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DAY 8 INTERNSHIP Y&R: Insights

11/27/2013

Insights are considered to be the heart of a campaign, without them there wouldn't be a concept and without a concept there would be no campaign. Before the insight is defined, there is a lot of work that has to be covered to actually know what the insight is.

Visions aren't found immediately, they are a hidden aspects of how a costumer thinks feels or acts towards a product. Therefore it is not created by the promotion agency, but is a truth from a consumer, meaning something that they say. To find it, companies have to interview consumers so they understand what and how they feel towards the product and the brand.

So to find an insight you have to...

Fact —> Information —> Findings —> Insight

Fact: observe something obvious and simple
Information: the most important tip that the fact gives us
Findings: interpret the information
Insight

EXAMPLE: VISA GO Campaign

FACT

50% of the consumers say that their favorite activity during their free time is shopping.

INFORMATION

It is a source of enjoyment for whomever is shopping, purchasing.

FINDINGS

People see shopping as as symbol of achievement. It's like saying "Yes I can, I got it."

INSIGHT

“Buying makes me feel like a winner, going shopping is moving forward, it is daring, it I want to let myself go through life and be happy."

EXAMPLE CREDITS: POWERPOINT from Javier

Insights can help generate new opportunities for new products, strategies and communications. This is why visions have to be searched where others (competitors) haven't searched, to find something what they haven't found. The best way to do this is by asking, connecting and constantly communicating with the consumers of the product. If the brand is not providing what a consumer wants or is not reaching him in the best way, then they are not going to respect or want the brand. If a product is targeted to a certain audience, the smartest thing to do for the product to be successful is to LISTEN to how the consumer feels.

When the insight is developed, we are able to awaken a feeling of the costumer with a brand and a product that appeals more to how they feel or what they want. The better the insight is developed, the more successful the product and brand will be; it gives the promotion agency a more close and detailed look of what a consumer expects of the brand and product. Therefore the agency can generate very cool promotions.

During the meeting on Monday, they had a very clear insight about how a costumer feels about the product, the beer, and what they feel when drinking it or why they even drink it. Knowing this hidden truth -- this feeling-- Y&R creatives were able to develop a concept and an idea that they have to present to Backus. It may seem pointless since there is so much work to only find a sentence, but it's so essential for a brand and product to succeed in a very competitive market. If the insight wouldn't be guiding a campaign, then it would probably not appeal, impact or move the costumer since the brand and product are not offering him what he needs and wants. Insights speak the truth, they sound exactly how a consumer would say it, it's not an interpretation. Therefore it is the best possible guidance towards moving the consumer and making him want to follow up with the product and brand. It's the best path to adding VALUE to a brand.

If the campaign follows the insight, it follows the needs of the costumer and therefore adds value not only to the product and brand but it adds value within the consumer. If product and brand have value, then it makes the consumer believe in it.

BELIEVING = TRUST

In such a competitive market, you want to build this trust with the consumer, because then you are building a strong relationship, meaning that they are going to stay faithful to the brand. The more value there is, the more consumers a brand will capture.

Make the consumers fall in love with your brand and make them unable to live without it.

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DAY 7 INTERNSHIP Y&R: R E J E C T I O N

11/25/2013

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Today I participated in a brainstorming/ idea generating meeting where the creatives presented an idea to the directors of the team. From the time they got to work, until after lunch, the creatives had been together in the conference room discussing an idea and concept for a next campaign that had to be presented on thursday to Cristal.

When I went downstairs for lunch, I could see them drawing sketches, thinking and talking out possible ideas. It was very interesting to see how many ideas were thrown out but only one or two were actually evolved and developed more in detail.

After lunch was over everyone came back to the room and the creatives along with the directors sat in the square table in the center of the room. The first idea was presented: a drawing along with a pitch was shot to the air. I really liked this idea, to me it sounded unique and the message easily transferred in a cool way, but after, it received criticism from the directors I realized it was not an idea worth doing. It was not completely thought through; too many things and too much technology was needed for this idea to happen, and therefore it was going to be TOO expensive. Then when the second idea was presented I could see the lame look on everyones' face of how boring and monotonous this idea was.

Ideas came and left, they started up really good and then BAM, REJECTED. I could see the anger in the creatives eyes as all of their ideas were beign REJECTED. Sometimes the ideas that you truly believe in are not the best options therefore in this type of business you need to be open minded, receive feedback and always be willing to improve or make better the things you already have. I know how annoying it can be to repeat things again and again when you already think they are perfect but every time you change or improve something, even the smallest thing, you product will look a lot better. Also by getting feedback you are able to see the perspective of many people and really figure if the idea, product or concept will succeed or fail.

The most important thing is not only to have the talent but the attitude. Yes the people were angry and at times frustrated but as their ideas got REJECTED and they joked around and new ideas were created and then amazing concepts were build. The first idea is not always going to be the final product; from the first time it is shown it will have many changes before actually becoming a final product. It is all part of the process.

It was interesting to see the different ideas they came up and how they thought through the shoes of the costumers to come up with things consumer would really connect to. This also allowed them to make it fun and entertaining. Creating ideas can be frustrating but it can also be very fun and exciting once you are on the right track!

Today I experienced the most UNEXPECTED event at work. Lunch was just over and everyone was very chill, sitting down and getting ready to work. In front of my desk there is a huge window, while I was stretching and getting ready to start work again something begun to sound, the noise increased and increased but I wasn't worried because it was just like the noise of when a truck passes by you house and the windows sound. However, after a bit not only did the noise got louder but the floor, windows and things on the walls and desk begun to shake. For a second I just stood there shocked and confused. Then I heard: "Earthquake, earthquake!" and LOUD alarm that killed my ears so I went under my table, just like taught in school, it was the first thing that came to my mind.

My friend Melissa laughed and told me to get out so we could leave outside. Along with the rest of the people we went down the stairs calmly and then met up with the rest who where outside already. I was very scared, my legs and hands were trembling; the earthquake was very hard. However, what kept me calmed was the peacefulness and tranquility of the people around me. In school we've never had a real situation so I never knew how the shock actually felt. In situations like this the most important thing is to be calmed down, find the closest exit and wait in the safest area. By loosing controlled and receiving the situation stressed out worst things can happen.

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DAY 6 IN YOUNG & RUBICAM; STORY TELLING

11/21/2013

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Today I arrived early to the office and no one was there yet, so I walked around and then when I came back to the room, Percy, one of the creative guys, had just arrived. He came up to me and we started talking about the Innovation Academy and later he told me his role here.

For the past six days that I have been intrigued about what he does for the team, because at least twice every day I hear a hard punch of frustration against the table or a scream coming from his corner of the room. I always wonder what in the world is he doing. Well Percy does B R A N D I N G , which is the support promotions for the brand. Yes, compared to the other creative jobs who are always creating new cool things for different campaigns this is not as exciting but it's a very important job. He helps keep the brand always present in different forms so they communicate what the brand wants to transmit.

In an event, have you seen the tents with logos on them? When you buy the cans of beer have you realized they come in a plastic packaging? Have you seen that the bottles and cans have designs? Well all these things are thanks to him; he is the one practically keeping the brand alive. This made me realize how every single person in this team, either the directors who supervise and manage everything, or just simply designers or accountants who communicate with the clients. They all collaborate together and have the same importance to help a brand succeed. Without one of them, a part of this puzzle would be missing and all the aspects of the brand wouldn't succeed, they wouldn't be able to keep the brand alive and present amongst the public.

When I finished talking to Percy he handed over a book called "Manual de la identidad de la Marca Cristal." It explained how the identity of the brand Cristal is used; this book is distributed to people who work with or for the brand. Believe it or not things like this exist. This manual demonstrates the principles and guides of how to use the identity of the brand, from the way a logo should be displayed on different things to the minimum size you can resize a logo for a promotion. To be honest at first sight I thought it was dumb, who would take the time to do this? But then as I continued reading the manual and talked to Percy I changed my question to who wouldn't do that?

Think about it, If you want to communicate thoroughly with your costumers and transmit them a message then you need to make sure that your company and anyone who work with the brand manages it the same way. By doing this manual the company reassures that the clarity of the communication with the consumers in EVERY KEY LOCATION is the same, because if different people are transmuting fifteen different messages then the brand will not succeed or be effective since the message or presentation is different everywhere. As a company you need to define what the brand is and what the brand isn't so you know your focus and the rest of the people too.

This manual is truly a great guide, if not everyone had clear the colors used, the font and how the logo is created then Cristal wound't be a brand because it would have so many appearances and identities that consumers wouldn't be able to connect to one. Imagine if no one had clarity on how a brand is or how it looks or what is their message like; it would be a mess. Without the guide everyone working with Cristal wouldn't have the same vision and therefore the brand wouldn't be clear to the company or the clients, leading to failure.

Today was also my first day working with Diego, the Production Director. He explained me how he receives the ideas from creatives and then works with other companies to make them real and tangible. He creates budgets along with the companies who produce the final products and he is also there to supervise that everyone does their job and also that they are embracing the vision the agency has created. When commercials and billboards are going to be produced, he helps choose the models that will be part of the production. He has an entertaining job; however, it is very hard. Since it's the last step before being released, it means that he has to see that everything is perfect so it can be aired.

With my time with him, I learned to identify the components in a visual piece and script (for TV or raido) that need to be considered when doing the budget for commercials, visual pieces (billboards, panels, etc.) or audio recordings. I also learned about the the different behind -the- scene people that also need to be hired and considered to produce commercials, radio announcements and visuals. Without this job beign covered then the production companies wouldn't know what they need to hire and capture for the final product.

PRACTICING FOR THE REAL JOB -->

1. GRÁFICA
Componentes
1. Supermercado (Wong, Vivanda)
2. Dos señores que trabajan
3. Una congeladora, 3 chelitas
El vaso con chela
4. Sobre impresiones (nombre del producto, precio, advertencia, logo)

Profesionales
1. Scauting- persona que busca la localización
2. Casa de casting- brinda modelos (2)
3. Vestuarista- ternos
4. Maquilladora y peinador
5. Director de arte- utileria y esenografía y ropa
6. PHOTOGRAPHER y asistentes
7. El que arregla el producto

2. FILM
Componentes
1. Casa
2. 4 amigos y extras de la fiesta
3. Una mesa, cervezas Campeona
4. Sobre impresiones (nombre del producto, precio, advertencia, logo)

Profesionales
1. Scauting- persona que busca la localización (Casa)
2. Casa de casting- brinda modelos (2)
3. Vestuarista- ropa de reu
4. Maquilladora y peinador
5. Director de arte- utileria y esenografía (cervezas, mesas y cosas en la casa)
6. Camarógrafo y asistentes
7. El que arregla el producto

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Day 5 INTERNSHIP Y&R: Small details make BIG differences

11/20/2013

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Before anything is shown, delivered or finished it's not only revised many many times by the creator but also by different people in the team. Small details matter. Why? Well the different components of an ad have a huge impact on the consumer, therefore everything that is included or the way it's modified has a specific reason or roll. Colors have a HUGE impact on the audience thus using bright yellow or dark yellow can create a different emotion and change the meaning or the message you want to transmit. Even something as small as having people celebrating standing or sitting create a totally different atmosphere and feeling which change the way people feel about the ad, brand and product.

I was truly impressed by how the designers spend at least 10 minutes choosing weather the beer can in the add shines or doesn't. I heard the clicking noise back and fourth, back and fourth of them looking at the different options so they could choose the best option which embraces the message of the ad clearly.

When I do posters, Powerpoints, Keynotes, etc. for school I never truly sit down and think of the emotion, message or idea I want to transmit or even how the different things I include in my presentation affect how people understand what I present about. Neither I connect the structure of the paragraphs, slides, colors, designs, pictures of the presentation to the topic I am presenting when I do things for school.

But why not think about this things?

This small details are what make an impact on the audience and what you want to tell them. I think it is a valuable skill because if you know your audience and know exactly what you want to tell them you can evaluate those small details and appeal the presentation (posters, Powerpoints, Keynotes, etc.) more to them, therefore be more effective transmitting whatever is you want to tell them.

By connecting more to the audience you are more persuasive, engaging and you make your audience want to hear or look from you. If I would of payed attention to the small details in my finance project like the way I refer to my client, how I organize the slides, the vocabulary I use, the kinds of visuals, text and even the tone of my voice I could have done a better job and persuaded my client better. If the finance project would of been real I could have actually earned more money if he choose to invest in my stock.

In this business is about the small things since the companies who they promote are selling a product or service, they want to adhere to the public the best way possible so that you can have more costumers that are happy and demand more the product/ service.

Today we discovered a small detail which had never been revised and it is a BIG problem. When you click the commercials in Cristal channel in Youtube there is a pop up that asks you to sign in to confirm your age. As soon as I saw this I though to myself "Oh if I clicked a video and this came up I would close it", why? If you think about it is very annoying when you do an extra step, such as sining in. From the visit of Randy Schere I learned that people want to see news fast, right away, without having any disturbance or without taking so much time. So if people want things fast this is not helpful because they have to take the some to log in and if they don't have an account they might have to create one, and who wants to talk so much time to watch a 30 second commercial? No one, I wouldn't.

This is something that Cristal should consider changing. Not only the money invested in the promotions is wasted, since it becomes useless because people don't watch it, but also they loose costumers. Since they are not watching the commercials they are not informed of what new things are up therefore they stop buying or loose interest in their brand.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Today I was also able to clear out two of my biggest doubts.

1. Have you ever failed at a deadline? What happened?
YES, they have fail at deadlines and the consequences are big even though they always get fixed. When they mss a deadline everything is pushed back while they inform the costumer, Cristal, that they didn't have their promotion on time they also talk to the media companies whom they ask to tell the channels, newspapers or billboard owners if they can give them more time so they can finish and the promotions can be published.

Imagine what it's like here is not only about asking for more time but also loosing money since they don't have anything displayed they are paying for something that is not beign put up or is beign shown.This is why the real business world is not like school deadlines matter and there is no pushing back.
In order not to miss deadlines it is important to have a good plan so that you accomplish everything you need to do. This is why I spread my work in my weeks and plan as much as I can in advance.

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Day 4 INTERNSHIP in Y&R: Know your brand, costumer and competitors as well as you know yourself

11/20/2013

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Promotion is about knowing, mastering and staying aware of your BRAND, COSTUMERS and COMPETITORS. The better you know them the more the campaigns succeed.

Knowing the brand is not only knowing who they are and what they do but also understanding their commercial problem, knowing about past campaigns, focus and drive, previously released products/ services and products/ service they are working on and will release in the future. Know PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE.

When I first started this internship I though the the main goal of a promotion agency was to generate RELEVANT and AMAZING promotions which would cause sensation in the consumer and therefore have an influence on their behavior. However, I was wrong, the promotion agencies have the same influence on the consumer as the consumer on the promotion agency.

PAST

PRESENT

FUTURE

...…..

When I first started this internship I though the the main goal of a promotion agency was to generate RELEVANT and AMAZING promotions which would cause sensation in the consumer and therefore have an influence on their behavior. However, I was wrong, the promotion agencies have the same influence on the consumer as the consumer on the promotion agency.

PROMOTION <—> PEOPLE ≠ PROMOTION —> PEOPLE

People like parties and celebrating with their friends.

Therefore this is what they see in the promotion.

People (consumers) have a tremendous influence not only on the promotion of the company but also on the brand. Without consumers there is no company thus the company works for the PEOPLE. This is why networking and connecting skills are so important in the business whorl because this is how the agency reaches out the public (consumers) and figures out important information to make the brand better. Based on who they are, what they want, how they are and why they are like that, the promotions are created to appeal and connect to them, without communicating with the public this wouldn't be possible. In the agency the PLANNER is the one who has made this connections and interactions with the public this is why he knows the consumer the best, therefore becomes the consumer in the agency.

To reach out to the costumers they do three types of interviews that helps them understand their clients better, create new/ un explored markets and appeal more the promotions to the consumer so successful.

The interview

-Can be conducted to great groups of people
-Close ended and concrete questions
-No more than 30 questions
-5-10 minutes
-Questions—> neutral
-Questions that can be answered fast, without the need of consulting any documents
-Personal questions

The focus groups

-Conversation
-Conducted to 6- 8 people. At least three times for valid answers.
-Open ended questions
-Number of questions more flexible
-No more than 1 hour
-Questions that can be answered fast, without the need of consulting any documents

The profound interview

-Conversation
-Conducted to only one person at the time.
-Conduct to 8-10 people.
-MORE open ended questions.
-Number of questions more flexible (about 100)
-Between 30 − 45 minutes, no more.
-Questions that can be answered fast, without the need of consulting any documents

So I realized how important the COSTUMERS are in a company, they are at the top of the pyramid. Everything about a costumer is relevant to a company because it depends on who they are and what they want that what the company produces succeeds or fails. It is important not only to know your consumers well but also maintain connected and aware of it's needs so you can get closer to them every time. In conclusion communication skills are essential in a business too this is why I want to reenforce this skill in my internship by communicating with the team and asking questions all the time.

Finally know your competition very well.
Who are they?, how many are there? and what brands they have?

Look at their different promotions, what do they want to transmit, in the past what have they done. Be aware of any new things they have released and of their accomplishments too. Also evaluate what are the benefits of your brand over the competitors and also what are you missing. It is also very important to maintain aware of who is the leader in the market and evaluate everything that is keeping them in that position and what they are doing good. Competitors don't play such an important role of the promotions and how they are design but they help the agency realize what markets have already been explored and what things haven't been shown yet.

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Day 3 Y&R INTERNSHIP: You can learn A LOT from just observing and listening

11/14/2013

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Today I was able to attend a meeting, where Javier, director of accounting, presented the Bold Action Planning, in other words all the different campaign ideas for Cristal for the year 2014.

To start off the meeting he presented the different ideas for each campaign. We went through the entire powerpoint which showed a "rough draft" of all the types of promotions that were going to be used for each campaign. We also took a look at the different ads, key visuals, packaging, big & bolds, billboards and more and how they're going to look in the places they're going to be displayed.

During the entire presentation, I kept on asking myself why they had to demonstrate their ideas with so much time in advance. Yesterday the entire office was going crazy to finish the presentation by 5:30. So I asked and they told me that they had to show the ideas with 6 months in advance so that the client, Cristal, could give feedback back and forth to the agency and they had enough time to make changes and turn in the promotions.

However, the ideas shown in the meeting were general guidelines; all the promotions are not the final ones because they need to be adjusted, but they give the costumer a pretty good idea of how it will look. Later on in the meeting, we looked at the feedback of the client for every single promotion and powerpoint slide; yes the powerpoint counts as well because they need to present to their Cristal boss and having a long powerpoint has to be entertaining, relevant and to the point. This is called an account status, when all the accountants get together to discuss the feedback, write a report, prioritize what needs to be modified first and then communicates it to the team so the changes are applied. During this meeting they also showed the different promotions that will be displayed in the social media (twitter, fabcebook) and how they are going to look.

Something very valuable I've learned during this three days is that LISTENING is an amazing skill. By simply sitting down 40 minutes in this meeting listening what they discussed I learned so many things. For example I learned that there is something called dream space, which what they call all the information gathered from the consumers. What the agency does is contact the consumers and ask them what they would like to see or what they would like from their brand. Their answers are considered by the company and the agency and therefore they try to connect their "what to says" and visual cues to what they mentioned and therefore the promotions appeal more to the consumer and thus are way more effective.

More OBSERVATIONS and LESSONS from the

REAL-WORLD

1. Hard work pays off!
In Y&R they have a set schedule, however this schedule is not official. Sometimes people are forced to work during lunch time or are forced to stay longer at work because they have a project due and they can't push back the deadlines, when things are DUE they have to be completed, NO EXCEPTIONS. However when they stay to work until later or their lunch time is taken away they can either come later to work or take their lunch time during other hours.

2. Knowing how to edit videos is a basic skill
Today I watched how Pipo edited a video in his computer. He was not editing a professional commercial or movie but he was making an engaging presentation that he was going to present to their client, Cristal, with all the ideas.

3.Tumblr = i n s p i r a t i o n
This is the like the third time I see someone go into tumblr. It is an AMAZING site for inspiration since there are so many cool pictures and visuals. Watching this cool visuals might get them inspired and creative and therefore they take breaks in tumblr.

4. You work for your client no matter what.
Like mentioned before they have to work as many hours as they need to have things completed and satisfy their client. Also if the client doesn't like or wants to change something then you must do it without complaining. Sometimes clients take a long time replaying emails approving or sending feedback on a idea or ad. However you can't complain to them and you must do the work even when they answer late.

5. #1 Skill in business is
TEAM WORK
Everything in promotion agencies is connected, it does't mean that everyone work in the same thing but everything depends on something. Therefore to be successful and create BEAUTIFUL WORK you must be able to collaborate and work with others. Here in Y&R, especially in the Cristal team, they are all like family. Everyone gets along well and even though they have fun at times they get their work done and they are productive. If you fail a task you bring down your family because EVERYTHING depends on each other.

A little bit about how the Cristal team work inY&R

Within a promotion agency there are 4 different sectors, accounting, planning, creativity and production. The different areas are located in different sectors but still collaborate with each other. However for Cristal this is a little different, they are like a mini agency because they have build a team with people from all the different sectors which are all working in a same area, office. The brand had required them to work like this and this is because Cristal is a very big company here in Peru and Y&R does ALL the promotion for the entire year therefore they are working on the Cristal during their day-to-day at work. It is convenient to put them together since they need to work collaborating, bouncing off ideas, sending files, giving feedback and more.

Some questions I have for them
-How much do advertisements cost? (Billboards, commercials, etc.)

-Has it ever happen that you have to promote two companies from the same area?

-Have you ever failed at a deadline? What happened? (consequences)

-Do you only use Photoshop to do you visuals?

-Which program would you recommend me to learn? Which one is most useful in the business world?

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Day 2 Y&R INTERNSHIP: Finding the right "WHAT TO SAY" for a campaign

11/14/2013

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It is amazing how when a campaign is being processed ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING is thought and designed for the campaign. I am not kidding EVERYTHING. From the most common things like logos, banners, ads, commercials to bottle caps, toldo designs, packaging or even seats for buses and buses tickets. Companies spend tons of money marketing their brand for a single reason to add VALUE to their product or service. By creating a specific aura around the product, with promotion, you give it VALUE and you give VALUE to the costumers which is the most important thing.

Today I also learned how Y&R along with their client develops and effective concept and the "what to say" which guides the ENTIRE campaign. First of all each company has their own great speech which they want to convey, no matter what campaign they are releasing it will always connect to their slogan or "what to say".

Coca-Cola
felicidad

Banco Financiero
El banco de quienes van a ser grandes

Cristal
Union

Cristal wants their costumers to feel connected with their product and not only that but they want their product to connect all their costumers. Cristal focuses on the union amongst peruvians. They have been sponsoring the Peruvian team for many years and now they are using them as a mean to transmit this message.

In one of their most recent campaigns for "fiestas patrias" based on their main concept, UNION, they developed a very smart "what to say" that connected the people, the Peruvian soccer team and most importantly Cristal, the beer.

Fiestas Patrias Campaign
Concept: Convocados, "What to say": Cuando Juega Perú, jugamos todos
Convocados simply means summoned, or called to. The entire campaign for "fiestas patrias" evolved around this idea. They are not only calling the soccer players but every peruvian to be part of it. To celebrate together. Throughout this entire campaign they included different peruvians and soccer players around the world to come together.

The goal for this campaign was that all peruvians rememberer and celebrate their independence together, and celebrate united as peruvians. They developed this idea and transmuted this concept through soccer. When Peru is playing everyone is connected because we are all cheering with the same emotion and love for the country and we are supporting our team and we are all keeping track of the game. This is why the "what to say" for this campaign was "Cuando Juega Perú, jugamos todos" because when when Peru plays we are all united, even though we are not all in the same place we are united by that feeling and spirit for our country. So Cristal along with Y&R agency developed the PERFECT "what to say" so they could deliver this message using the Peruvian soccer team, which they sponsor.

Buy researching and understanding this campaign I not only learned how to develop a campaign and the PERFECT "what to say" but I also learned the different areas in a promotion agency, their roles and how they work TOGETHER to create a final product.

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Y&R, first day at internship!

11/11/2013

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AFTER PLANNING AND ORGANIZING FOR SEVRAL WEEKS THE INTERNSHIP DAY IS FINALLY HERE! #REALWORLD #HANDSON #INTERNSHIP #Y&R

Today I woke up early and went for a walk with my mom and my dog. I showered, ate breakfast calmly and left for work at 8:30 am. I arrived at the office at 8:40 am, awake, excited and most importantly eager to learn. I apporached the front desk where a man asked me for my DNI and told me to wait for Eduardo. I waited… waited…. and waited… NOTHING. So I spoke up and I went to another lady sitting in the desk and I asked her to inform Eduardo's secretary, Rubi, that I was here. Luckily I was early and I could wait all the time needed.

Finally a guy came down the stairs and asked if I was Andrea; he then took me to the Cristal team office. David introduced me to their creative directors, designers, accouters and more people who are part of their team. Then we sat down with Melissa, the accounts executive, and we talked a little about what I was going to do during my time there. David wanted me to experience contact with the client so for some time I am going to work in accounts, getting the orders of the clients and transferring into the system and creating an order for the team to produce whatever is needed by the client. Then he told me that I was also going to work on production and learning how to produce the different types of promotions and how each work. Finally David left to a meeting and I stayed with Melissa.

C H A L L E N G E S on the first day….

Being YOUNG
1. I am only 16 years old and in the REAL BUSINESS WORLD (through the eyes of important/ experience people) I am seen as less important (because of no experience) or less professional background. When I got to work and I was early, the assistant in the front desk told me to sit down and wait; he did not bother to do something, considering I was already waiting for 40 minutes, until I asked him for Rubi.

2. People underestimate young people, therefore they gave me SIMPLE work like easy research on the projects. In the beginning I was not getting any attention which I understand since they have tons of work. But then when finally started to push the bar a bit by asking questions not only to Melissa but to the different people who are part of the team and making conversation in lunch I got the opportunity to learn more.

BIG COMPANY =TOO IMPORTANT, TOO BUSY
2. People are nice but they have so much work they don't bother teaching me things or showing me around. When Diego brought me up he introduced me to the team every one was super nice and welcoming, since all the people were lively and young the environment was very positive and fun. However he had to go to a meeting, therefore he left me with Melissa, the ejective de cuentas. I sat for 30 minutes watching her write mails, we talked for short periods since she was so busy figuring out her mail.

Observations based on a REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE

1. Have

FUN

The people have FUN at work

-They call each other personalized
N I C K N A M E S (chuky, kevin, chap)

-They are allowed to EAT while working, they even have a waitress theta brings them food or drinks from the bar

-They can listen to music, play, joke around, chat go to Facebook, tumblr

-They personalize their working area, their computers have stickers, pictures of whatever they want

2.Observe for

INSPIRATION

The people are always looking around for INSPIRATION and also for fostering CREATIVITY.

-They have thousands of posters, ads, bottles, logos, cans, caps, calendars and all sorts of things they design or create for promotion of the brand (Cristal). They keep this things not only as an archive but also so that when they get to work they feel INSPIRED and also they get into the atmosphere of the brand. By beign exposed to the products and promotions they create they start to think on more ideas and it also fosters they CREATIVITY as to wise the product they are promoting.

-They look into the Facebook page of crystal and watch youtube videos to get in the mood of crystal and begin creating and producing things in that feeling. If they produce things with that feeling of crystal it is more likely that the costumers will feel that same feeling.

-They are not only exposed to the brand they are promoting but also to the competition. They have their products around and also in the computer they have files of the different ads their competitors have. This allows them

LESSONS from my first day

1. Asking thoughtful questions makes people give you thoughtful answers which you can learn a lot from.

In the beginning I was scared to say anything since I didn't know these people. For the first time in my life I felt a strong desire to learn about everything they were doing. I saw people around me doing amazing advertisements, with cool colors, images and amazing editing skills, I wanted so bad to be part of it. I though that there was going to be a moment when a person was going to go with me through every single thing about promotion and this Cristal project. I was wrong. Instead of sitting back and eating for things to happen I made them happen, I begun to ask questions, it was my way of trying to get out information from the people, only that in a good way. I asked about:
-The impact of products in their office and ads they have made on their current work
-The synthetic grass in the office
-Personalized working areas
-Music (relaxed, calm)
-Their current campaign
-Ads they showed me
-Promotion in tv, ads, packaging (process)

2. Accepting harsh feedback often

From my time in Innovation Academy I know how hard it can be to accept harsh feedback. But let me tell you something this is a skill you must attain because in the real world it is all around. During the 7 hoursI spend in the office I realized how much the designers, producers and creative directors get criticized by other people, specially their costumers. Day-to-day designers, producers and creative directors are constantly generating ideas, creating ads, commercials, etc. for each campaign. Today as I was working in the accounts area, area of Y&R that gets in contact with costumers, I realized how demanding and strict costumers can be. As these people generate ideas or produce them they need to constantly keep in contact with their costumer so they can approve or give comments on what is beign made. For example today I saw a Cristal article, which in my opinion was perfect but as the day went by and we communicated with the costumer, Backus, the ad was changed at lead 5 times until it was sent for final approval. They guy, Chuky, creating the ad had all these critiques from the company (logo is standing out from banner logo is centered, logo too close to the people) and even though he had worked hard and he liked what he had made he had to change it to satisfy the costumer. Also in our team room there is one guy who produces ads for Movistar. Throughout the day I saw him produce at least five different ads with the same information only that with different people and backgrounds to see which ones would get approval. Many directors came to him and as they analyzed each ad they changed them several times. In my eyes it looks like minimal details, such as color of the grass or size of the clouds, but once they actually give a reason behind why it should be changed it makes me realize the importance of every single small part.

3. Following up with deadlines

In the real world deadline are deadlines that MUST be followed. It's not like school where you can ask for extensions. Missing a deadline is falling at work. Today the client, Backus, made the designers here do many changes and they worked very hard to have it on time. However the client did not approve the "prensa" ad on time and Libero, newspaper, couldn't wait any longer so they can't put the new ad on this week. If is approved then it will be used for next week. However, Backus still needs to answer as soon as they can so they can approve the article and it can be released at least in Depor tomorrow.

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Getting READY for the internship

11/10/2013

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COMPLETING the "To Do's before the internship"

E-mail Eduardo ✔️

-Set working hours ✔️
-Tell him about Thanksgiving ✔️
-Ask him if there is anything I need to know or have for the internship ✔️

Learn about projects I will work in ✔️

-Learn about Cristal (promotion and company) ✔️
-Learn about Movistar (promotion and company ) ✔️

MOVISTAR Promotion by Y&R

CRISTAL Promotion by Y&R

Cristal (Brand Director en UCP BACKUS Y JOHNSTON SAA) brand Director --> Nino Garboza

Create a section on my webpage for the internship ✔️

Research the company ✔️

People

CEO --> Eduardo Grisolle (middle)
Creative Director --> Flavio Pantigoso (left)
General Art Director--> Christian Sánchez (right)
Digital Director --> Ed Félix

Companies they work with

Creators of the brand PERÚ ----->

Look up mentor in Linkedin ✔️

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CONNECTING with Musas de Yemanyá

11/10/2013

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Yesterday Musas contacted me and thanked me for the article I hadn't upload a picture of their store and they emailed me one to include in my article. It was very cool! They also posted my article on their Facebook page and Instagram! #excited #cool

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