Thrilling Thursday...

Well thursday was equally as interesting, having not long finished such a big agency, we were on a mission to discover as much as possible, we wanted to seek out digital agencies, BTL & TTL agencies as well as the Above the Line agencies; to get some insight as to how they work differently to what we had experienced - Even if it was just to make our book more diverse and broaden our own ability, after all your advertising isn't down to the nature of the place you work but the people in it. 

First we were off to 42 Hoxton Square to check out the Kessels Kramer Outlet store to see its Creative Director Richard Walker, of W+K Amsterdam fame.  It was a strange place really, ultimately cool in its design - a multifunctional design/creative space that doubles up as a Gallery and Shop. It was literally the size of shop, where plywood met with cutting edge design and bright patterned wallpapers. 

Doors on wheels...

The whole place oozed - (what a horrible word) creativity, Richard had some very interesting things to say, our perception of our portfolio was quite traditional in the sense that it was the nature of our degree course and how we were directed in university, traditional medias at the helm with a dabble in the extended medias. He shared his opinions and advice which we will be taking to great consideration, but fundamentally, the biggest point that sticks in my mind was with regards to our traditional perception.

'Your ideas are quite the opposite in fact, but it is the executions that are traditional'

Much like Jo & Steve at Y&R, Richard Shared with us another secret that there are approximately 12 ways (not 5) of saying something and it's how you say it that makes your idea unique. This is something that will definitely influence our future contributions towards the book. What's more we were invited back in a month which will give us a chance to incorporate what we have learnt. 

The Afternoon was back off to JWT to see Simon & Hannah a Creative Team who we had worked with at the beginning of our placement. Nice to see familiar faces, as Phil mentioned there's a certain comfort about heading back to JWT, yet there is a certain strange feeling as well, although I couldn't explain it. 

Simon & Hannah were extremely busy as they had just had some work bought through by the client consisting of numerous TV ads, Online & Press executions to be done ASAP so we were grateful for the time they put aside for us. 

After a general chit chat, we had a chat about the book, the offered us some insight into the things they expect to see in the book and I always find it intriguing to hear the mixed feedback across the department even within the same agency. Fascinating. On the whole it was positive, the thing that really surprised me was that JWT is known firstly, for its TV & Press, and the both Hannah & Simon were striving for us to go beyond that. Any campaign that was not integrated was encouraged to do so, those that were solely digital based were encouraged to go into traditional.

It's a pretty exciting time for us, having fun, shaping our book - without any restraints - other than that of directing our book towards the agencies we one day aspire to work at.

Next up Funny Friday...

Farewell... but not just yet...

Well it's been a long and hard graft at JWT here in London. Unfortunately our placement here has come to an end after a long 5 weeks. And...just when we thought it was all over we got told we have an extra couple of weeks to see through some HSBC work the client bought on our last day. Talk about cutting it close.

We've been working on a number of brands including, Benadryl, Kellogg's, Crunchy Nut Clusters, Kit Kat, Imodium, Kenco, HSBC and some internal dm projects to promote the company. Some more successful than others, we've now got some credit to our name having three pieces of work put through production, not bad after such a short spell. We've even got some TV ads that are sitting in 'research' - but won't hold our breath on that one. 

What have we learnt? A hell of a lot if we're honest. Nothing beats first hand agency experience, at university, they don't teach you how to make sure your noticed, communicate with the account side, the projects, the traffic or how to deal with the client. 

We have met some real nice people, made some friends and contacts for the future. A big thank you to Russell, Mike, Fernanda, Adam & Hugh, Miles & Kevin, Simon & Hannah, Graham, Natalie with a special thanks to the guys on the HSBC account as well as Alex & James.

Whilst we push through with production on the last few pieces; over the next couple of weeks, we will be trying to sort out our next ad fix, working on our book and touting it around agencies. 

The 10th Floor!

Here at 1 Knightsbridge Green there's quite a few floors. Being based on the 3rd floor and rarely having to venture much higher than the forth, a spare few minutes in our lunch break let our curiousity get the best of us, so we hopped into the lift to see what the view was like from top floor of the building, and well, here it is...

Enjoy  a gander over London!

Mike.

Ferrari on the Lawn.

It's not every day you turn up to work and Find a Formula-1 Ferrari Racing car sitting out on the veranda is it? Of course, there are the rumours going around for how it got up there, with the veranda being a good three floors up - A crane is the most likely explanation although, some people were insistent that it was carried in 4 pieces up the stairs - Yeah right!

Initially, we were clueless until we actually thought about it - There was a conference for shell (One of the Agencies clients) and I guess it was to add some visual stimulation to the presentation. There were also two Ferrari racing Arcade machines in the 'Comm' (Bar come Diner) for people to hop on - Pretty Cool huh?

Mike.

Saturday at the Office...

So, things have been pretty full on at JWT so far. We're just about settled in now, new faces everyday makes things that little bit more interesting. There's too many people to meet for the first week - but we'll get there I'm sure.  It seems the other two placements teams are hanging in there for a bit so that's good news.

A lot of people arrive back from Cannes Film Festival on Monday - so we'll have the pleasure of feeling like we're starting all over again - other than the obvious familiar faces and the familiarity of our Cupboard-like office which we've grown to love and adore. We even had a little visit from a friend today for all of 5 seconds, but only some of you will be lucky enough to know what that is all about - unless you ask nicely.

We pulled a long day today covering an extra brief this weekend and are in again tomorrow - that's right a Sunday! (a day of rest ha ha!) The place is a little strange, at least for the most part anyway, the entire ad business shuts down come the weekend - people are very few and far between - it's been a experience though and I'm sure there will be plenty more of that over our placement. 

Still loving the fact of the coffee & tea machine being all of 5 paces from our chairs - it can't be that bad can it!? 

Mike.

First Day at JWT London!

Well, what can I say... It's official.

It was all very nerve-racking, pretty exciting and all kind of crazy at the same time.

We were shown to our work space (that's right) soon to be an 'office' tomorrow, it's well... cosy, I think is the word that best describes it. We've met a fellow creative team who have been around for a few weeks and seem to have the place pretty sussed. So we'll be looking to them for advice! Got cracking straight away on some work and were left to our own devices. 

There's a real relaxed, but working environment throughout the whole of JWT - the food's not half bad either. It's been quiet for us really though, I think tomorrow will be the first 'true' day, we'll have our passes, phone lines & computers sorted hopefully and feel like we actually belong there perhaps.

We get the chance to get our teeth stuck into a couple of key briefs tomorrow and try and make a good impression. Hopefully meet some more new faces and find our place amongst the creative department!

Mike.

Portfolio Night 6 Photos

Just thought we'd give everyone a little heads up - all the photographs from Portfolio Night 6 are up on the the website they can be found here

Some pretty funny ones and bonus points if you can spot both Phil and I - there's quite a few for some reason, it brings back all the feelings from that night!

Mike.

Good News!

A couple bits of good news we'd like to share with you this week

We have received a Commendation for our Doritos entry into the YCN Awards 2007/2008.

Young Creatives Network

There is likely to be a bit of event towards the end of the summer  and our work will appear in the YCN annual to be released later on in the year but we'll keep you updated on that one.

You can find out more about YCN here

Secondly, we secured our placement at...

As a result of Portfolio Night 6, JWTs Executive Creative Director, Russell Ramsey either took pity on us, or felt that we actually had a chance a creating some good work and has offered us a placement.

The placement begins later in June - if we have time we'll keep you informed on here!

Mike.

Portfolio Night 6

Ok, so a little later than expected - but now university is practically finished here is the first post, and what a topic to start on - PORTFOLIO NIGHT 6.

The whole evening is still a bit hazy - it all happened so fast

Upon arrival we walked in through JWTs revolving doors, this is where the first signs of nervousness started to set in, the agency itself is very impressive and glamourous. Queued up to get our passes and vouchers for the free drinks - A definite must for settling the nerves.

Everyone was anxious by the looks on their faces, up the stairs and straight to the bar. The nice weather urged us to sit outside under the JWT branded umbrellas, minute by minute more and more people followed out into the garden with these mysteriously different coloured badgers, we were the blue no.2s - so we figured whatever they meant we were at least in the middle. We sat with the only two guys from Southampton Solent (Top guys) and being as Phil and I were the only two from the University of Lincoln it felt to meet new people in the same situation as us. 

A couple of free beers later and an early start that day meant that everyone was pretty merry and conversation was flourishing. It was so comforting to see so many creatives in our position in one place - equally a little discomforting knowing we were all going for the same jobs! Once everyone was fully relaxed and settled in, the call came, everyone piled downstairs to listen to the opening speech.

the infamous London PN6 film was played, followed by a nervous laughter from the crowd. 'Am I really a 'Talentless Twat?' (The film can be found here)

15 minutes was the alloted time for each Creative Director - everyone in attendance knew this was the cut off point although some continued a little longer. 15 minutes to sell your soul and all of your efforts to the CD of choice. The system of moving straight to the next CD in the line sooner seemed to fly out of the window as aspiring advertisers competed for their desired choice. 

Contacts, recommendations, opinions, advice and a few friendly faces later we had a lot to take in. Who would have known that in your first attendance of portfolio night so much could happen.  So many new friends, contacts and potential avenues - well worth the train journey home even if we didn't arrive back until 2.30 am!

Mike.

All photos Courtesy of Jai & Wal