"As soon as I came up, I said I would work manually 18K. It must be the creative department. I just want to do an activity, not a daily content. I said I like brainstorming. It doesn't matter if I work overtime. It is very important to have a big campaign. This makes sense! "
(Background supplement: In Hong Kong advertising agencies, the starting salary of fresh graduates is generally 12- 15K, regardless of customer service or creative content department. Moreover, if we don't do small advertising projects, there will really be new people creating momentum every day, and the advertising industry will not be so difficult. )
This sentence of y immediately triggered our heated discussion. Well, it is not so much a heated discussion as a strong recognition and feeling: this generation of new people is still difficult to bring. I have been advertising in Hong Kong for five years. I have interviewed dozens of people, both in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland, and I have also seen many new people's working attitudes and methods. Finally, combined with our discussion and past experience, I would like to say a few words to newcomers (especially those who want to develop in the advertising industry in Hong Kong):
Yes, the core soul of an advertising company is creativity. Everyone knows that you don't have to move out of david ogilvy or george louis (to say the least, if you don't know these two people and can't move out, please spend 1-2 weeks studying and saying that you want to enter the advertising industry). However, just like the army, not everyone is a general and can point to the map in the tent. There are always more soldiers who kill the enemy and seize the beach than generals. In an advertising company, as a newcomer, the first thing you have to do is to support yourself, and then be yourself.
I often say to my colleagues: everyone has an idea, but whether the idea is suitable for this customer and whether you have the ability to implement it is the key.
Once we did brand marketing promotion for an old hotel in Hong Kong. According to the regulations, we will take this kind of pitching as the actual training for newcomers. I asked two new colleagues (3-5 months) to try to complete this proposal as a group, but at the same time I also assigned this task to an experienced manager (3 years) to do this proposal independently. A week later, I received their finished product:
A group of newcomers, combined with successful hotel marketing cases in recent years, talked about the star net red effect in young people's marketing, and proposed setting up various punch-in places (such as a room with floor-to-ceiling windows looking at the sea, such as a light show like teamLab), and also held a DJ music night, which felt like YSL hotel, and neon lights decorated the paper to make the fashion sense break through the sky.
Group B manager, combined with the hotel's own guest data, satisfaction survey, cultural image, hotel characteristics, etc. , aimed at promoting visitors to Hong Kong. Eight of the hotel group's 10 hotels are located in popular shopping areas, so it plans to cooperate with nearby shopping malls and brands for joint marketing to create the image of "the most livable hotel for shopping in Hong Kong", and according to its established reputation, it has also launched some theme activities with Hong Kong retro characteristics, invited online celebrities to experience them, and incorporated small details, such as replacing welcome coke juice with lemon tea and mandarin ducks. In addition, the budget scheme, timetable and other implementation contents are also given.
Who did the customer finally accept? B, and the later implementation did get a good market response. Because plan b is more suitable.
When group A gave me a demonstration, it was completely out of its own theme, and the protagonist changed from this old hotel to the idea itself. They tried to show me how good, fashionable, novel and special their ideas were. Yes, it's really good. There are all kinds of eye-catching elements, but is it suitable for our customers? Will Coca-Cola's advertising ideas be suitable for healthy natural milk? In the market, we don't say whether this idea is good or not, only whether it is suitable or not. Everything out of the market, out of the protagonist's creativity, are worthless, unconstrained style. Don't be creative for the sake of creativity, and don't abuse your creative thinking.
Advertising needs to be based on marketing. When you want to enter an advertising company and give full play to your creative talents, please follow your predecessors to learn the concepts of market knowledge, marketing knowledge and brand value, which are the basic fuels for your creative take-off.
People who haven't been in this industry may know the so-called "A and B love and hate entanglement", and everyone says "poor advertising dog of B" and "hateful stupid Party A" and so on. It may be that there are too many stories about Party A and Party B, which leads to a subconscious when people join an advertising company: customers are stupid, annoying and incompatible with us.
I have worked for several years and served about 20+ brands, among which there are about 2-3 customers who really make me gnash my teeth and can't help cursing. Of course, I have also experienced the so-called tragedy of "constantly changing the manuscript to more than a dozen drafts". It's just that when the scheme is bounced back and requires modification, instead of scolding and modifying it at the same time, it's better to discuss with the AE team, make a phone call and discuss with the customer in a polite and "slightly innocent" tone: where is the problem and why? In fact, what effect do you want? Your boss made this decision because … if so, in fact, according to my experience, I think maybe … when you make constructive suggestions out of professionalism, 90% of customers will spend a few minutes listening. After all, no one wants to be regarded as blindly insisting on this point (and then things go wrong and they take the blame themselves), and of course they have to take the blame from the agent. Even if the other party insists on changing in the end, at least let him know that you have done your duty and provided professional advice. Not only for him, but also for your boss.
Just a simple phone call, or a meeting, can reverse each other's impression, let you know how to change, or even make you don't need to change at all. Many times, customers are also very busy. They take a quick look at your things and no one explains the logic to them. The first reaction is naturally bad. You only need to explain for ten minutes, and you have a chance to turn things around, instead of holding your breath and scolding them for three days and three nights. Eight of the newcomers 10 are unwilling to take the initiative to call customers, for fear of trouble? Afraid? Or disdain? I've read all kinds of psychology. I just want to say that communication is very important at any time, no matter how annoying it is.
As for respecting the boss, I believe it goes without saying. I met a newcomer (3 months) who said to his boss directly in front of everyone when we held the weekly general meeting, "Give the customer whatever he wants, humble, like a dog!" I don't think she is creative at all. She just listened to the customer and said that my things were not good all day ... "I interrupted her directly. The customer comes to the agent because she can't do it, hoping that the agent can do what she wants and show respect and courtesy to the customer's requirements. When did you become "like a dog"? Is it cool for young people to quarrel with customers every day? Moreover, in front of everyone, making such a personal attack on her boss, such a quality, she is not suitable for advertising, can not put herself in the other side's perspective to think about the problem, how can she put herself in the customer's shoes to create a solution? After this meeting, I decisively asked her to leave.
Even in the west, no company can "choose the best idea" to be rude. If he can be your boss, there must be a better place than you. Put away your arrogance, advertising companies have plenty of sweeping monk, learn from others' strengths, and then turn them into their own strengths, so that the boss is caught off guard. This is the best way to "knock him down", instead of personal attacks that are chattering and reporting over the top in the teahouse.
As a newcomer in any industry, don't exclude trivial things from the beginning, just want to be a leader and guide everyone. When you do every little thing well and have impeccable execution ability, you will naturally get the opportunity to do great things. Novices in advertising have too many trivial things, such as daily Weibo content copywriting, WeChat header design, Excel table updating of advertising scheme, and even the handling of various reimbursement invoices, etc ... Don't be afraid, don't worry, everyone will give you great things when they see that you have done these little things seriously and think you are reliable. At this time, things that can be used to increase the gold content of your resume and put it into your portfolio really come. Later, I went out to interview for middle and senior positions in other companies. Basically, all companies would say: We need your hands-on ability, not just strategy. Because middle and high-level people often need to "shit" (cleaning up the mess in Cantonese), only if you do it step by step, will you be confident to answer yes, and you won't panic when you encounter any problems.
At the same time, we should learn to look at problems from the perspective of top managers. The problem is divided into many levels, and a battle is born. The top level is responsible for the overall management of the process, and the grassroots level is responsible for the implementation of refined operations. If you see the whole process like a senior manager and look at the problem from their perspective, you can only get twice the result with half the effort. Know what effect you need to get from the part you are responsible for in this process, what is the purpose, and implement the right medicine efficiently, so that you will not fall into the whirlpool of doing chores forever. Don't work hard after receiving the task, a lot of ABCD. In fact, in this process, you only need to deepen A in this part, and you don't need to unnecessarily extend it to BCD. As the old saying goes, knowing what the boss really wants can make him think that you are smart and savvy.
Moreover, looking at the problem from a high-level perspective can also make you feel that your work is meaningful and let you know what role your part plays in the whole process. Screws look at themselves, and they are all screws. Only when you put it in a big machine and the whole machine rumbles will you know where your role is.
If you want to be a general, you have to pass the statement first!
What's your speech style? Follow the words on PPT, and the tone is calm and stable; PPT doesn't like multi-words, they are all pictures, just talking casually; I don't know where to look, just stare at PPT or computer; Walking around the conference room, I can't wait to have intimate communication with customers like in a bar ... No matter what kind you belong to, as long as you enter an advertising company, you need to thoroughly improve your expression ability. Starting from scratch, mastering a variety of styles and techniques is the ultimate advertising ability, which can be used to package anything, including yourself.
Many times, a badly made PPT proposal can turn the tide and win customers with superb presentation skills. Learn to speak confidently to customers, be familiar with the content of PPT and know when to give examples, when to deepen the content of this page, when to create an active atmosphere, and know what kind of people are sitting opposite you (yes, try your best to inquire). Whether advertising marketing in front of customers is a complete denial or a partial admission, and how to solve the problem in the face is proof of overthrow. Still procrastinating ... too much, these ideas and experiences gained through training and actual combat are extremely important, which can make you really become an advertiser and help you jump into any industry in the future (for example, the interview belongs to packaging your own present, and you can basically feel at ease when you master it).
Beginners can try to add some memory points to your presentation. The middle and high-level officials have held too many meetings and listened to too many demonstrations, so for them, they just watch PPT. How to make them remember you or your speech requires you to use skills to add some memory points. They don't need to remember everything. Just remember one or two points. Enough to evoke memories and know what you are here for. I'll call you when necessary.
When we used to be a real estate company in pitch, when we were preparing for the demonstration, we made a survey to investigate the public's views and selling points on their new real estate. Originally, we planned to display the data directly on PPT, but later we decided to turn these data into a memory point. We had a quiz with Kahoot, and invited everyone to join the instant quiz directly on the spot, so that they could guess what the respondents thought was the biggest selling point of their property, and see if these executives knew what their property should be marketed now. The effect is amazing: they all guessed the public wrong. So the whole test is impressive and enlivens the atmosphere at the same time. After competitive introduction, three companies finally chose us as agents and said, I think you know our stuff better. Of course, it can't be said that this small design alone brings big customers, but it does add points to the whole presentation.
In addition, your speech is confident and humorous (humor can also be obtained through design and training), your PPT is particularly beautiful, and your opening angle is different from others and other skills can be memory points, which is too much. If you master a few more doors, you can enjoy them for life.
If you say that you are too busy to work overtime all day and have no time to learn too many things, such as marketing knowledge and digital skills, then please spend all your spare time learning English! Other knowledge and skills may just be the fuel for your soaring, but English is not only the fuel, but also a stumbling block for you. In advertising companies, whether in Chinese mainland or Hongkong, poor English is a disadvantage.
There were two colleagues before. One works hard, works overtime every day to complete the task, and has a good creative thinking. He can come up with suitable creative solutions according to the requirements of customers. The other one, I can only say that I am clever. I put all my cleverness into how to be lazy, how to get off work on time to attend the party, and how to pass the exam. So my English is very good, which is the result of years of training on the premise of marrying a foreigner. Once we received an activity from a high-end luxury brand. In addition to the leader, the implementation of the project only needs one docking person (equivalent to a small leader at the project implementation level). The candidates are two of them. Who should I choose? You guessed it. It is the latter. In fact, there is only one reason: her English is good, and she can communicate smoothly with customers by email or telephone. Ensuring that the project is unbiased is the biggest prerequisite. The former, a colleague with full marks for creative thinking and hard work, is naturally a rear force responsible for implementation. The event ended successfully, the project was written into the collection of British women's works, and the brand customers also remembered the names and contact information of the docking people, expanding their contacts.
If you want to win a big campaign project, write it on your resume, make it a case of your work, and let people see the brand name in the interview. Basically, they are big international brands (there are also big local projects, but the proportion is really small). In this case, you can only enter the project team by English. Is only 4A like this? Of course not. I have been to a small organization with only 10 people, and now there are big-name customers, all of whom are foreigners. Don't say I am in a small company. I don't need good English. Besides, are you going to stay in a small company all your life?
To put it bluntly, when you really don't have the time and talent to break through the encirclement of creativity and work overtime with others, then study English well, and you have plenty of opportunities to shine in advertising companies. And if you are good at English, you will jump out of Party A in the future. More importantly, big companies should choose slowly. As long as it is marketing and advertising planning, even large companies in Chinese mainland have high requirements for English. It is better to recite the word 10 than to say that you are tired like a dog after work, but you can still eat chicken.
it's over