All In A Day’s Work: Part III Things to Think About

Every now and then Pitch Pantha, whose special powers are attuned to 'hunting' and rescuing brands which need saving from poor comms strategies, and I get together to enjoy a racy conversation over brunch or coffee, but more recently to think of new ways to inspire and cultivate rising talent. Yesterday we sat down to develop a student pack to offer insight into advertising as an industry, compile some of Fallon’s best work over the years which illustrates it’s diverse creative portfolio, and to fundamentally offer some advice.

Aside from doing everything in my power to beat that Catch-22 and get some initial work experience, there are some skills every future Ad Lander should practice daily. It doesn’t involve practicing climbing up walls from a back alleyway or jumping from rooftop to rooftop as my photographer mate Peter Parker did when he started out. Instead it is allowing yourself to always ask yourself the following questions when looking at an advert:

• Do I like this ad?
• Does it engage & empower me?
• What is the strategy?
• How would I change it?
• Who is it trying to talk to?
• Is it telling a story?
• Who made it?
• How was it made?
• How has it changed from its last ad?

These questions are ESSENTIAL when you’re preparing to fill out graduate or work placement applications and more importantly when you get to that first interview.

When you answer these questions make sure you’re speaking from what you believe and then try and back it up with trends and strategies that have worked in the past and be a trendspotter and adapt your version of the ad to any of the shifting themes in popular culture and society.

Here are some tips from Pitch Pathna:

Pitch Pantha’s believes Size Matters! Ask yourself the following...

• What is the size of the brand?
• What is the size of the market?
• What is the size of the problem?
• What is the size of the (creative) opportunity?
• If the size of the opportunity is great, what is the size of the budget?

Once you agree to work on a project, get to know the client, know what keeps them awake at night, for the bigger and better the relationship, the bigger and better the rewards!