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If anyone knows about beating the odds to impress an executive creative director (ECD), it’s Rob Potts, ECD Saatchi & Saatchi London. He “broke into advertising” from stockbroking.
“Stockbroking was something of a traditional job for anyone growing up in Essex (South East England) in the 1980s who could count past 100. As a career choice, it wasn't one of his best ideas, however. ‘I studied math, economics and politics, took a job at NatWest Stockbrokers, transferred to The Stock Exchange floor and promptly got blown up by the IRA (Irish Republican Army) on my first day. I took it as a sign to try a different path’." [From Six Things You didn’t know about Saatchi London’s Rob Potts: Advertising Age].
This is how you’d impress an ECD like Rob Potts - by Rob Potts
You’re a young advertising student with a book. Not just any old book. A great book. An amazing book. Let’s not be coy here: you’re The Advertising Student with The Book and you cannot, will not, rest until advertising’s greatest creative minds see it, for it is your sacred duty.
We’ve all been there. And we’ve all been faced with the same two basic choices when aiming to get an audience with Don Draper and show him what we can do.
“You can either phone/email/sex text the creative secretary and beg to get an audience with the boss sometime within the next six months and let your book do the talking.
Or get creative.
Personally, I think it’s safer to let a book do the talking. A good book stands out a mile and ECDs get to be ECDs because they can spot them. Job done. No gimmick required.
But, if creative creative-job applications is your thing, then here’s what I think works. And what I think sucks. Based on personal experience.
Be helpful. Hire a limo, drive to Cannes, wear a white uniform and offer ECDs a lift from Nice Airport to their villa in return for a book crit. Stefan Arnoldus and Jacob Norremark did and most importantly, had the book to back it up.
Be funny. Lovingly design a map, call it ‘Advertising Land’ and send your favourite ECD a weekly update of your latest adventures in it that showcases your latest work. Dave Towers did and he got a job. Mind you he was a designer. This approach doesn’t work for copywriters.
Be cheeky-but-not-that-cheeky. Ben Wheatley bought the domain name for Mother.co.uk and put all his films up on it. Cheeky. We saw it and gave him Pot Noodle as his first ad to direct. He’s done all right.
And, in no particular order:
- Do not send ECDs food in the post. It goes off.
- Do not send ECDs maggots in the post thinking they turn into butterflies. Maggots turn into flies.
- Do not send ECDs a ‘box of weird’ that’s full of weird stuff because it’s just weird.
- Do not send ECDs tombstones with ‘advertising hasn’t died’ etched into it because ECDs know advertising hasn’t died. We read AdNews.
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