Overcoming Intern Obstacles

By: Justin Mertes-Mistretta, Wrigley Media Strategy Intern

Justin Mertes-Mistretta

Like many interns at Starcom, my major is journalism and mass communication. We have all learned about TRPs, impressions, rating points, share, reach and frequency among many other terms in our media strategy classes. However, many of us, including myself, have not applied these terms and formulas to the actual business-world, until now.

As an intern on the Wrigley Strategy Team, my duties are a bit different than other interns at Starcom. Instead of being assigned to a summer-long project, I have been asked to handle multiple monthly projects. 

One of the most interesting projects has been putting together the quarterly competitive highlight packet, which involves both qualitative and quantitative research on Wrigley’s competitors and their media campaigns.

For the qualitative portion of that project, my job is to go on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and brand microsites to find any new additions for that month. I’ll get paid to do that any day.

Month by month, the packet is updated to show the recent activity on a brand’s digital campaign. Sometimes there are no updates to make for a certain brand, other times there are new brand promotions. A great example of this is when Stride updated their Facebook page promoting Stride 2.0.

The media associates and interns are usually responsible for the monthly competitive projects. However, many media associates would call any competitive work “fun,” sarcastically. I found it to be interesting, but I can see where it could get mundane over the years, especially the quantitative part. 

For the quantitative aspect of the quarterly competitive highlights, I was responsible for typing up a how-to PowerPoint.

Not only was the how-to a bit dry to put together, it was difficult to do simply because I had only seen the process once. 

After a day of struggling with AdViews (the program used to pull data, such as spend, TRPs, GRPs, etc.) and MediaTools (the program used to chart activity in certain media), I went over the programs with my supervisor the next morning. Instead of just showing me what to do, my supervisor made me go through it on my own before I asked her how to do it. 

By forcing me to work through the problems on my own, with her eventual help, I was able to learn from my mistakes. 

Once I was finished getting help, I went back to my desk and plugged away as if I had invented AdViews and MediaTools. As my supervisor predicted, I had become a pro with AdViews and MediaTools!

I completed my how-to, and two weeks later showed a new media associate the entire process with no trouble at all. She even said the how-to helped her out a great deal. 

Many of us go to prestigious universities, learning complex formulas and acronyms but until you actually utilize them in the real world, they are just simply words in a textbook. But, persevering through the mental block and even teaching someone else was by far my most rewarding experience thus far at Starcom. 

Starcom is like grad school, only better because it’s an invaluable real situation. You can’t learn that kind of stuff in the classroom. The projects I have been working on at Starcom are challenging, but overcoming the obstacles has made it well worth it in the end.

Now that I have applied my knowledge of media strategy terms and programs to real-life, business-world situations, I am excited to see what else is in store for me as a strategy intern, and possibly media associate, at Starcom. 

Who knows what I will be asked to learn in the upcoming weeks. All I know is that I’ll be ready.

The Wonderful World of Search

By: Amanda Stickler, Search Intern

Amanda Stickler

“Amanda Stickler, you are assigned to Search,” The Human Resources representative said on the first day.

“What is search,” I thought to myself.  

To be honest, I had no idea going into this summer internship, but I was soon to learn. 

My time as a Search Intern at Starcom thus far has taught me so much about the wonderful world of search.  I started off knowing virtually nothing, but now I am learning new things everyday.

In the search department I am assigned to work with Nintendo, and have been doing a little bit of everything including keyword and copy builds, weekly optimizations, reporting, and restructuring. 

A keyword and copy build is one of the first steps in creating a search campaign. Keywords are the queries that people type into search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Because people are already searching for a brand/product/idea, they are classified as actively engaged consumers. 

In order to link the potential customer’s query with our product, we build out a list of potential keywords that people might type in while looking for our client’s products. When these keywords are triggered, our paid ad will then show on the engine. These ads can be found on the top of the search engine, or on the right side of the page.

Example of a paid search ad:

The ad copy we prepare is then seen by the person on a search engine in the form of a three line text-ad; and our hope is that people will then click on our ads. A paid search ad is different from an organic (non-paid) ad in that it shows up along the top or right side of a search engine.

A main benefit of SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is that you can see results instantly. Digital advertising allows you to track different metrics in order to see how often your ad is showing and how often it is being clicked on. Instant metrics allow us to make daily changes (optimizations) to our campaigns, and allow us more control over their daily performance.

Reporting allows us to pull these metrics to see how our campaigns are performing. Some of the main things we measure are impressions (the number of times are ads show), clicks (the number of times people click on our ad), and click through rate (clicks/impressions). 

As an intern, my main project for the summer is the Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Nintendo Campaign.

My objective is to run the campaign from start to finish including creating keywords and copy, trafficking the campaign through Kenshoo (third party tool) to Google, YouTube, and Yahoo/Bing, and doing weekly optimizations (changes) and reporting. 

This past Friday we went live with this campaign. First, I created the keywords and ad copy, which included over 5,000 keywords!  In order to upload these keywords and ads to Google and Yahoo/Bing, I used a third party tool called Kenshoo.

Kenshoo integrates all campaigns into one online dashboard, making it easier to keep tabs on all Nintendo campaigns. Once all the keywords and ads were uploaded to Kenshoo, all I had to do was push them through the engines (Google and Yahoo/Bing), and then the campaign was live!

Over the next week or so I will periodically check on this campaign with daily budget updates and weekly reports. From these tools, I will be able make optimizations to improve its overall performance. 

Although I have already gotten a lot of experience through various campaigns, I am very excited to work on this game from start to finish. 

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Ad Example:

Overall, I have learned a lot about search and have really enjoyed myself while doing so. I have even noticed a big improvement in my excel skills along the way! 

I am excited to see the results of my work on the Dragon Quest Campaign. If you have any questions on Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2, don’t hesitate to ask….I think I know more than anyone should about the game. 

Cars, Data and Ice Cream: A Day on the Detroit Research Team

By: Claire Goscicki, Research Intern

Claire Goscicki

It’s a simple question with a not-so-simple answer: “What do you do at work?” I think I can speak for my fellow interns when I say that every day at Starcom is different from the last. This especially holds true in the research department, as we are constantly challenging ourselves to expose new and better consumer insights.

In an attempt to describe a “typical” day, I’ll say that most days in the research department start out relatively calm. My team has a number of ongoing projects we are working on, and I’ll usually assist with developing PowerPoint decks for our findings. 

I also have a few long-term projects that I devote time to when I can. The type of work varies, but it almost always involves using Excel, PowerPoint, a database or a calculator. Sometimes, I think I hang out with my calculator more than my friends…

An area of research that the Detroit team tends to spend a lot of time with is branded entertainment reporting. Our main client, General Motors, has its vehicles or products integrated into certain television shows and movies, and the role of the research team is to analyze how these integrations resonate with viewers. 

We take viewers’ responses from post-show surveys and compare the data to the TV season norms, or averages, to understand how integrations compare to one another. I help draw insights from this data and create visual representations of it.

On a recent episode of the TLC program “Cake Boss,” cast members created a huge cake modeled after the Bumblebee autobot (Chevy Camaro) in the new Transformers: Dark of the Moon movie. Photo courtesy of GM.

Interns aren’t chained to their computers all day, though. Day to day, we are able to sit in on team meetings and relevant teleconferences and webexes. Recently, for instance, Starcom offices listened in on an interview between Starcom’s CEO, Lisa Donohue, and CNN foreign affairs journalist Fareed Zakaria. 

We also get invited to a variety of fun activities. For example, the office is often served ice cream courtesy of publishers we work with. We even get free stuff (you can never have too many water bottles J)! 

Although free stuff is awesome, nothing beats an afternoon outdoors. On a not-so-typical day last month, Starcomers spent the afternoon at the Detroit Zoo as part of SMG’s 11^th birthday celebration. Competing in a scavenger hunt against one another using our smart phones and sharing our experiences via Twitter was a fun and interesting way to use technology, something we’re always anxious to learn more about!

In my downtime, I brush up on industry info, review case studies, surf Yammer (a Facebook-like networking tool for SMG employees worldwide) and write for the Digital 180 blog (a Starcom Detroit hub for digital news).

At the end of the day I leave feeling smarter, more confident about my abilities and more in touch with the client’s needs!

Media Modules: Framing the Big Picture

By Carly Tschantz, Connections Strategy Intern

Carly Tschantz

I know I speak for every intern when I say we learn something new every day. 

On a daily basis I am made aware and sometimes bombarded by the fact that I do not know as much as I thought about the media industry (the procedures, systems, research, etc.). Worrying about these facets of training can cloud an intern’s focus and appreciation for this summer’s opportunity. 

Am I doing this right? What is this data telling me? Why can I never remember what floor the supply closet is on? These are some classic examples of thoughts that have crossed my mind once or twice. 

To add perspective to our daily work, SMG arranges presentations from a variety of its departments called Media Modules. During these presentations, members of the different teams come and speak to all of the interns and explain what they do on a daily basis.  

While no day is ever the same at SMG, they show us (mainly using PowerPoint) what their roles are in the company.  Thankfully, we have these Media Modules every week, so we never stop learning about SMG and we also get an inside look at each department.

Now, these presentations are not designed to reaffirm our confidence or give us a how-to lesson (these skills are acquired through team member tutorials and experience). Instead, they offer insight into new media frontiers and how they may be utilized, or already have been, in SMG strategies. 

Walking out of one of these presentations, you see the bigger picture a little clearer. You also see the reasons behind the tasks you are assigned and how they fit into the greater scheme of things.

Personally, the presentations have helped me explore new channels while performing strategy research. My major project has been analyzing campaigns for their Paid, Owned, and Earned values (a staple of an SMG thought process) and deciphering how my brand can apply that in future planning. 

Equipped with what I have learned in the Modules, I am able to create a more dynamic presentation by adding another lens to my perspective.

Here is an overview of a couple Media Module topics the interns get to experience. Enjoy!

“Focus on the Future” Chris Allen (VP/Innovations Director); “TV Marketplace” Chris Chin

TV is an ever evolving medium for advertisers to reach their consumers in a place they, hopefully, spend the most time: their household. 

Yet from ’09 to ’10, the concept of TV and programming started to accelerate towards a more mobile (online and mobile video), less stationary (live TV) format. 

Overall hours of TV watched increased by nearly 200 hours and online video and time-shifted TV increased their shares by 2% and 1%, respectively. How does a brand adapt to such rapid change? By using SMG’s buying and innovation strategies, of course. 

SMG is capable of tracking this data through the multitude of collection agencies it is affiliated with.  Then we design a cohesive plan based on this data to engage an efficient level of its target audience.  Finally, SMG buyers work to get the ad spots on programming and channels they frequent. 

The next step, as outlined by Chris Allen, is running a fine tooth comb through the data and increasing relevance on the individual level. 

Through a process called Addressable Advertising, media groups can approach each consumer on a household-by-household basis and deliver customized advertisements that fit their needs. 

What I found most significant was the image of a row of houses all watching the same TV program at the same time, yet each house receives different ads tailored just for them.

Even though it may border on the edge of the personal violation usually associated with a breaking & entering, the world of TV advertising has the ability to give the consumer what they want by using the artifacts they leave already behind as they interact with media. SMG has the capacity to pick up these artifacts and personalize a package full of the consumers’ behaviors, needs and wants.

This type of segmentation is particularly interesting for a national brand, like the one I’m working for this summer, since the variety and variability of income, geography and advertisement interest is a common topic of contention when creating campaigns. This innovation could eventually be as revolutionary for the SMG brands as the evolution of digital targeting.

 “SMG Multicultural Overview” Tapestry Associates

The market power of the U.S. Hispanic (USH) and African American (AA) demographics is grabbing the attention of SMG and for good reason. 

The integration of both cultures into mainstream media has been no mistake and a brand’s success can largely be attributed to the systems SMG’s multicultural division has designed. 

At the core of SMG multicultural is Tapestry. A leader in its field, Tapestry has been accredited for its innovative strategies based on humanistic and cultural insight.

For example, Tapestry played a large role in increasing current client Venus’s exposure in the USH market. How? Tapestry (or Tappie as it is called around the office) conducted research that showed Hispanic women dispose of razors at an infinitely faster rate than general market consumers. 

With this knowledge in hand, Tapestry aggressively started creating and placing ads with the USH woman in mind. They gained a spokesman in Jennifer Lopez, an obvious choice to reach their target, and paid close attention to what kind and in what way Hispanic woman were using media. 

Through such a small piece of information as disposal habits, Venus was one of the first razorblade brands to speak directly to an untapped USH consumer base; all thanks to Tapestry.

What this presentation made me realize was that SMG has the ability to help any brand in any market at any time. No matter what a brand’s campaign may entail, the resources are available at this multi-faceted company. I understand it may sound as if I am waxing poetic for obvious reasons but it does not change the fact that SMG is constantly impressing and leaving an impression on me everyday throughout this internship.

From Iraq to 35 W. Wacker: A Different Source of Adrenaline

By Mike Essary, U.S. Army Executive on Loan 

Mike Essary

I suppose it was probably mid-August last year when my thought process first began that would eventually land me here at 35 West Wacker Drive in the 3^rd largest city in the nation.

On the ninth month of my third tour in Iraq, it’s 129 freakin’ degrees outside (no lie, see pic below), and I’m lying face down in the desert.  

129 Degrees in Iraq

The bomb sirens are going off to indicate an incoming rocket will soon slam into our military base camp and I am praying it impacts in a non-populated area.

7,500 miles away and with a 9-hour time difference, my wife and 22-month old son are probably just waking up at our house in Manhattan, KS (near Fort Riley where I was stationed). I hadn’t seen either of them in months.

Mike and his Family

Fortunately, the rocket landed in a non-populated part of the camp. But it didn’t deter the primary thought I had while lying there on the ground on a scorching day in Iraq.

I’m gettin’ too old for this stuff! 

I love serving my country but I need to find one of those hidden Army jobs that aren’t well publicized but allow you to either pursue a Masters degree full time or work with a large civilian corporation for a year. And I need to better balance my home/work life and stop working 16 hours a day in third world countries. And hey, it would be cool to get a different perspective by spending time around a bunch of “civilian folk” for a change.

Mike when he was deployed.

So I reached out to my career manager that day and he informed me of this program called Training with Industry (TWI), formerly called the Army Executive on Loan Program. TWI is a one-year work experience program designed to take selected senior officers out of the military environment and expose them to the latest civilian business practices, organizational structures and cultures, technology development processes and corporate management techniques. And it provides that corporation with an executive level military officer with extensive leadership experience in a wide array of assignments.

The short story is I gathered all the necessary letters of recommendation, ensured my military file was in order, and applied for the program. I was informed during a business trip last fall to Washington that I had been selected by a military panel to join Starcom for a year.

Fast forward to June 9, 2011. I’m in a conference room with all the other interns kinda wondering what the heck I have gotten myself into.

I’m surrounded by young men and women, the majority of whom weren’t even born yet when I joined the Army in 1988. I’ve been out of college for 17 years and now I’m here with so many talented and energetic college students who are all so up to date on all the latest media and marketing strategies and so eager to begin their careers.

I don’t get intimidated very often. But that day, I felt a little unsettled. 

And in some ways, envious and nostalgic of being back at that point in my career again. As the meeting went on though, as I looked around the room at each person, I felt a great sense of pride and comfort knowing our future is in the hands of such dynamic and intellectual individuals. 

And though I’m clearly out of my comfort zone, I’m excited to be here. I plan to absorb as much as I can during my time here and pass some of my knowledge and experience along as well.  

Working in the Marketing Communications Department at Starcom offers me a different type of adrenaline. And gaining so much exposure from the entry level to executive level will greatly assist me as a leader when I return to the “normal” Army next summer.

Revamping the All-American Car: A Look at the Planning Process

By: Michele Danno, Media Planning Intern

Michele Danno

Over the past decade, it is no secret that American cars have – to put it nicely – lost popularity to sporty-looking, reliable, and more fuel-efficient foreign competitors.  

While the entire American economy took a hit from the loss of this major domestic market, no one suffered more than the birthplace of the American vehicle – the Motor City. 

Enter the saving souls at Starcom Detroit, who tenaciously accepted the challenge of reviving one of America’s most notable car companies – General Motors. With a roster of recognizable brands (Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC) GM relies on Starcom’s specialized teams to divide and conquer the American automotive market both regionally and nationally. 

As a proud member of the Chevrolet team, I help represent one of America’s most historically recognized cars – the Chevy!

In an effort to put pride back in the American vehicle and “rally the troops” into staying loyal to home-grown companies, Chevrolet used to run under the “American Revolution” campaign. 

Last year, we changed our message to “Chevy Runs Deep” -- a tribute to Chevy’s lineup of 9 diverse nameplates spanning from the sporty Camaro to the steadfast Silverado. 

Each car-type (small car, performance, cargo, etc.) has its own image, target consumer, and Starcom team!

The strategy team is responsible for building an understanding of our target inside and out – what are their demographics? Their lifestyle? Interests? And most importantly – what media do they consume? 

After a rigorous research process, they develop a target that GM must approve. Our activation teams come up with media plans that make the most sense for that particular vehicle’s target. For instance, as a member of the “family team,” I work with my supervisors to focus on selling family cars through a variety of family-oriented mediums. 

The “small car team”, however, focuses more of their spending on innovative, interactive spaces like mobile apps and social networks to reach their younger, more tech-savvy audience. 

For more general, “mass” awareness, we use popular spaces like the Super Bowl to nationally broadcast Chevrolet’s name. 

Did you notice the abundance of Chevy commercials and ads at the MLB All-Star game this week? That was us! 

It is important to not only sell each Chevy nameplate specifically, but also the brand in general. Sponsoring an event that supports “America’s game” reinforces our image and Chevy’s intended message. 

Since Chevy has been an American household name-brand for decades, it is important to keep the brand relevant and their image fresh. Luckily, they have a dedicated Starcom team working hard every day! 

Our efforts aren’t going unacknowledged, either, considering the Chevy Cruze was the best-selling car in America in June – even beating out the usual foreign competitors. 

So here’s to the Motor City, Starcom, Chevy, and America, let’s keep “running deep!”

Designing Debut!

By: Krista Leffin, Graphic Design Intern

Krista Leffin

My name is Krista Leffin and I am the Graphic Design intern with Marketing Communications.  On my first day of work I was given the assignment to create 11 posters for SMG 11 Outside.  The posters that are presented on this blog are posters with questions that Starcom employees were supposed to answer and post to Yammer.  The questions mainly focused on one’s life OUTSIDE of the office and the posters followed the artistic direction of the rest of the SMG 11 Outside artwork.  This was a really exciting project for me on my first day and it was fun seeing the finished product posted in the hallways!