Monday, September 30, 2013

Catherine's post #3


I was really excited to visit McCann because one of my friends just got a job at this company. Unfortunately, she was in the other building and didn’t know much about the company to share any insight. She could not explain why but she had a gut feeling that I would like the company. She was right. I really liked McCann’s office. I remember thinking that TargetCast’s office was stifling due to the lack of colors despite how new and clean it was. McCann’s open layout and the bright and modern furniture was such a draw to me. I think an environment like that inspires creativity and keeps the staff happy. I can definitely see myself working in an open and collaborative environment like McCann.

I expected some of the scope of work but I didn’t realize that so many different teams came together for each project. I thought that having so different groups working on one project makes having a clear and precise message between the client and agency more difficult. However, the breakdown of teams and structure of projects seem to alleviate that problem. I was also impressed by the diverse roster of clients McCann has. This fact gives rise to both pros and cons. Without a focus on particular industries, the challenge would be to learn about their clients’ industries and target audience very quickly and be able to switch between thinking hats. The pro is that they will not be caught in a bubble and only think about one specific industry or audience. They may be inspired by other projects and find surprising connections.

            Some people don’t consider “truth” and “advertising” to be in the same realm, at least not directly, so I was surprised by how much pride McCann takes in delivering the truth. I particularly loved the work by Truth Central, which seemed like the research and inspiration headquarters of McCann. In spite of that, I gravitated towards the Account Management position as it allows for dabbles in all aspects of the work but not too deep into any particular area. The fact that advertising is a service industry was clearly reinforced at McCann. I think that is an honest truth and also why McCann is so successful.


Once again, Victoria’s Secret sent their angels across the globe to Paris for a photo shoot for their Holiday Collection at the historic Louvre museum. These photos seemed to have been sent to the press, or the press could have been allowed access to the photo shoot. This act is undoubtedly for more publicity that leads to their fashion show, which features their holiday collection. Lingerie clad models with giant wings on their backs at an iconic museum are bound to garner a ton of attention.

Social Media and TV

The article linked shows that watching television and using social media are not mutually exclusive. That was contrary to what I believed in until I read the statistics and argument. In fact, social media is now used to amplify TV advertising as conversations about TV shows and ads then to last on social media long after air-time. Social media seems to also make TV-watching more interactive as people can tweet or communicate with each other during commercial breaks and still catch some of the advertisement rather than go channel surfing and miss related ads.

Given how much we multitask on a daily basis, the argument makes sense. For someone who does not watch regular TV but streams most shows on the channel specific websites or external websites, I can see how important social media is to reaching consumers like me. I often hear the buzz on the latest TV shows or ads via social media. I don’t follow a TV schedule so I get my reviews about shows via social media, especially from close friends. I then choose to watch shows and advertisements that stick in my head the most. Social media definitely helps to spread the word about what is on TV, especially for those who don’t have time to watch many different channels or for many hours.

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