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 

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