Page 108 - Sorry, We're Not Hiring Any Visionaries Today

SORRY, WE’RE NOT HIRING ANY VISIONARIES TODAY
I realized that advertising brought creativity into the business world. This really aligned my skill sets and my personality. I sensed I could use creativity as a value add in business.
I had my first internship at an agency called Grip Limited. They were also known as “the Big Orange Slide” because they had a giant orange slide in the agency that you could go down on. It was a typical, perfect, cool agency with beer on tap. They had Labatt as a client. I was in my third year at university, going into my fourth year during that summer. My work at Grip was mainly in the area of project management. I also schmoozed and dealt with the clients.
At most ad agencies, you have different departments, including creative, ac- count management, and production. But recently, you have this new depart- ment that originated in the UK called strategy. These folks are supposed to be the most intelligent people in the room. They have the intellectual underpin- nings and psychology to develop consumer insights. They then work with a creative team to execute the campaign.
As I entered advertising, strategy was just starting to come into Canada. I real- ized that I could use this to my advantage. I noticed the agency needed to look at mobile phones as a medium for marketing. It was around 2010, and the iPhone had just come out in 2007. I built out a full report on mobile marketing and how to understand that world.
The agency hired a mobile marketing specialist based off of the work that I did as a 20-year-old. Someone there told me, “You know, the work that you’re doing is more aligned with strategy. So, the strategy became my interest.
I really idolized those agencies that had strategy departments. I was on the outside looking in. Once you come in, you see how the sausage is made, and your perspective changes slightly. But at the time, I was desperate to be part of that world. One specific agency hailed from Montreal but had just opened up a Toronto office. They also had offices in Paris, Los Angeles and New York. They were a big deal, and I focused all my efforts on getting in the door for six months.
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