Living by creative thinking

By ESTELLE SARNEY


Marcelle Ross was only part way through her advertising course when she scored a job at a leading agency, thanks to some savvy direct marketing and use of a contact.

She sent flyers to agencies all over town selling her smarts and enthusiasm. When a friend heard what she was up to, he introduced her to someone at a direct marketing firm. A person there put her on to someone at advertising giant Colenso BBDO, and she was offered a foot in the door as an office assistant.

Ross grabbed the opportunity with both hands. She spent the next eight months doing anything asked of her at the agency, while completing her Bachelor of Business degree at the Auckland University of Technology.

Eighteen months later, the 23-year-old is an account manager sharing responsibility for how millions of dollars of clients' money is spent.

"That first eight months was when I had to prove myself," says Ross. "Starting out as an office assistant was a great way to learn about different parts of the business. Once I got promoted to account executive my career started rolling."

Ross is what those in advertising call a "suit" - account executives, managers and directors who take the ideas thought up by "creatives" and put them into action.

Ross was attracted to an industry she saw as dynamic.

"I always feel challenged. Every day there is something new to resolve. It's rewarding to be thrown into something, see it all come together and a campaign take off, then be given your own account to manage."

A few weeks ago Ross was given the account for Pfizer pharmaceuticals. She has also worked on campaigns for the Bank of New Zealand, BMW cars and the Auckland Regional Council.

Angela Watson is an account director at Saatchi and Saatchi and, at 37, has been in the business for 15 years.

She started as a receptionist, and still rates a job applicant's personal qualities above any qualification they might have.

"Advertising is not formulaic, so you have to constantly look for new ways to make things work."

In your first year as a suit you would work with an account director, attending client meetings and focus groups, co-ordinating the production of print and TV ads, and managing internal administration.

To succeed, Watson suggests adopting the rule of thumb she used as a young suit: "By the time an account director asked me to do something, I'd already done it."

If coming up with ideas for ads is more your thing, you can also do a course, but expect to work for free at an agency for a few weeks before being offered a job.

Richard Maddocks started out in advertising as a mailboy at 21. Today, at 32, he is joint creative director at Colenso BBDO. Like Watson, he is not fussy which course people do, saying that being a creative is such a hands-on role that you learn most by doing it.

"As an employer, I have to see someone in action before I know how they interact with people, how quickly they can think on their feet, how they react under pressure.

"When someone shows me their book I need to see one thing that shows original thinking, preferably something that scares me, makes me think they might have my job in five years if they keep on the way they're going."

If you're given a job as a junior creative, you'll be put to work on ads straight away.

"You'll be given lots of support and lots of feedback, and your ideas will have equal footing with everyone else's. If you come up with something great, it'll go through," says Maddocks.

It is still a work hard, play hard industry. Ross works an average 50-hour week. Watson says there will be times when you have to work through the night to meet a deadline.

Stress can run high, and, for the first few years, the pay isn't great. Suits and creatives start on $25,000 to $30,000.

But pay and status can accelerate quickly once you prove your worth. Watson says after five years a suit can be earning $60,000 to $100,000. Maddocks says in the same time creatives can reach $50,000, then leap to $80,000 and over $100,000 by being promoted or poached by other agencies.

If you're job hunting, Maddocks advises you not to give up. An applicant's dedication, even desperation, for a job, can mark them out.

"Target the good agencies, because who you learn from will shape the rest of your career."

Job tips

* To get ahead in advertising, you have to be:

* Smart, in a savvy kind of way as much as intellectual.

* Switched on, able to think on your feet and juggle multiple tasks.

* A fast learner.

* Eager, keen and a positive thinker.

* A "can do" person - nothing should be impossible.

* Good under pressure.

* Able to interact with a wide range of people.

* Curious to discover new ideas and ways of doing things.

* As a suit, good at detail, organisation and seeing the big picture.

*A s a creative, able to think laterally, originally and have a talent for using words.