds on the bun - while others say, surprise me, whatever you recommend. Some ask a lot of questions about what's on the menu, what combinations can you do? Which side is best to pair with this entree? Some don't ask anything and are just happy to be speaking with you to get a meal. The head chef would be the creative director, trying to gather all of the ingredients from the line cooks (social, strategy, media, creative teams) to put together the final piece. The ingredients need attention to detail - How will we serve the ad? Where will it go? What ingredients should we use? Who are we trying to feed? Are there any allergies? All of these need to be formulated into a perfect dish.
There's a lot to do with only so much time (deadlines). You have to get the food out while it's hot - and if it's late, burnt or not that great, the account executives get the heat... even though they didn't cook it. The restaurant manager (CEO) will come out and speak to clients, ask how their experience was, etc. They take feedback very seriously and relay all information - good or bad, back to the team so we can do our very best.
At the end of the day, each restaurant staff member cracks open a bottle of wine. I'm kidding. Some crack open scotch. Kidding again... At the end of the day, you get ready to do it all over again. It's a little chaotic at times, but it's what makes agency life great. It's not for everyone, and that's okay. As some would say, "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."
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