Nick O’Quinn, one of the Ad Schoolers joining us for a stint this Summer in the client services team, shares his first thoughts and impressions of life here at Addiction in London.
So here I am, thrust straight into the hectic world of advertising for an 8-week whirlwind tour of the industry and how it all works.
As a participant of the IPA Ad School programme, I’m here at Addiction for eight weeks to learn all about the industry and an invaluable experience of how things really work start to finish, from receiving client briefs to completing & monitoring a campaign.
That’s what’s really brilliant about being here for eight weeks. Rather than a short two-week stint where it’s all over before it’s even really begun, I’ll actually be able to get my teeth into things and learn about the whole process. To use a cricket analogy, it will be more like a test-match series, rather than a 20/20 slog.
In just a week I have learnt a lot by doing, reading, observing and listening. Instead of reeling off all the things I’ve learnt, I thought I would share just three things that I have found interesting about the advertising world.
Size isn’t everything. There are huge advantages to working at a smaller agency, and I am reaping the benefits. Firstly, I know more people’s names. The close-knit community feel to this agency has meant that I have interacted with most people in the building, and I’m only one week in. In an industry centred around people, that aims to master the best ways of communicating with people, I feel that it is extremely important to know the people around you.
A friendly but focussed atmosphere. There is a real sense of productivity here in the Addiction building, and with seemingly little stress to go with it. It’s an admirable quality to be able to balance a busy work schedule while creating a friendly and open atmosphere. Achieving this is not necessarily essential, but it’s pretty damn good when it happens.
Even ‘boring’ things can be exciting. This week I have mainly been doing research on companies, competitors and products. One might think that there is a limit to what you can get excited about, especially when so often in education, research is merely a means to an end. But when you know that your research might make someone else’s job a tiny bit easier, it really does make it so much more interesting and rewarding.
I have found myself getting excited about researching all kinds of things, and that’s what this industry seems to be all about. If you get excited about the product, then it leads to better, more creative, and ultimately more exciting work.
I realise that after only a week I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go. The promising thing from my point of view is that I can’t wait to get there.
