Where are they now? Ash Billinghay.
Ex Creative Advertising student, Ash Billinghay graduated from the programme last year and is now a copywriter at top digital agency Lean Mean Fighting Machine. We'll let Ash explain in his own words how he got the job at such an influential agency.
“Throughout my degree I always thought I would end up as a copywriter in a creative team and together we’d swan off to London and do placements galore, like everyone said we were meant to. However come the end of the third year I found myself without an art director and without much motivation to go and try it on my own. In my head this was a problem because everything I’d done for the last few years was to get to a point where I could call myself a creative, and now this point seemed to be escaping me. I had to come up with a plan B, which isn’t something I tend to do very often. My plan B was to do a Masters degree and hope that extra experience would stand me in good stead for another pop at the advertising world in the future.
“I got onto that Masters (I bribed a lot of people) and also started applying for lots of placements and jobs around Lincoln. One of these applications came through, and for the next 3 months I found myself working as a copywriter at a design agency. Unfortunately this design agency didn’t really have a lot of copy that needed writing, but it definitely made a decent mark on my CV and helped open doors for me to other opportunities.
“After the placement ended I went freelance and worked for a few local businesses writing copy for websites and brochures before a long term contract came up at The Collection, a museum and art gallery at the top of the city. I was their Marketing and Audience Development Officer, which meant I ran their social media networks and organised PR, marketing and advertising online. It was a very good experience for me, working in the cultural sector which I had always been interested in, and I worked with some lovely people who all came from very interesting and diverse backgrounds. I learnt a lot while I was there and made some good friends and contacts.
“At the same time I was obviously still doing my MA and part of this involved me producing my own book. I did this and self published on the Amazon Kindle network as well as getting it put into print. This was really quite exciting for me, seeing something I had worked so hard on come to fruition, and again meant I spoke to and met a lot of interesting people who could help me on my path to my future career goals.”
“It was while I was sat revelling in the book’s success (I sold 12 copies. Only 3 of which were to members of my family) that I saw a vacancy come up on my Twitter feed. I was always on the look out for more freelance work and hadn’t really considered taking on anything full time until my MA was over, but this vacancy was with an ad agency in London doing a very similar job to the one I had been doing for The Collection. It was an opportunity too good to miss and one I didn’t think I was going to have after coming out of uni as a single, but I went through the application process just to see if it was possible.
“Two interviews later and here I am, sat in the office of Lean Mean Fighting Machine typing up these words. I’ve been here 3 months now after moving down to London in March and it’s been possibly the busiest 3 months of my entire life. I work for some pretty big names including Foster’s, Strongbow, Vimto and Unilever and am still yet to be tired of seeing something I have worked on exist in the real world.
“When university finished I was really quite frightened that I would be left behind and end up a withered old man with lots of cats and only a tale to tell of how I once did a degree in advertising.
“That still might happen, but for now it’s not going too badly. While being in a team is definitely something I wish I had tried harder to achieve, going the single route can lead to some good places too.”
“Throughout my degree I always thought I would end up as a copywriter in a creative team and together we’d swan off to London and do placements galore, like everyone said we were meant to. However come the end of the third year I found myself without an art director and without much motivation to go and try it on my own. In my head this was a problem because everything I’d done for the last few years was to get to a point where I could call myself a creative, and now this point seemed to be escaping me. I had to come up with a plan B, which isn’t something I tend to do very often. My plan B was to do a Masters degree and hope that extra experience would stand me in good stead for another pop at the advertising world in the future.
“I got onto that Masters (I bribed a lot of people) and also started applying for lots of placements and jobs around Lincoln. One of these applications came through, and for the next 3 months I found myself working as a copywriter at a design agency. Unfortunately this design agency didn’t really have a lot of copy that needed writing, but it definitely made a decent mark on my CV and helped open doors for me to other opportunities.
“After the placement ended I went freelance and worked for a few local businesses writing copy for websites and brochures before a long term contract came up at The Collection, a museum and art gallery at the top of the city. I was their Marketing and Audience Development Officer, which meant I ran their social media networks and organised PR, marketing and advertising online. It was a very good experience for me, working in the cultural sector which I had always been interested in, and I worked with some lovely people who all came from very interesting and diverse backgrounds. I learnt a lot while I was there and made some good friends and contacts.
“At the same time I was obviously still doing my MA and part of this involved me producing my own book. I did this and self published on the Amazon Kindle network as well as getting it put into print. This was really quite exciting for me, seeing something I had worked so hard on come to fruition, and again meant I spoke to and met a lot of interesting people who could help me on my path to my future career goals.”
Lean Mean Fighting Machine’s office, empty of people.
“It was while I was sat revelling in the book’s success (I sold 12 copies. Only 3 of which were to members of my family) that I saw a vacancy come up on my Twitter feed. I was always on the look out for more freelance work and hadn’t really considered taking on anything full time until my MA was over, but this vacancy was with an ad agency in London doing a very similar job to the one I had been doing for The Collection. It was an opportunity too good to miss and one I didn’t think I was going to have after coming out of uni as a single, but I went through the application process just to see if it was possible.
“Two interviews later and here I am, sat in the office of Lean Mean Fighting Machine typing up these words. I’ve been here 3 months now after moving down to London in March and it’s been possibly the busiest 3 months of my entire life. I work for some pretty big names including Foster’s, Strongbow, Vimto and Unilever and am still yet to be tired of seeing something I have worked on exist in the real world.
“When university finished I was really quite frightened that I would be left behind and end up a withered old man with lots of cats and only a tale to tell of how I once did a degree in advertising.
“That still might happen, but for now it’s not going too badly. While being in a team is definitely something I wish I had tried harder to achieve, going the single route can lead to some good places too.”
UNITE success for Rob and Sam
Twice a year the Young Creative Council (YCC) run their ‘Unite’ events giving students and aspiring creatives the opportunity to display their work and mingle with top London creatives. This year they asked students to do something a little different; here are third year team Rob Greaves and Sam Daly to tell us all about it and their charismatic success:-
“The application process involved us sending three pieces of work to be judged and over 90 applications were narrowed down to just 20 including Rob and myself and another Lincoln team Sam and Maria. As a new challenge the YCC asked all successful applicants to prepare a 2 minute presentation/performance to be delivered on stage at the start of the night before the book crits began.
“Me and Rob decided to do something different and attention grabbing so that we would without doubt be remembered by everyone there. We settled on the idea of auctioning off the chance for someone to choose a tattoo that me and Rob would both get (risky I know). The auction was a huge success and Rob Butcher, a senior creative at London agency Brave, won the auction with a bid of £70.
“We are yet to find out what he has chosen but were pleased when he offered us a placement as part of the deal. We were awarded ‘Best team’ on the night based on our originality and we were presented with prizes including a Harry Potter poster and candy necklace. Overall the event was hugely useful helping us to meet a lot of new contacts and was a great experience as we prepare to move to London permanently.”
Well done guys, for those of you with eager eyes you'll have noticed just how many current and former Lincoln Creative Advertising students were at the event. It is always so wonderful to see just how well our students integrate themselves with the industry and how their confidence continues to bring them success.
Hilton campaign goes live!
Back in February, we reported about this year's live client project. If you remember, we ran a live brief for Lincoln's newest hotel – the DoubleTree by Hilton – and the challenge was to advertise their Electric Bar & Restaurant.
The successful concept was produced by creative team Sam Barber & Maria Sousa Machado and they worked with Gyles, Mike and photographer Clive Doyle to produce the final campaign.
The billboard has now been put up on the ClearChannel site on Broadgate in Lincoln and very impressive it looks too!
The billboard on Broadgate, Lincoln
The 48 sheet billboard artwork
Sam & Maria proudly posing in from of their first billboard!
As well as the billboard the ad is featured in three of Lincoln's high quality magazines: The Bailgate Independent; Lincolnshire Life; and The Journal. The magazines will feature two different full-page adverts over the next two months.
Press ad number one
Press ad number two.
The photos were taken by the very talented Newark-based photographer Clive Doyle. We art directed a full day's shoot from the roof of the hotel where it was pretty windy but with a fantastic view!
*sings* ‘Up on the roooooooof...!’
Clive at work
Even the swans wanted to get in on the action
The sunset looked incredible from up there.
Maria said the duo brainstormed lots of ideas before settling on the winning entry: “We started off thinking about what makes the bar stand out and of different ways of looking at things through a lens. This translated quite literally in the end to using the tilt-shift photography style.
“Nicola from the DoubleTree by Hilton was really passionate about the project and treated us like professionals throughout the whole process,” she added.
For Sam, seeing their ideas come to life was one of the most rewarding aspects of the project: “A lot of the work we have done is simply generating ideas, but actually seeing our idea come to life and turned into a printed ad campaign has given us invaluable experience.”
Also on the judging panel was Principal Lecturer Gyles Lingwood, Senior Lecturer Mike Belton, Restaurant Manager Dan Ralley and Bar Manager Andy Hallam. As well as having their idea adopted by The Electric Bar & Restaurant as their official advert, Maria and Sam have each won an overnight stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln and dinner in The Electric Bar & Restaurant for two people.
This very ambitious and successful project has given Sam and Maria the opportunity to work with a high-profile, well regarded brand and work alongside a top professional photographer. The ads that they have produced are beautiful, intelligent and will help the new Electric Bar & Restaurant achieve its strategic objectives.
Projects such as this give students the incredibly valuable experience of progressing their concepts through to final production and enable the university to work with local businesses and transfer knowledge and experience from the academic team. Local businesses benefit from utilising the very impressive creative skills of the students before they join the University of Lincoln creative advertising alumni who are working at some of the best advertising agencies in the world.
“Nicola from the DoubleTree by Hilton was really passionate about the project and treated us like professionals throughout the whole process,” she added.
For Sam, seeing their ideas come to life was one of the most rewarding aspects of the project: “A lot of the work we have done is simply generating ideas, but actually seeing our idea come to life and turned into a printed ad campaign has given us invaluable experience.”
Also on the judging panel was Principal Lecturer Gyles Lingwood, Senior Lecturer Mike Belton, Restaurant Manager Dan Ralley and Bar Manager Andy Hallam. As well as having their idea adopted by The Electric Bar & Restaurant as their official advert, Maria and Sam have each won an overnight stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln and dinner in The Electric Bar & Restaurant for two people.
This very ambitious and successful project has given Sam and Maria the opportunity to work with a high-profile, well regarded brand and work alongside a top professional photographer. The ads that they have produced are beautiful, intelligent and will help the new Electric Bar & Restaurant achieve its strategic objectives.
Projects such as this give students the incredibly valuable experience of progressing their concepts through to final production and enable the university to work with local businesses and transfer knowledge and experience from the academic team. Local businesses benefit from utilising the very impressive creative skills of the students before they join the University of Lincoln creative advertising alumni who are working at some of the best advertising agencies in the world.
Creative Advertising in the Big Apple
We love going down to London to visit our friends in the industry, of course we do.
But there is no denying the thrill we felt when jetting off to New York to make some new friends in The Big Apple.
At the end of March, at six am on a wintery Monday morning, 30 students with oversized suitcases and pockets stuffed with dollars rolled up outside the main campus, ready to set off to the US.
Over the next 4 days we were fortunate enough to visit BBH, JWT, Ogilvy, Vanity Fair Magazine, even finding time to pop our heads into see the good people at Hyper Island as well as set a brief for the students live in Central Park.
Here are a few pictures from our epic adventure along with words from some of the students who travelled with us to New York.
Emma Thomas - 1st Year - BBH
"Being the first ever agency i’d visited, my excitement was at an all time high. As soon as the lift doors opened, the iconic BBH black sheep was very prominent and the atmosphere in the air immediately changed. There was a buzz about the place.
As we waited for someone to show us round the agency, we got the chance to experience the view BBH’s creatives get.
New York City lay before us. In every direction iconic buildings stood high above the bustling city below. With a view like that it’s clear to see why the outskirts of SoHo is the home to BBH NYC. Walking through the agency the buzz remained. Creatives were working all around us, some alone, some in teams, all obviously loving what they do. Colourful paintings and personal touches filled the agency with life.
We then got the opportunity to hear from and talk to creatives within the company and see some of the work BBH has produced. This was such an invaluable chance to really see what the world of advertising is truly like and give us an insight as to what’s in store. The things they spoke to us about were just ridiculously motivating and I know for me, I came out really focused and even more convinced advertising is where I want to be. "
The reception of BBH NY + a fine bunch of CA students.
Jenny McDonald - 2nd Year - JWT
"Heading up to the 2nd floor, the reception area was an array of weird and wonderful pictures and furnishings, topped off by a show reel of JWT work, projected onto each wall. We were then met by Carly Wengrover from the PR department who took us on a tour of all three floors occupied by JWT, walking through the infinite desks, highlights included the many obscure photographs and posters scattered around the open-plan office, many of which making for interesting photo opportunities; and the Cafeteria, which doubles as a room for entertaining and even has its own stage and DJ.
After the tour, we were then ushered into a conference room to be given the opportunity meet a few other members of the JWT team and probe them for information with our questions, these included McDonald Predelus, who works as a Creative, Kelly Dye, a Creative Coordinator, and many others including one British account planner, which made me feel less worried about my own prospects about one day working across the pond.
A lovely creative 'nest' in JWT NY.
Of the three ad agencies which we were lucky enough to get the opportunity to visit, I would say that JWT is the most traditional in its core values; with it’s separation of each department and its offices being in the midst of sky scrapers, it makes for an exciting and different experience of visiting an agency."
Gathered directly in front of the sign that proves we're in JWT. Clever bunch, aren't we?
Liam Nicholson - 2nd Year - Ogilvy
"Situated away from the bustle of New York City center, on 11th Avenue the Ogilvy & Mather New York office stands tall with hustle and did not fail to impress. This is the headquarters of the company that owns around 450 offices in 120 countries and approximately 18,000 employees of which 3,000 are located here. A lot of expectations where completely blown out of the water as we were shown around the stunning building then taken to the sunny, roof terrace with breath taking views.
I found this agency visit to be extremely rewarding due to the Q&A with the creatives working on accounts such as IBM, Wonka, Castrol and Fanta. We were told about these accounts and that Fanta were debuting an exciting new development in advertising using Facebook Timeline, were you have to find characters in the timeline and like them back to the present (http://www.facebook.com/fanta?ref=ts).
The creative's answers were very sincere and inspiring. We were told how important criticism is and how you should encourage this criticism from people that you respect and want to please. “…And remember your experience is different to everybody else’s.” We were also given advice about our book, what to include in it and how to get hired, which I found especially invaluable.
Overall, a truly exceptional agency and home to legendary campaigns."
The group on the roof terrace at Ogilvy NY.
Lily Peters - 2nd Year - Vanity Fair
"The excitement of our trip continued as several of us were fortunate enough to visit Vanity Fair.
After passing security and taking the lift up to the 22nd floor, we met with Hamish Robertson, the Digital Design Editor. He was incredibly welcoming and spoke with us about the inclination that brands now have toward using digital media. As a firm believer that print is not dead - something I felt equally strongly about - Hamish gave us a brilliant insight into how a monthly magazine, such as Vanity Fair, is working with digital to compliment it, something he thought no one has quite perfected yet. As well as discussing the future of media, we gained an understanding of how fierce the competition for the top advertising spots in such a high-end magazine is; we discovered how the art direction and creativity of the ad can effect whether it is granted the initial space within Vanity Fair. It was wonderful to be able to speak directly to someone so involved with the developing relationship of print and digital media, as well as someone who decides which ads feature in the magazine."
_________________________________
Back to me! The students had an excellent time and most definitely used every single second they were in New York to explore.
They took Limo rides to dinner, went to see college basketball matches, got stuck on Statton Island, did the tourist thing, the New Yorker thing, saw independent cinema in Brooklyn, modern art at MOMA and walked the excellent High Line to name just a few of their adventures.
'This is how we roll' - CA students catch a Limo to dinner.
Ferry Terminal
The Statue of Liberty
I hope this blog gave you a flavour of our visit but if you REALLY want to get a feel for our New York trip then you should have a look at this piece of work by 2nd Year Lily Peters.
Gathering students for a life briefing in Central Park
A sunny morning in Central Park, briefing about to commence.
She produced it in response to a brief the students were given LIVE in Central Park halfway through our trip. Enjoy it, it's called 'How Sweet is The Big Apple'.
And if there was ever any doubt whether we enjoyed ourselves, well, we've already arranged the dates for next year's trip!
End of Year Show Build 2012
With a little bit of déjà vu (see Last years 'Show Build' post) the CA third year have begun building their final year show. And they're doing it at some speed.
This morning we had a normal teaching studio but by lunchtime we had dismantled it, stacked it neatly and begun the skeleton of the exhibition space.
Take a look at a few pictures of our VERY busy day and join us tomorrow for a little spot of painting!
This morning we had a normal teaching studio but by lunchtime we had dismantled it, stacked it neatly and begun the skeleton of the exhibition space.
Take a look at a few pictures of our VERY busy day and join us tomorrow for a little spot of painting!
The end of an era...
The manual labour began in earnest.
Whilst others tried to pursue more creative endeavours as the studio was dismantled around them.
Though it wasn't long before there were no more desks to work at.
And our studio had become our exhibition space.
Iris Urgent Genius Weekender
Back in February, University of Lincoln Creative Advertising level 3 team Philippa Beaumont & Artur Faria were invited to be part of the ad agency Iris' Urgent Genius Weekender in London.
This is what Philippa wrote about the event:-
'Iris hosted the event and for 3 days we worked within the agency creating some urgent work that could possibly be genius. There were people from all areas of the creative industry, Hollywood scriptwriters, improv actors and some advertisers too.
'The whole point of the weekend was to create content and get it out there fast, so there were a few late nights and some very quickly learnt After Effect skills put to use. It was a great chance to go a bit creatively crazy and just do something entertaining!
Philippa storyboarding
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Things were getting particularly peculiar on set!
'In our final idea the minions from Despicable Me made several appearances (see above), even punching Justin Bieber at one point!
'The weekend ended with a wrap party with beer and pizza and a chance to see some of the entries from the weekend.
'We meet a lot of great creative people, our creativity got a fresh boost and we learnt that sometimes it pays to just get your idea out there!'
'The weekend ended with a wrap party with beer and pizza and a chance to see some of the entries from the weekend.
'We meet a lot of great creative people, our creativity got a fresh boost and we learnt that sometimes it pays to just get your idea out there!'
Artur in production mode
Ad agency London week for level 3 - part 5
The last two reports from level three Creative Advertising students after they spent a very busy week engaging with some of the best advertising agencies in London...
... JWT by Jade Sturman
'After a long week of visiting various agencies last on the agenda was JWT. Having learnt so much over the week I was surprised how much new and useful information Miles Bingham at JWT provided us.
Outside JWT
‘Miles showed us he own student book which subsequently secured him a job within the industry. I found looking at Miles’ book very valuable and reassuring, as it was full of strong strategies and great ideas. This is what students at Lincoln aim for with every piece of work they create.
‘He also showed us the kind of work that he is producing whilst working for JWT. The work was amazing and left me feeling excited and optimistic about working in the industry. I found the advice Miles gave us valuable and certainly influenced my opinions on the kind of agency I would hope to work for in the future.’
... Isobel by Nicky Perry
‘It was a beautiful morning but most of us spent it completing work for Isobel in the afternoon. The brief that Isobel had set the week before was to come up with an idea or campaign to get the Daily Mirror noticed - one that would rival the new adverts for the Sun on Sunday and the Guardian’s Three Little Pigs campaign.
‘We presented each teams’ work to Rob Fletcher, one of the Creative Directors at the agency, and he gave quick feedback on the work, some suggestions and his opinions. The rest of the time he spent talking to us as a group, and gave us a lot of advice.
‘He loved the idea of breaking the rules, doing the opposite and creating havoc. He suggested: “find virgin snow”, make your book stand out, friction is a good thing, have fun, and be original. Rob loves a good chat, so all you need to do is start up a conversation!’
‘It was a beautiful morning but most of us spent it completing work for Isobel in the afternoon. The brief that Isobel had set the week before was to come up with an idea or campaign to get the Daily Mirror noticed - one that would rival the new adverts for the Sun on Sunday and the Guardian’s Three Little Pigs campaign.
‘We presented each teams’ work to Rob Fletcher, one of the Creative Directors at the agency, and he gave quick feedback on the work, some suggestions and his opinions. The rest of the time he spent talking to us as a group, and gave us a lot of advice.
‘He loved the idea of breaking the rules, doing the opposite and creating havoc. He suggested: “find virgin snow”, make your book stand out, friction is a good thing, have fun, and be original. Rob loves a good chat, so all you need to do is start up a conversation!’
Ad agency London week for level 3 - part 4
Continuing the reports from level three Creative Advertising students after they spent a week engaging with some of the best advertising agencies in London...
... Inferno by Mel Webb:-
'Having talked the entire group of third years into wanting to work for him, Stu went on to talk about his experience of getting a job in advertising, spilling out information faster than any normal person could possibly write it down. Then Brooke and Ruud were given the opportunity to talk about their recent experience of breaking into the industry.
'A week prior to the visit the group had been set the task of gaining 500 followers on a fictional Twitter account. Few were successful, but the task had been set to make a point: it is important to do something different to impress a potential employer as well as what they are expecting to see.
'Finally, Stu’s 3 keys to success: Initiative Tenacity Personality'
... Inferno by Mel Webb:-
'On Thursday we visited Inferno. Many of us had visited them previously but this time it was in their new location close to Covent Garden. We were greeted by Tim Palmer, Inferno's Digital Creative Director. Tim went to University with our tutor Mike Belton, so a glorious photograph of a rather younger looking Belton welcomed us on the boardroom screen!
'At 9am we were briefed by Tim and Bambos Neophytou, Head of Strategy. When Nando's was announced as our client a few whoops and cheers were heard! With the main thought of the brief being 'Acts of Mischief', this brief allowed us to have some fun, make people laugh and be entertaining with our work.
In some ways this brief provided a different sort of challenge to us. We often work on products or brands which need to be sold, companies which have lost their appeal or need a boost. With Nando's being in a prime position, this meant we just needed to think about the personality not the products.
The day's work is reviewed at Inferno
'At the end of the day the teams presented their work to several people from Inferno followed by individual critiques from them all. Once again we were so grateful for the time they gave to us and the excellent feedback we received.
'To celebrate a successful day we were invited for drinks in their roof bar where we were able to chat to creatives, filling our minds with more advice on how to get those much sought after placements.'
... Creature by Mike Mackenzie:-
'We were greeted on arrival at the agency by the first creative employees of the one year old company, familiar faces Brooke and Ruud who graduated Lincoln 2 years ago, along with one of the three founding partners Stuart Outhwaite.
'Stu opened with a light introduction to Creature, a small ambitious creative agency who seemingly does everything they have ever wanted to do and make ads on the side! Brooke and Ruud for example were mid-way through the process of launching a restaurant and half way through writing their own opera, as well as pitching for clients such as Adidas. The company also has a play and a musical out this summer.
Drinks at the end of the day at Inferno
'We were greeted on arrival at the agency by the first creative employees of the one year old company, familiar faces Brooke and Ruud who graduated Lincoln 2 years ago, along with one of the three founding partners Stuart Outhwaite.
'Stu opened with a light introduction to Creature, a small ambitious creative agency who seemingly does everything they have ever wanted to do and make ads on the side! Brooke and Ruud for example were mid-way through the process of launching a restaurant and half way through writing their own opera, as well as pitching for clients such as Adidas. The company also has a play and a musical out this summer.
Creature's Brooke, Ruud and Stu talk to the Lincoln students
'Having talked the entire group of third years into wanting to work for him, Stu went on to talk about his experience of getting a job in advertising, spilling out information faster than any normal person could possibly write it down. Then Brooke and Ruud were given the opportunity to talk about their recent experience of breaking into the industry.
'A week prior to the visit the group had been set the task of gaining 500 followers on a fictional Twitter account. Few were successful, but the task had been set to make a point: it is important to do something different to impress a potential employer as well as what they are expecting to see.
'Finally, Stu’s 3 keys to success: Initiative Tenacity Personality'
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