- Graduation Year: May 2014
- Major: Advertising
- Hometown: Elgin, IL
- Hobbies: Basketball, Video-Gaming
Campus Activities
- American Advertising Federation at Illinois
Internship | Account Planning Intern at Bailey Lauerman
Duties
-Part of a 6-person summer intern team for Ad Age’s 2013 Small Agency of the Year, working on an advertising campaign for the Smithsonian Institution’s upcoming exhibit
-Participated in preliminary client meetings to establish advertising goals and expectations
-Conducted primary research with 60+ respondents via electronic survey and 3 in-depth follow up interviews, and analyzed data with SPSS to identify patterns
– Used GfK MRI and other secondary research tools to compose an image of the existing market situation
-Drafted creative brief and brand strategy inspired by key insights that led to creative executions across several media, including online video, radio, print, online display, and social media
-Established the brand’s archetypal personality with the agency’s proprietary branding system
-Contributed to creative conception sessions
-Used primary research insights, GfK MRI, and general fact-finding as the basis for the brand’s connection strategy, spanning several different media across paid, social, and content-hosting.
-Designed final campaign client presentation, including data-rich appendices.
-Brainstormed with executives within the agency on existing work for other clients, including participating in client meetings, creative conception, and strategy walkthroughs
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
The opportunity to be thrown right into a real agency experience, as if it was a job.
What was the most difficult aspect of the internship?
Working with other students from very different backgrounds and understandings of the advertising process.
How did your experience at ILLINOIS and in the College of Media prepare you for your internship?
Illinois helped me discover and hone the discipline that I would ultimately adopt for this internship, account planning. The semester before the internship, I learned about creative strategies and advertising research, in ADV 450 and 481 respectively, skills that I directly applied in my internship.
How has your internship prepared you for a career?
It helped me realize my love for the advertising agency environment, as well as how diverse and multi-faceted the industry is. I learned more about planning in that one 6-week period that I had in all of my education thus far.
What recommendations do you have for other students about doing an internship?
Pursue an internship experience where you’re going to get a chance to do something tangible and great, not just something that looks good on a resume.