Listen. I’m passionate from miles away. But, I’m still with it. Present. You can call me hype. But, the hype isn’t real. I’m all real. I’m too real. This is too real.

Trill.

Let’s begin.

It has been a while since my last journal entry because I have been finding more things to do in Boulder.

A copywriter for Fallon, who is a pretty renown rapper as well, told me that you need to have breaks and hobbies outside of advertising. Well, that I do. But, when you’re in a foreign place, just trying to get your feet wet, it is pretty hard.

I went out with my teammates this week for National Margarita night, and they took me around Boulder to different restaurants. Overall, the night was a success, and we got to come closer to each other as a team. Going out for a happy hour is highly advised if you’re in the business of persuasion. For example, the person who leads the project management aspect of our team is entirely different outside of work and same with the strategy people. Since I’m a creative, there really isn’t much of a difference for me. It’s a time to get to know one another and to share an experience, which is also a tremendous fundamental basis for advertising.

As a creative agency, your goal is to share an experience, create emotional content that will resonate with people, and to change society’s culture positively. Oh, and yes to persuade people into purchasing your parity product.

You can’t forget that.

So yes, creating synergy or symbiosis with your teammates is very essential to creating work that is up to your agency’s standards, because energy is contagious.

Me and the other writer have been working really well together, becoming a creative force on our team. We are like mules; carrying the creative load.

One of our other CD’s said for us to stop strategizing and start making the big ideas come to life. Hopefully, this get’s other people on the same page as us, to encourage the other four to let loose, have fun, and ideate.

This job is supposed to be fun, you know.

My engine is roaring.

I take work home with me every night to set myself up to come back stronger for the next morning. Or, I actually do more work.

I love every second of this.

The bottom line is that you want to have that hunger to contribute to the goal at your highest potential to make the best campaign that wins changes a culture and make people remember.

I live for this.

One of the founding people of the agency invited us to join the company’s podcast, The Woodshed, for this week’s episode.

We had to ask this advertising wunderkind one or two questions, and it was easy for me.

Everyone in Minneapolis says his understanding of a client’s brand is on a whole other level from anyone else. So, I asked him, “For someone early in their creative career, how do you develop a prowess for understanding a brand to make a powerful campaign.”

He said it is like method acting. You need to try the product and love the product to understand it, and it is that simple.

Well, I have that in common with him.

During my segment, the other person asked what you should do if you’re stuck with coming up with ideas.

He said that doesn’t happen to him ever because he isn’t scared to put down something stupid until a great idea comes out.

I have this in common with him.

He also said that inspiration is everywhere, so you don’t have to search for it.

I have this in common with him too.

Three things to show commonality between a rookie and a veteran shows me that we are all human in this industry. Anyone can create. It’s just about being fearless.

Audacity, tenacity, and swagger are what you need.

Moving on, I’ve learned a couple more things along the way. When coming up with executions, and you’re using metaphors, they absolutely need to line up with the strategy, insight, and campaign. No questions asked.

Another one is to show people and not to tell. People don’t want to be told what to do. They need to be displayed in a creatively compelling way.

This made me understand the guidelines of the “see say” philosophy in advertising. If you can see it, don’t say what you can see.

Another big lesson is the concept of moral. You need to find a way to rally your consumers in a way that will tug their heartstrings for the consumer to buy your product.

Now, remember that even learning these lessons it is still up to me on how to effectively learn them well enough to add to my repertoire.

With this… ABC.  My new advertising philosophy to all the homies out there trying to make a name for themselves in the industry.

Always Be Concepting. ABC!

Don’t be afraid that your ideas get killed by your CD. They are the ones having your back on the project. Feed ideas like you’re making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for an army of seven-year-olds.

Don’t take it personally. I had a ton of ideas for a client campaign extension to follow a huge commercial. A ton of ideas. Only one of them made it to the final round before the client pitch, and it was one of my worst ideas that made no one excited. The cool part of this was creatives took this idea and innovated it to a different incarnation.

What is the lesson? Participate.

I miss my girlfriend, dogs, cat, and family. It’s hard waking up without her, doing things without her, and coming home when she isn’t there.  Luckily, I have a really cool roommate who has bonded well with me this week.

I’m going to use this time to enjoy solitude to bring perspective, give me strength, and to improve my never-ending quest of having a powerful prowess of creative control.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and this absence makes me love my girlfriend and support group back home even more. My aunt has sent me care packages, and I talk on the phone with everyone whenever I can to combat this loneliness that I’m dealing with.

Loneliness can mean a lot of things. I’ve made friends here, and I have friends in Boulder and Denver that I’ve seen, but I just miss people back in the land of 10,000 lakes.

I miss my girlfriend’s hangover hugs and calm down kisses. But for now, loneliness is a friend of mine.

Changing lanes here, I need to remind myself of the fire that’s in my stomach.

1. My Uncle, who disrespected me after my Grandfather died. He is a failure as a copywriter. He started his own agency, works in his attic at home, and has almost no client base. His disrespect towards me, kicking me out of my Grandparent’s house when I was 22 will never be forgotten. My disconnect with him gives me some sort of visceral vendetta (don’t take that too literally, the alliteration just sounds cool), in which I will channel into positive energy for myself. This is what motivates me.
2. This girl who told me to work at Mono Agency, and to pursue a career as a copywriter. This came from me telling her I wanted to go into advertising as a writer. She set that goal for me, which I never saw. She told me that it was one of the best agencies in Minneapolis. She said to me that advertising is tough to break into and to not be scared to do it. Then she left me after three and a half weeks. Regardless, her break up or whatever you want to call it, lead to brunch with an old friend. He said to talk to an agency owner who he connected me with, who told me to go to ad school.
3. My freshmen roommate from college, who started LYM, a big purpose-driven social justice brand. I’m working on a purpose-driven brand right now. The disrespect, racism, and narcissism he had towards me make me want to take my main project a massive success.
4. My girlfriend. I want to give her everything.
5. My Mom. I basically live my life to make her proud of me. Which, seems impossible at times. She didn’t know what a copywriter was until I graduated ad school. I don’t blame her, coming from an immigrant Asian Mother whose goals for you to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, I wouldn’t expect her to know what a copywriting role is. But, nevertheless, she was very supportive during my time in ad school when I needed her support the most. I talked to her on the phone last night, and I told her all about agency life, and she was amazed. I could tell in her voice that she was proud. I mean like a tiny bit, which is amazing for me.
6. There was this guy who was CEO of three agency within the past 40 years in Minneapolis. A well-connected guy in the ad world at a global level, he told me that I wasn’t good enough, yet that is. He says I make stupid mistakes, and I just don’t get it at this point. Just remember not everyone is going to love you on. Look at a bell-shaped curve on a scale because there will be outliers. It’s just this one really motivates me.
7. Myself. I’m doing this for me. I love it, and I always remind myself to enjoy it. To be honest with you, I’m just having fun with it.

I need to channel this to create an unstoppable force. The most important one is the last one.

Tom Brady definitely channels the fact that he was picked 199th overall to motivate him towards success. He said ” I think I’m going to buy a house,” during his rookie year as a fourth-string starter.

Well, I think I’m going to buy a house in Boulder, Colorado. That would be cool.

Here are my goals for the week.

1. Come up with better ideas everyday.
2. Work harder when I get home from work.
3. Get to know more employees and to build stronger relationships.
4. Try to get more work from CDs.
5. Take care of my mental and physical health.
6. ABC. Always be Concepting.
7. Take direction even better from the CDs.
8. Be a great teammate.
9. Listen and learn.
10. Enjoy.

With all of this, here is a freestyle rap to end this journal entry.

Remind me where I know you from? These ideas got me frontin. Hustling. Lovin. Living long love and large. Take this concept and take charge. Channel the fire come back hard. Feed ideas, don’t ever starve. Keep eating, keep reaching. Keep shooting that star. Most important, know who you are.

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing to create more content, you can make a donation to my Venmo. 

 

Man, today was a long day.

By long, I mean we had two meetings that went a long time. But, it was a good day from a team and a campaign progression standpoint.

The CD partnered us in groups of two, forcing us to work as a team. Luckily, I got to work with the other writer on the team, which is precisely what I wanted to do. She has a tremendous creative prowess about her and is very methodic in the way she approaches a problem. What is most impressive about her is the way she looks at a word and dissects it.

I don’t know if that is true, but that is the vibe I get.

We worked on writing mini-festos for our concepts for the campaigns, and it was sure a hell of a lot easier working with another writer for once. I really appreciated having someone to write and rewrite with because it made the process so much more efficient and enjoyable.

The best part was the chance to concept and ideate with someone that is on the same wavelength as you from a copywriter standpoint. In ad school, whenever I had to do this with someone, I had to work with a student at different levels of knowledge than me. It was either I was a fourth-quarter student working with a first-quarter student, or vice versa. Now, I have one person with me at the same level of knowing what it takes to ideate and concept from a copywriter standpoint.

I don’t want to sound nerdy or snooty because I went to ad school. It doesn’t matter where you come from when you work in advertising, or what your role is. The only that matters is that the company is putting out good work. An account person could put out a suggestion for a campaign, and the agency can take it to turn into a fantastic campaign.

This is why it is cool working on this team because we all don’t have a background as copywriters or art directors. I’m working with a wide variety of talents and its awesome. But, today was great because I got to really get down to brass tax with someone who relates to taking the same copywriting mindset.

Overall, we were very productive and presented our ideas pretty well. As creatives, we need to be carrying the load on a type of project today. My roommate, a strategist on the project, was blown away that we came up with that many ideas because he said him and his partner struggled with making two.

Do you see how hard it is to come up with ideas? It is very hard. But, the CD helped us figure out more of a strategic route to do it today after we presented them to him. With every idea that the six of us showed, he made categories then told us to go down those routes starting the next day. Having constraints from your CD makes your life a lot easier.

The learning lesson here is to make sure you are brave enough to put ideas down to paper. But, if they don’t go with the strategy or brief, then take them off the list.

I always come up with crazy fun ideas. Then I write them down, and if they don’t match the brief or strategy, then I don’t present them.

That is the way I think. But, people think backward and work from the strategy. Either way works. I can do both. But, for this client, you absolutely have to go from idea to match with the strategy.

The big highlight for today was our first client meeting. Boy, was this guy a talker. He was like any entrepreneur that I met when I was in University who spoke to us during our entrepreneur courses. You see, entrepreneurs are eccentric storytellers who are great at talking and portraying an image. With my past experience as a student, I wasn’t as mesmerized or overwhelmed by this guy.

I made sure to ask plenty of questions, and that I did. For me, I was surprised that no one asked too many questions. So, if you’re reading this, make sure to ask questions in your client meeting so you can further understand the brand. Try to make as much dialogue with your client to squeeze every bit of information because your damn campaign depends on it.

Later that day, after a very long client meeting, we debriefed with our CD. I swear this guy has to be an absolute legend and we don’t even know it. Anyway, we debriefed, and he said a lot of the clients talking points were on track to what we have been working on. The categories, problems, solutions, concepts, and ideas have all been built by us already.

Now, it is time to further develop those big ideas. We have a presentation next Tuesday, and there is a lot of preparation to be done. Therefore, I need to be as sharp as possible.

Honestly, I am getting more comfortable, but I am not at my 100% fullest creative prowess.

I can’t wait till it pops, cause that shit won’t stop. I’ll be creating ideas non-stop.

I do have a superpower, and its called bipolar disorder. Remember?

Another thing I want to talk about is we were asked to help ideate for another client. This was amazing because when you’re working on one campaign, it is refreshing to switch to a new brand. The process has been so much easier for this existing campaign because it is already a running campaign.

I received great news today that three of my ideas are up for grabs. So, if I want to create something, I need to wake up early to further develop those ideas. Here is another tidbit. When this happens, make a ten meeting with that creative director to go over both of your thoughts.

If you were in my situation, wouldn’t you want to make your idea come to life to see on TV?

Well, I better get to refining those ideas before 1pm tomorrow.

This is an exciting time for me in a very nerve-racking place outside of my comfort zone

But, I’m doing whatever it takes to have balance and to make this place feel more like home.

Remember, this experience is a marathon. I can’t project anything, and the only thing I can focus on is myself and how I am going to make the team better. For tomorrow, I want to help everyone refine all of there ideas one by one. But, I need to start with my partners and me first.

Today was the first day that I have felt sort of in my skin, so watch out CPB. Here I come.

Every day will get better, and I will be a better advertising creative each day. Mark my words.

Well, it’s time for me to hit the dusty old trail.

Sweet dreams, Boulder.

Don’t let the bed bugs bite, Minneapolis.

Hug the fur babies for me, Kaley pie.

…and…

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content, you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon

 

This may be a hefty entry because I didn’t write last Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. I needed time to reflect. I was exhausted, and I felt very lonely all weekend. Being so isolated gave me terrible anxiety.

After one week, it is crazy how much I have learned about how an ad agency works. But with that, there is still more to learn because there are tiny little details that I am still not aware of due to not being thrown into every tiny situation.

You can see how the flow of this company works and how everyone is working together with excellent communication. The synergy here is phenomenal, and the vibe is very positive.

My favorite part of the week was going to brainstorming sessions for current projects. In ad school, we never took a campaign and tried to improve it. Now, I can take ***Said clients*** campaign and create ideas for it in a safe space without being judged if I say something stupid, which has never really been a problem for me. The coolest part about brainstorming sessions is the whole company from account managers to accountants can participate.

One thing I need to work on is to work smarter. I spent the whole week concepting campaign tags, and then I picked out 88 of 500 that I wrote, then I made print ad templates for all 88 of them.  Then I printed them out and pinned them up on the boards. Then I categorized them into nine categories and began to ideate big picture executions for them. Out of the 300 of the ideas I choose, I widdled it down to 50. I sent them to the creative director, and he picked out six of my best ones.

The big lesson that I learned from him was that he only read my headlines if they caught his eye then he wanted me to proceed with them. The number one thing in advertising from what I’ve been told is to be able to take input from your CD on your project and develop the campaign into an effective one based on the input he or she gives you.

So, I took those six ideas that the CD liked and further developed them. But do you know what else I did? I also developed 12 more of those ideas, because I couldn’t kill those ideas off. So, I rewrote headlines for them.

Like, I don’t mind doing that much work. I love every second of it. But, man do I need to learn how to work smarter, think more strategically, and to be able to answer all of the questions of what makes a great campaign.

An ad campaign is made to persuade people. Deciding moments in life come down to advertising, and it is fascinating to learn the science of how to effectively do it.

I had my film confession last Thursday. I feel embarrassed about it. I don’t know what they are going to do with that footage, but I didn’t sign a release form for this. I said something about a former roommate of mine who started a big company selling stuff for kids with cancer, and how his disrespect for me is one of the driving factors for my ambition to be a great advertising mind. This is my opportunity to save the world with this peanut butter client. I told this to the camera to practice this pump-up speech for my teammates in a low time. Hopefully, we won’t have any low times.

Another driving fire in my stomach is my uncle. The way he disrespected me when my grandfather died will never be forgotten. But, I do forgive him. He is a copywriter who worked for an agency for one year, then started his own agency and has struggled ever since because he didn’t want to play well with others in an agency setting.

This is why I want to be a great teammate. Provide synergy. Be a great listener. To do whatever it takes to make this project successful.

I want to be one of the greatest copywriters ever. Or creative. This small opportunity here at CBP is a tiny stepping stone towards that goal. I am far from where I want to be, and this is why every day in this place is a blessing.

It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and I’m not blowing it.

This is advertising boot camp, and one thing they don’t tell you about agency life is the amount of patience that you need to have. Right now, we are in such early stages of the campaign that I can’t go 100 mph yet. In fact, there is no time to go 100 mph. I need to go to the speed limit that everyone else is going at, and it is hard.

Working on strategy, and adding every bit of effort and knowledge I can put into it isn’t my favorite thing, but I do it because I love advertising. More importantly, I love good campaigns, and if you want to have a good campaign, it all begins with strategy and media planning.

It’s not my favorite part, but it sure is essential.

Another thing they don’t teach you is the number of distractions there are in the day. Wow. I barely have time to write at work. I’ve been freelancing from home, and to go to an agency setting is a massive adjustment. In fact, I had to take my work home last week to ramp up my productivity level.

Writing on the couch with the TV on is my forte. I mean, I still write a lot at work, but it isn’t nearly up to the productivity level that I have when I’m at home.

Seriously, the distractions. First, there is team brainstorming, then a debriefing, then a company brainstorming session, then the someone drops by our department. I wasn’t prepared for that at all. I feel like a goaltender making save after save, then all of a sudden someone scores on me and I have to refocus my concentration again.

One big thing I work on every day is to be a better listener to the group. I have a bad habit of after I talk, I stop listening for about 60 seconds. In any team situation, you need to listen to your teammates. No zoning out, David. Whenever this has happened, I make sure to try to catch on, and if I don’t know after a while, then I ask questions.

If I had the same level of attention that I have for my CD to my teammates, then I think I can find success. Overall, this is something that everyone can get better at. Keeping a notebook handy to take notes has been very useful for me.

Another thing they don’t teach you in ad school is that no one can kill your ideas except your CD. Maybe they did teach us that, but it has been better to learn this in an agency. Every idea is worth something. I am blown away by how my CD has read everything that I’ve written, and I’m just getting started.

The only reason to kill an idea is if it isn’t part of the strategy or pertains to the problem or message.

So, five out of six people are working together as a team. This one person doesn’t share any ideas, participate, or want anything to do with us.

If this gets to you, then don’t let it. The only thing the five of us can do is to worry about ourselves and how we can make this campaign stronger every day.

Maybe this person is waiting for the right moment to add to this campaign because they are working in their style.

But, you can tell that this person is trying to play a prominent political game because he participates in company brainstorms and does very well. This person introduces himself during every meeting to make their presence.

I am hoping this person will bring brilliance to the table at some point because maybe this is how this person works.

The reason why I bring this up is that I am jealous that he is working alone. It is so much easier. This is the only reason. Being part of a team is a challenge in itself, but it is way more fun to find success as a team. And that is why I am here.

When you’re at this point in your ad career, listening and asking questions is the most important thing you can do.

Then suddenly, the weekend hit. My roommate goes out of town, and I am stuck alone. I had three things to do, laundry, groceries, and go to the gym.

I’d love to say that I got all of them done, but my roommate took the laundry room key, so I’m doing laundry as you’re reading this.

Seriously though, I am dealing with the most loneliness I’ve ever. The weekend was rough because I forced myself to get out of the house because I didn’t want to squander the opportunity to explore Boulder.

Well, Boulder is only two streets: Pearl and 28th. I’m not going hiking by myself because I don’t want to get lost and die like in 127 hours or get eaten by a bear. This town is a small town, and I feel like I’m in Northern Minnesota in a cabin with nothing to do. It’s driving me crazy.

But, here is what I did this weekend. I went to the Pearl Street Mall and checked out the summer art fair. Let me tell you, Minneapolis’ art fair is way better. But, the shops and restaurants are cool there, and I’m sure there is some history behind all of those places.

Then I saw this Japanese restaurant that served ramen, so I had to check that out. There is something about Asian food that always makes me feel at ease. It’s like I’m Asian or something.

Then I got sick of walking and decided to use public bikes. This is what I’m most excited about. I can get anywhere in this small town in less than five minutes. I can get groceries and go to the gym without taking Lyft or relying on my roommate. It’s nice to know I’ve figured out a little bit of independence.

With my public bicycle access, I was able to discover more of Boulder because I used it to scout everything out. I have pretty good geographical knowledge of this place, and it has eased my anxiety.

Being apart from my girlfriend has been hard. I honestly don’t ever want to do this again. But, sometimes in life, you have to make these amazing sacrifices. I need to stay strong for her. When it comes to these situations, remember that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I think what I need to do is to journal more and to find a fiction book to read. There are a Barnes and Noble down the street. I’ll have to check that out.

All in all, it is hard to be alone. I consider this weekend a tough victory because I didn’t sit at home and watch TV all weekend. I mean, I got out a lot and forced myself to do things to have fun. It just isn’t the same without my girlfriend. What is even harder is that I miss my parents, dogs, and cat very much too.

Refocusing on the coming week, I am going to set some goals for myself.

1. Only worry about myself, and to do things to be my best self.
2. Do everything in your power to add to the team.
3. Learn from my teammates.
4. Ask questions.
5. Find my comfort zone and routine.
6. Write as much as possible.
7. Create a plethora of ideas.
8. Participate.
9. Be patient.
10. Enjoy.

Sweet dreams, Boulder.

Don’t let the bed bugs bite, Minneapolis.

Hug the fur babies for me, Kaley pie.

…and…

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content, you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon

I wrote this before I came out here. It’s time where I take this to my journal. 

 

I have been summoned to this foreign land to find myself through what I’ve learned in the past. There is this energy in me, which I need to obtain control of, and the mountains will provide me strength, and the valleys will show me balance. I need to go at my own pace, take what I have learned, and not to hurry. Speak at a soft tone, but command a significant presence. Provide camaraderie and inspire well being. This is my mark to make in a foreign land outside of my comfort zone. I have been living outside of my comfort zone my whole life, but now is the opportunity that can provide me comfort and balance. I am the master of my own fate, and it is up to me to provide optimistic energy to thrive with the strength that this new place is giving to me.  Then I ask for synchronicity and synergy in this to benefit all of the beings. I am grateful to realize and to receive the six-week vision quest that will provide and catapult me to my path towards being a man who calibrates towards the mission in finding phi, the beauty of life’s symmetry.

 

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content, you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon

It’s 11 pm on a Thursday as I’m writing this, meaning in an hour it will be Friday. Holy cow. My first week has flown by. Honestly, I don’t want it to be the weekend because I’m having too much fun working with everyone. Another part of this is that I don’t know what to do in Boulder. Having a car would help my sense of adventure, but I do need to make an effort to enjoy the mountains in the summer.

Today was good. Initially, I was a little nervous about our meeting with the CD and ECD, but I got over it pretty quickly after I presented my first idea. I learned a lot from both of them and how my team was piggybacking off of each other’s ideas.

The overall arching theme of today’s session with the ECD and CD was that we need to find the big idea for the campaign. But, to solve that, we need to solve the tension and the question that is in the client brief. Easier said than done, especially with this client due to the lack of knowledge that is available on the brand. Hell, I haven’t even tried the product because it isn’t available.

But, here is the thing. The ECD said that sometimes you can’t drive the car before you make the campaign. Little did he know that I went and test drove a Mini Cooper before making my Mini Cooper campaign for my portfolio.

Anyway, the solution to the brand is rooted in the brief, and this is how you can get to the big idea.

Another takeaway was to intersect the insights that we all gathered with the brief to figure out how to convince people to love the product.

Advertising is 1+1= -15. That is why I love it.

So, with all that has been learned, my team needs to work fast to bucket all of the insights, create themes, and intersect them with the brief.

This is not an internship at all. This is Crash Course, a program designed to throw people in a room for six weeks to miraculously concoct a winning campaign that will make a brand famous. This is like a social experiment. I do not think that people who work here who used to be interns understand the difference between an internship and Crash Course.

Therefore, I am talking to writers and art directors. I’m asking to help on whatever campaigns they’d like help on. Slowly, I am creating a rapport, and hopefully, soon I will have more work on my desk to be able to stay late at the office to prove my worth as a creative at CP + B.

This experience is what I am making of it, and I can’t wait to do more and to learn even more.

Take notes. Lots of them. Everywhere I go, I carry a notebook. I never know when I’m going to learn something.

Soak it all in, David.

Time for me to sign off, and go to bed.

Sweet dreams, Boulder.

Don’t let the bed bugs bite, Minneapolis.

Hug the fur babies for me, Kaley pie.

…and…

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content, you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon

There are reasons why a specific mold of people want to pursue a career in advertising, but to start it in a place as magical as Disneyland is kind of surreal.

Alright, time to wake up and smell the peanut butter.

Synergy. Synergy. Synergy.

Whatever I can do to provide a powerful symbiosis, I will try my best, too do so. Today, we made great strides as a team, using small bits of advice from all departments to gear us towards what problems we are trying to solve for our client.

I pulled the other writer on the team aside today to touch base on our notes, and to walk around the creative department to meet other writers. She and I picked some of their brains and pulled some insights towards how they do things to find success in their campaigns.

One big takeaway is to attack the client brief from every angle and try to solve different problems with specific insights without being stuck on one thing. This is how they have landed on some of their successful campaigns, which is easier said than done because they put their distinct, stylized stamp on it.

As for me, I am slowly getting into my routine. Having no car is really putting a damper on my freedom here, and is adding to my anxiety because I have to rely on other people to get around.

Working out for the past two days has been centering my mind, and creating a routine for me.

Today was a better day for the team. Things are off to a slow start, but hopefully, it will this is the direction we need to go in.

I am very nervous about our first meeting with our CD tomorrow. It will be my first one of my career, and I feel like I’m not in the right place for it because it has been two days and we haven’t come to an agreement yet on what the problems are. Personally, I think we are overthinking it from a strategic standpoint. Here is the basis for what needs to happen.

1. In order to solve malnutrition, we need to inform people about it. Because most people know its there, but don’t know how severe it is. Therefore, we need to educate people interestingly and compellingly.
2. Most people buy PB based on taste. If people can’t taste it, then they won’t buy it. How might we get people to taste the stuff in a cool way?
3. How can we make people believe that this PB tastes the best?
4. How can we stop people in the aisle to not buy PB, but to buy it on Amazon?
5. We aren’t selling PB, we are selling a gateway to ending Severe Acute Malnutrition. PB is just the driving vehicle to solving the problem while filling our stomachs. Feel good, taste good, do good.

I really believe that if we use those guidelines, we can make a great campaign. Then we need to use the insights that we find to further strengthen the campaign and drive results.

But, with those five points, we still need to sell PB at the end of the day.

The next step is to see how other brands succeed, and how we can do something different to create an even stronger emotional content for the masses in order for our brand to change their behavior in our culture.

Man, someone asked me what I was doing this weekend, and I had no idea how to answer that.

This is the only thing that is on my mind right now, and I hope I’ll have time to enjoy this Colorado summer.

Alright. I’m announcing that my honeymoon phase is over after three days. I’m not in Disneyland, I am at the greatest advertising agency in the world and I need to perform.

I have nothing but no greater expectation for myself and my team to come up with the next Subservient Chicken.

Tomorrow is going to be wild. We will see where the CD takes us, and hopefully, it will be a day of ideating, concepting, and creating. Time to hit the hay.

Sweet dreams, Boulder.

Don’t let the bed bugs bite, Minneapolis.

Hug the fur babies for me, Kaley pie.

…and…

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content, you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon

I said all of those things yesterday about who I am because I’ve done them all. Stand up, painted, Youtubed, wrote songs, and ETC.

I’ve done them all, but I haven’t done them all at once. CPB makes me feel like I can do all of those things at once. Because in my mind and in my soul, I can access that level of potential if given the right opportunity.

The second day was weird for everyone. I didn’t mind it. My team was expecting major guidelines and people to hold our hand. But that didn’t happen. In fact, I really liked it. But, everyone on my team wants to know how this agency creates amazing campaigns. This is a very good point. But, I am walking around and I don’t really feel any of that at all. This is a creative agency, known for its creativity. Maybe the formula is to let horses run wild and free. Have them come back to the pen for some oats, and let them run free again. Meaning, check in with the strategy team and CD’s to keep them on track. Asking those people questions may be the key to making campaigns successful here.

Do you think the ECVP, ACD, CD’s, and DVD’s (there are so many labels and titles that letters don’t make sense after a while) have time to hold our hands? No, we just need to be working our asses off and checking in to see if we are on the right track.

I don’t mind being left alone to work on a project with free reign. My preference is to ask questions if I need help. This is something I do a lot of.

Today, I met with two ACD’s and CW. I got to pick their brain on what it takes to make a good campaign, what they consider a good campaign was, how to work with art directors and strategists. I learned a lot about their process, and basically, they all said that they work as a team very well.

So, there you go. My team needs to figure out how to do this fast.

It was all good stuff that they told me.

It was interesting to see how everyone works in my group. I will see how I can figure out how to mesh with everyone slowly. For me, I like to put everything on the wall so I can brew a storm of words, so when I’m ready to concept… I’ll be prepared.

I put up research, philosophy, pictures, quotes, articles, and ETC. Whatever it takes to get things going. I encourage others to participate, as well.

What I need to know is how everyone works, and how to play to their strengths. Right now, we are in a strategic phase where the strategists need to really shine. But, as a creative, I am not going to twiddle my thumbs around and wait for strategy to tell me what to do in this setting because I can’t. There are no designated roles.  Since I’ve had a lot of experience writing briefs and working on strategy at Brainco, I am doing whatever it takes to help the strategy phase be a fruitful basis for the project.

Foreseeing this, I knew I had to come in prepared. In the past three weeks, I compiled about 300 pages of quantitative research, and today, I printed it to sift through the best information. Everything is on the walls, and I wish everyone else would put their stuff up there too.

Maybe, I need to encourage people to do so. I think I should suggest a top-five insights session, where we share what is most fascinating to ideate.

I need to come up with ways to help this team succeed, and it is so hard because I am so far out of my routine and comfort zone at this moment. I need to get used to this one hour time change and mountain climate. Even if it’s one hour, it takes me forever to adjust. I hate it. But, I get to be at CP+B so who cares.

I’ve been drinking tons of water, and working out is painful for my muscles. They like twitch and rip a lot while I’m lifting.

I also have to deal with my mental health, because if I don’t do that, then I won’t be able to give my team the best that I can provide. This is a significant worry for me because, with bipolar disorder, I have never done well living outside of Minnesota. But, this time I am going to kick ass once I get comfortable. Which will be soon. Don’t worry.

This is going to be a great experience because I am going to find my best self here, and that sense of balance will make me a great team player.

Everyone brings something to the table, and I cannot wait to concept. But, we are not even close to that yet.

Strategy, strategy, strategy.

Whatever I need to do to make the team successful.

I can’t just go off and make executions, write headlines, or concept without the strategy behind it. So, I’m doing the right thing by helping the strategy people, which I am happy to do. But, I’m more excited about concepting.

I feel like a  caged tiger, ready to attack once I’m released.

But, that wouldn’t be strategic if I released things too soon.

Right now, I am figuring out how to work well with others to make this campaign amazing. This is the first step.

Take things slowly. It’s a marathon. This is not a three-day project.

I miss my dogs and cat. I miss Vietnamese food. I wish I had a car.

But, this is a kick-ass experience, and I can’t wait to do more.

Well, time for bed.

Sweet dreams, Boulder.

Don’t let the bed bugs bite, Minneapolis.

Hug the fur babies for me, Kaley pie.

…and…

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content, you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon

I want to work in advertising. I want to be the best creative mind to come out of The BrainCo Minneapolis School of Advertising. I struggled for a long time in ad school. I learned more about myself in ad school than just advertising. That is why I believe in myself. I know I can be great at this. I believe I can be great at this. There’s a fire in my stomach, and I am finding out how to control it.

What I realized is that this is the place for me to do it.

Today, I started my career in advertising. A small stepping stone after what seems to be a long journey of a one year sacrifice of BrainCO, I find myself in a foreign land called Boulder.

I’m a Minnesota boy, and this mountain culture isn’t spaghetti and meatballs for me. It’s like Chinese noodles and ketchup. Foreign.

I miss the lakes already. But, the mountains are cool too.

I’ve never done well whenever I’ve moved outside of Minnesota. But, this time it’s different.

This journal isn’t about what happened today, it’s about how I feel at the moment.

Walking into the office today at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, it was like what Steve Zahn said in the movie “That Thing You do!”

How in the hell did we get here?

Watch Tom Hanks’ directorial debut and find out what I’m talking about.

I get to be in this place for six weeks. So, I better soak it all up.

Being foreign to everything, I have nothing holding me back from going one-ten (110%).

The people emphasized putting out content and that is all that I’m about.

They were like … here are all of these toys. Do cool stuff.

Man, I felt like a kid at a playground.

Moreover, I’m a filmmaker, stand up comic, YouTuber, Instagram influencer, songwriter, musician, painter, craftsmen, athlete;

I am a renaissance man.

Finally, I have found a place where I can find the balance to unlock the fire in my belly. I may only have six weeks to do it, and CPB is the place to be.

But, who cares about all of the glitz and glam. I’m here to do good work. I get a chance to work with five other talented people, who they chose for a reason and after eight hours it seems like we could make a great team.

I can go all crazy and try to be the kid on the playground. But, I just want to ace that math test at this point. I want to make a winning campaign, and if I put every ounce of passion into that then the rest will manifest itself.

Movies, engineering, podcasts, Youtube… whatever. I’m here to make a peanut butter brand famous.

What is even cooler is to be working with a team with vast potential, and I need to draw from my past successful experiences to cultivate success.

Well, these are my quick thoughts for the night.

Sweet dreams, Boulder.

Don’t let the bed bugs bite, Minneapolis.

Hug the fur babies for me, Kaley pie.

…and…

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon

 

Upon many projects, I have been working on a campaign for Mini Cooper. In May, I wrote a brief for it. The problem I wanted to solve was for older couples to find a solution to their mid-life crisis. In other words, buying a Mini Cooper is the best thing since sliced bread for the next chapter of your marriage.

This is still in development, but I think its a good start.

Here is the link to my brief for this campaign. 

 

30 Second Commercial

 

 

 

What do you think?

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

 

Venmo or Patreon