Senior Project Reflection

PART I: Two Hour Presentation
1. P+. I meet all of the requirements needed, and I felt that my lesson actually taught something and the students were engaged and learned.

2. I am most proud of how interested the students were. I thought I was going to bore them, but they were actually actively listening and involved. One student even asked me questions on a campaign idea i had come up with!

PART II: Overall Senior Project Experience

3. I think my research and the finding and doing of my service learning went really well! I learned so much throughout this project, I loved it! If theres anything I could do better it would be re-doing my science fair so that it reflected more of how I felt and what my research taught me.

4. My EQ is what is the most important element in a successful ad campaign? My best answer is that the campaign speaks to the target audience.

5. My last interview (Interview #4 with Jessica Cuevas) greatly changed my whole project. They changed because the answers I had before werent All my answers changed and the way I approached my EQ changed. Although that interview changed it for the better, I felt that it helped everything fall into place. The last couple components were easy because I figured out the perfect answers. I had no trouble at the end.

6. We should spend more focused class time on science fair.

7. P+. I meet all of the requirements, and I tried a little more. I loved my senior project, especially my service learning. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and it really helped me become somewhat of a professional at my topic.

Service Learning

Literal
• 100 Hours Total:

• Diego De La Maza. Ms. Melogno you have his business card, but just incase his email is diego.delamaza@conill.com.


Interpretive
There are so many important things I gained from this experience, but the most important of all is getting a taste of my future career. I got to work with the art directors and copywriters at actually concepting for a new campaign, and that experience was so special to me. It felt like I was actually working there. It was amazingly powerful.



Applied
My internship helped answer my essential question by being able to give me different perspectives on the process of making a campaign. I got to work with the strategic planning team, the media team, accounts, digital production, and creative. All very different departments aiming for different goals, and I was able to combine every departments goals within my essential question answers. Which took a lot of bias out of my project.

Lesson Plan Draft

Sponge activity:  Visual Communication: I will pick two completely opposing items or ideas, the goal of this activity is for each person (or pair) to combine these ideas with one image! The image must scream clearly show off both items/ideas. (ex. of items/idea/thing: Paris and Rock Concert, Love and Hate, Duck and alligator)

Introduction:  What is the most important element in a successful ad campaign? A campaign is a group of ads with the same concept, selling the same product. An element is any part of the campaign/ad. And successful means that the campaign needs to sell, remind people of the brand, and evoke some type of emotional response. I chose advertising because I love it. Its my life's plan, my career choice, I have so much enthusiasm for ad that I want to share that with other people. My plan for the day will be:

1. My first answer: Speaks to the Target.
2. My first answers activity: Perfect Consumer.
3. My second answer: Evokes an Emotional Response.
4. My second answers activity: Make an Ad!

Foundation: First off, I would like to explain my sponge activity. Visual communication is very key to advertising, you need to engage the consumer within 2 seconds of them seeing your ad. Engagement means understanding, and if that image up on the billboard makes no sense, your chance at engagement is gone! Advertising is the art of selling. And I say art because if a form of expression that can engage an audience at a glance, make a person feel something, and maybe even act on those feelings. The creatives are the people that create the ads - think them up. I will be referring to them a lot throughout my presentation. Creatives consist of Art Directors, Copywriters, and Creative Directors. I personally want to be an art director, which is a person that thinks up the ads and then comps them up quick! That comp is given to a producer which then makes the final product. Lastly, I would like to explain what concept is. Concept is the essence of an ad, the main idea, the underlying theme. Concept is what links the ads into campaign, it is the thing that speaks to your target, the thing that can bring emotion. Concept is the main idea, and it is SO important to creative advertising.

Body:

Answer 1: Speaks to the Target 

-----Activity 1: Perfect Consumer: This activity will involve a product for each group. They will make up a person, and a person with personality! They need to make up the perfect consumer for the product I have given them. I want: age, income, education, marital status, occupation, hobbies, music, interests! And lastly I would like them to give me what they would tell that person for them to buy the product (concept)! Materials: Paper, Markers, Product.

Answer 2: Evokes an Emotional Response

-----Activity 2: Make an Ad: In this activity the group will make a commercial selling the product they were given. BUT the commercial must strive to get some sort of response from the class - laugh, smile, envy, a cry! (Ideally, I might ask them to use the concept that they came up with in the previous activity but I'm not sure if that'll be too difficult.)

Conclusion

My best answer is that it speaks to its target, because if the ads cannot reach the people that are even willing to consider to buy the product it will be a waste of money. It will go ignored, therefore not sell, not create brand remembrance, and definitely not create an emotional response. Which is the definition of an UNsuccessful campaign.

My 3 most important sources were: Jessica Cuevas, The Advertising Concept Book, and my service learning (I'm not sure if I could consider this only 1 source because it's a lot more than 1 person that I felt was important)! Jessica Cuevas gave me my answers. The Advertising Concept Book was my ad class on paper, it will teach anyone how to make an ad! My service learning was an internship at Conil Advertising, it was a taste of my future life! I loved it, and I got to see how an ad agency works, from inception to completion.

My product is my chosen career choice. I know a lot of you have heard that this project will make you hate what you initially loved, but for me it only made me love it more. Every single thing I did, read, and learned throughout my project just reinsured that this was the correct path for me. I loved everything that I did, and after spending a whole year on it, I know that I want to do this for the rest of my life. Advertising to me is so amazing, and since the start of senior year - it's been my life.

Independent Study 2

My independent study 2 is my portfolio. I've been working on these 2 campaigns (Civic and ClawMoney) ever since I finished my ad class. So for about 4 months. A little every week.

*New Ads:
Honda Civic Hybrid: Welcome Civic Huggers

ClawMoney: Exclusive Luxury

Literal:
a) I, Clelia Johanna Hernandez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
b) In these 30 hours, I completed 2 new campaigns. My first "client" was Honda Civic Hybrid. I did 3 ads for that campaign titled "Welcome Civic Huggers". The next client is ClawMoney, the campaign is titled "Exclusive Luxury". I did 6 ads for that - in reality the campaign is really split in 2 (copy + no copy). In total there are 9 ads.

Interpretive:
My portfolio definitely represents 30 hours of work. Even more. In the portfolio I'm going to turn into you there are a total of 5 campaigns. All of which required research, concepting, prep work, and finally the production of the ads. The campaign I wanted to document the whole process for was the ClawMoney campaign. I had a lot of revisions to do for this. When I first concepted for this campaign, it was around February. I had a subjective idea of what the brand was like - I knew about the graffiti background of the designer so I assumed that was the kind of brand she was pushing for. I didn't do any additional research apart from what I already knew. I based it off a urban-graffiti women's brand. My first concept was "An Eff You To Fashion." I assumed she wanted to wear what she wanted, how she wanted and that what is considered fashion is basically lame and we should make a statement. I comp-ed up a lot of ads around this. I had a guerilla ads planned, an iPhone app, a contest, interactive banners, it was going to be a 360 campaign (360 campaign is a campaign across all mediums). I had my idea set, but once I started helping the strategic planning team at my internship at Conill I realized how important research is! I went back and did tons of research on Claw. Her background, how she defines her brand, how she defines the name, just how she is in general. I found out that she actually wants to be high fashion! She wants to be like Escada, Prada, Dolce Gabbana, Gucci and all those designers. Thats how she in visions her brand to be in the future. The concept I had came up with was completely contradicting what she wanted. I knew that what I had thought up was an amazing campaign, BUT I rather do it right with how she would want the ads to be like, than make an amazing campaign that was totally off. So, I did a lot more research and I came up with this idea of "Exclusive Luxury". Although Claw wants her brand to be high fashion, she does not want it available to the masses. The brand ClawMoney had to be an "in the know" kind of brand. Once I found out everything I could about her and her brand I proceeded to concept again. I came up with ads that screamed exclusive and luxury: red velvet ropes, VIP lists, locked diamond encrusted doors. Once I was happy with what I came up with, I brought my ideas to the computer to produce them. After the first one I made, I was not happy with how it came out. The ad looked tacky, and that was something ClawMoney does not want! Back to the drawing board it was, and I had an epiphany! If she wants her brand to be like Escada, Gucci, Chanel, Etc.. why not make her ads look like their ads. Their ads already scream luxury and exclusiveness. It was  simple! And adding a little Claw flare made the ads perfect.

Applied:
This ClawMoney campaign experience helped defend my best EQ answer, without a doubt! I realized how important research is, and making sure you know how to speak to your target! ClawMoney wants to sell to high end, "in the know", culture-filled people. If I would have gone with the first concept I had came up with, I would have completely ignored the target! Which wouldn't have been good advertising! Good advertising needs to speak to the correct people! I learned how difficult it is to work with a client (kind of). Its difficult to balance what you want, what they want, and what the consumer wants. This campaign almost gave me a taste of how my career would be, and definitely what kind of creative I'm going to be.

Art Rationale

Why do this "this" way?

For my creative expression I am going to show off pieces from my portfolio. Mr.Ogden told me to do this because since my senior project involves art I don't have to do anything extra. The way I'm planning on displaying my ads is making actual billboards for them. This relates to my EQ because it's the final product of my answers, it's my senior topic! I need to be able to understand advertising in order to make an ad.

Creative Expression Ideas

I have two ideas.

1) My first idea is to do a piece for my portfolio. Its one of my ads for my ClawMoney campaign. It's a guerilla campaign. What that means is that its not a commercial or billboard, it's more of an event. So what my idea is, is to have a huge canvas that looks like a lame fashion ad (fake, exaggerated) and it'll say "Make a statement - clawmone.com". Because the people who wear ClawMoney aren't trend followers, they're trend setters. They wear what they want. I'd have that huge canvas and a table full of spray cans so that the people that attend the event can make whichever statement they'd like. I'd have a friend photograph the event so that it becomes part of my portfolio.

2) My second idea is to get a vinyl toy called a munny (http://www.toymania.com/news/images/0805_munny2.jpg), and draw the advertising world on it. Paint it full of logos to represent the power of advertising and branding.

Idea 1 relates to my essential question because it is all my answers at work. I concepted for this brand, I thought of the medium that would suit it best and I'm going to execute it! My second idea relates to my essential question because it is showcasing what the advertising does. It creates a brand, without advertising, no one would know about anything!

Interview 4 Questions

1. Based on your experience, what defines a successful ad campaign, or a successful ad?
2. What do you think are the most essential elements in a campaign?
3. Can you please define concept?
4. Do all ads need to have a concept?
5. How important is the execution of an ad?
6. Which, do you think, comes first, or is more essential: concept or execution? Why?
7. Which are all the different mediums ads could be in? Which is the most popular?
8. Where is the future of ads going - in relation to the medium?
9. Can the medium a campaign is exposed to effect the power of the campaign?
10. When you're concepting for an ad, do you always have the medium in mind? [Or the media plan in mind?]
11. Being a copywriter, can you please explain the process of coming up with a campaign for any given client?
12. What is the role an art director plays in the creation of an ad?
13. What about a creative director?
14. How important is the brief in creating ad campaigns?
15. Which departments are most essential to the creation of an ad?
16. How closely do the creatives work with the production team? Media team?
17. What role does the client play in the creation of a campaign? Do they interfere a lot, or do they let you do your work?
18. How would the perfect client act?
19. When coming up with ads, what is your main priority: pleasing the client, pleasing the consumer, or winning awards?
20. What is the most important element in a successful ad campaign?