Winning Them Over

Over the last few months, I have spent many hours working on the ad campaign that I mentioned in my previous posts. In the end, I dedicated at least one or two full days of my life to the project, a minimum of twenty-four to forty-eight hours. This one, at times, grueling task is something most marketing majors will encounter countless times in the “real” world. My team and I garnered plenty of experience in this situation and were left with some things to take away from what had occurred.

We, initially, went into the ad campaign with one focus but with the final presentation, had a vastly different point of interest. An organization can provide you with its desires and/or goals for a campaign, or you may have to come up with them on your own. Either way, as we found out, most people are going to find similar ways to achieve or attack the task at hand. It is important that marketers take what they are giving and think outside the box. While the business tells you exactly what it wants, you have to be able to tell the organizational heads that there is a better way to accomplish what it wants. So, while you analyze the situation, do not forget that there’s always another way.

You may not be able to find another take on the scenario, and that’s when the pitch portion of the ad campaign needs to excel. As I mentioned, when it came time for our pitches, several teams shared very similar ideas. What set some of the groups apart was the flow and strength of the pitch. After all of the teams had presented their ideas, I spoke with the owner and general manager who would be deciding on which campaign the business wants to use as its primary focus moving forward. They enjoyed the idea of students being able to take different views on achieving the organization’s goals, but that was not the point of emphasis in the discussion. The owner was most exciting by the actual execution of certain presentations, saying that some students had a presence that he doesn’t always find in the people doing pitches professionally. To him, having a speaker with such a presence can greatly enhance an ad campaign and potentially, be a deciding factor. Some times, it isn’t about the meat of the campaign that matters most, but instead, the atmosphere given off by the marketing team.