THINKBOX FOR RED BRICK ROAD - A definite ego boost

A couple of weeks ago we were given the chance to work on a live brief for the agency Red Brick Road. 

I'm not 100% sure how much I am allowed to say about it, but I can say that I am incredibly happy with the feedback my partner, Lucie, and I received. Although they didn't take our idea to the client, we were told that our script was of excellent quality and would be ready to present to a client immediately. Before this brief I didn't know how to write an advertising script and this has given a massive confidence boost in my writing abilities.

I will upload our script at a time when I am certain that I won't be impeaching on any privacy rules.

It's over. It's finally over.

This post may be slightly (very) belated, but after such a heavy brief I couldn't bring myself to write about it immediately without intense feelings of trauma and stress. Okay that may be an over-exaggeration, however I definitely needed to time away from thinking about it.

After two weeks and what feels like the longest brief in the history of advertising courses, I can say that the Debate Brief is finally over. It has been one hell of a ride and I have learned so much, made great friends and I am really really happy with myself, my group and just generally how things have panned out.

As I said in my previous post, my group were arguing the side of DevoPlus which essentially means Scotland wanted more powers to control their own taxes and raise what they spend and blah blah blah. The approach we initially took was to vote No to independence and remain part of the UK - like in real life - but we quickly realised that the only way anything would change would be through a Yes vote. We scrambled down several paths to try and come to a conclusive campaign that we could run with and ended up with the '#ProgressTheYes' campaign.
The main ethos for this campaign was that we, as an organisation, were 'For the people, not the politicians'. We would ask voters to send in or upload 'selfies' of themselves to an app with a reason for why they were ultimately deciding to vote yes. These would then also be uploaded to a dedicated Twitter account with the hashtag '#ProgressTheYes'. Running alongside this would be a mobile photo booth which travels around Scottish towns and cities, allowing more members of the public to get involved. These photos would also be uploaded online. Prior to the campaign going live we would release teaser posters to an already well established Twitter account. These would generate interest, willing people to get involved.
Scamp photos to be uploaded shortly.


The second part of the brief was to take part in a debate - as the name Debate Brief would obviously suggest. When it actually came to the debate, it wasn't structured in the way that I had imagined. It felt much more as if each team would take it in turns to be 'attacked' by the opposing teams than an actual debate with structured, back and forth arguments. I personally don't feel that my team did particularly well in this section, we definitely tried our best but under stressful conditions such as that we may have just lost our train of thought and it's as if all of our knowledge just fell from our heads. The fact that my team were debating a somewhat unclear middle ground also made it difficult to argue a strong and convincing point.

I am pleased with how I performed throughout this brief, from talking to my team mates in the days afterwards I believe that they were also pleased with my deputy-leadership skills and gave me good peer assessment feedback. I look forward to receiving my overall grade in the next week.

Who'd have thought it, I think I may have made friends

I am genuinely so happy with the group that I have been put with for this debate project. Bloody love those guys. The project seems to be going quite well, particularly our Twitter campaign. We just need to really work hard on the print, video etc side to things. Next step is to come up with some visuals and think about the presentation. Not long to go now!

DEBATE BRIEF - A change of pace and a change of heart...

The brief that I am currently working on for Bucks Ad School is a 'debating brief'. We are required to research a topic in detail, create a campaign to raise awareness and get people on our side for the topic/issue and then take part in a debate with opposing teams.

The topic that has been chosen for us is the current issue of the Scottish Independence Referendum. My team has been assigned the position of 'Devo Plus' while the other teams are 'Devo Max' and 'For the UK remaining as it is'. I volunteered myself as deputy leader for this project with Joe as leader.

While I initially was uninterested in the topic chosen I have since had a change of heart...

After spending 2 days on this project I have come to the realisation that I really really miss LEARNING. In-depth research and new knowledge of a specific topic with an ultimate goal and use of that knowledge in sight. Of course I have learnt so much in my first term and a bit at Bucks, but it's a different kind of learning; highly subjective practical application of ideas and creativity, learning from mistakes about how you develop concepts and really drill in to an almost philosophical understanding of an insight. The work I am doing now however is so factual and I come away from my research with a clear cut understanding of brand new knowledge immediately. I feel as if I am being much more proactive and I like it! This is the reason why I have (finally) started this blog. 

From the offset of the course we have been told we need to be 'on it', which in my tutors words means being active on social media sites, particularly Twitter, networking and documenting all the work that we do. I'm not going to lie, up until this point I just haven't been bothered to do it, but after realising how much better I feel by actively working in my own time I decided that I now have the motivation to do this. 

Another thought that this brief has made me ponder is the possibility of become a Planner for an agency rather than an Art Director or Copywriter like most people on my course. I have been praised to no end by my project group on my research skills and today one of them asked if I'd ever considered being a planner which I hadn't until now.

Truth is I have no idea what I want to be when it comes to graduating, I just know it will most likely be one of the three positions above. Good job I still have a good while before I have to know!

An Introduction

Hello there! My name is Joanna, I am 19 years old originally from Kingston-Upon-Thames but I am currently at Buckinghamshire New University studying Creative Advertising. I have 5 younger siblings called Daniel (13), Jack (5), Teddy (4), Georgia (2) and Keira (2) and I love my family to bits. My mum and I have the best relationship and she is the cleverest and most inspiring woman I know. My boyfriend is called Jonny and we have been happily together for 4 lovely years - which I think is quite an achievement at my age.

It has always been my dream to work in advertising since I pretty much started secondary school (I know it's strange dream for an 11 year old, most girls that age still want to be a ballerina or princess or something). I have spent since then working on the path to achieve my goal. After achieving very good grades at GCSEs I went on to study Fine Art, Media, Psychology and English Language at college; though I dropped English after AS level. I achieved grades BBC at A Level and secured my place at Buckinghamshire New University. 

The reason I chose Bucks as my first choice is because of how different it is from any other university I looked at in terms of the course. It is an incredibly practical and creativity based course as opposed to many other advertising courses that appeared to be more focussed on the theoretical side of advertising. At Bucks we are given a new brief every fortnight and we are expected to complete the brief and present our finished product, concept, campaign, idea or whatever the brief requires at the end of each fortnight. The close proximity to London was also a massive determining factor in my decision to study there. London is the advertising hub of the UK and, some might argue, the world. We go on several visits to London agencies every month or so and it is always a brilliantly inspiring experience and gives much greater insight into what it's actually like to be working in this industry. There are so many Bucks Ad grads working in these agencies as well that it makes it seem like we really can do it and we really can get the job we want and it is all possible.

Ta ta for now!

Jo