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.
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
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?
-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?