Recently, my wife Sue and I attended the NSAC District 8 awards dinner (National Student Advertising Competition, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation).  Campbell Mithun sponsored the event.  And the organizers asked me to speak.

“What’s NSAC?” Sue asked.

Her question sparked an idea.  Now I had my speech.

“NSAC is like the Hunger Games of advertising,” I said to her, and then told the 200 or so students that evening, which included one of our just-hired Lucky 13 summer interns:

As it did to Katniss -- and that blond guy who just doesn’t seem right for her -- stress and competition does weird and amazing things, turning your normal everyday teammates into mommy and daddy figures, dead-eyed strategists, creative problem solvers and fearless but artful performers.

Each of you has had your own Haymitches, maybe themselves winning tributes from advertising’s real Hunger Games, wily mentors whose instincts and experience can give you that edge.  (Our own Earl Herzog played that role for the University of Minnesota team.)

And like our young heroes, by now you’ve probably experienced long days, tired nights, sketchy food; and witnessed cold-hearted back stabbing, nerve-wracking drama, and, if you’re lucky, maybe at least one or two passionate kisses.

But the big difference is that just by competing in the NSAC games, you’ve already won.

Agencies like ours and many others look at the experience you’ve gained as giving you a leg up versus others competing for jobs in our industry.  Debbie Fischer, our HR director, is always keen to know why any recruit from an NSAC school hasn’t competed.

Our business is fueled by passion, creativity and competition.  And NSAC brings out the best of all of that.

So I congratulate all of you for having the courage and commitment to compete.

The evening was a blast. And in a close contest, Minnesota State University Moorhead won the District 8 crown and will advance to the national NSAC competition during the AAF’s National Conference, the annual ADMERICA!, held in Austin, Texas from June 2-5, 2012. 

Congrats to them.  And may the odds be ever in their favor.

College students from across the country applied to be a Lucky 13 intern at ad agency Campbell Mithun by posting 13 tweets during 13 days in February 2012. Three of the just-hired interns -- Laura, Sofia and Laura -- share their reflections about the process:

	Laura Romer I found the idea of applying for a creative internship through Twitter incredibly intriguing.  It was interesting to incorporate this informal means of communication into a “formal” application process.  You’re battling against the 140-character Twitter box to whittle down the excess and get right to the point of what you’re trying to say.    I found it much easier to be myself during this process than applying for an internship with the standard cover letter approach where you agonize over the appropriate opening (Dear Sir? To Whom it May Concern?  Dear Gatekeeper?) or email subject headline. As unexciting as it might sound, I learned a lot about how to professionally and creatively talk about myself.  It forced me to figure out who I was, and effectively and succinctly send that message.  Even if that message had to do with my love of narwhals.
	Sofia Morales This process allowed me to reflect on myself, assess my abilities and share them with others in a way that would be impossible through a cover letter or a resume. With the only guideline being tweeting 13 times, I had the liberty to let my imagination loose. I brought my resume to life with a video of my day as an intern and took the Lucky 13 selection committee on a journey through my travels. I wanted my 13 tweets to tell my story and to build on each other. Once I submitted my last tweet, I was very proud of what I had put out there. 13 turned out to be my lucky number.
	Laura Fitzpatrick The best and worst thing about the process was being able to see the tweets from all the phenomenal applicants.  Although it was intimidating to compete against great ideas, it was also extremely rewarding interacting with the minds behind these great ideas, as we are an industry built on storytelling, collaboration, and idea sharing.  You may be surprised, but applicants complimented, helped, and pushed each other to succeed.  I honestly feel so truly lucky to be chosen out of the inspiring pool of talent that you will definitely be seeing more of in the future.  The Twitter application process provides aspiring advertising individuals with the chance to jump off a résumé, interact with and learn from their peers, and find the best ways to define themselves.  I can’t think of a more peculiar and exhilarating way to be hired.

 I just attended a very inspiring Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) Symposium in Washington, DC. The topic was: "Diversity: Defining Different in a Changing Society." There were three outstanding breakout sessions; I’ll showcase content from the final session entitled “Diversify Your Brand.”

 Molly Wythes, Senior VP and General Manager at Katz Marketing Solutions, did a great job moderating an interesting and inspirational conversation with the following panelists:

The reality is that All Women in Media need to become more versatile in dealing with the social media landscape. We need to “Diversify Our Brand.” The conversation centered on ways to create, promote and protect our personal brand every day.

My favorite quote was from Kenetta, “Don’t underestimate the value of what you bring to the table!” We all have to fight the urge to be complacent. We are all talented, and need to bring our special knowledge, expertise and confidence to every business situation.

We will be able to expand even more on this topic when the AWM Foundation brings the next Symposium to Minneapolis Sept. 13th at The Woman's Club of Minnesota:   "Building the Brand That is You."  More details will follow in the coming weeks.

Editor’s note: this piece was originally posted on AWM’s Reflections Blog.”

-- Carol Grothem, VP, Associate Director of Media Investments, Compass Point Media

On behalf of the Compass Point Media team I am thrilled to announce the launch of the Red Baron “Taste the Legend” advertising campaign.  Our integrated media strategy supports the introduction of the new Red Baron Baron’s Best pizza through a comprehensive relationship with Marvel and their highly anticipated movie release of “The Avengers.”

It is an interesting and challenging year for the Red Baron brand. The frozen pizza category is crowded, with competitors constantly trying to thwart each other through new product introductions and price reductions.  Beyond the frozen aisle, the delivery pizza category is also changing with players like Domino’s and Pizza Hut offering pizza deals that price competitively with the frozen brands. As a result, Red Baron decided to launch a new sub-brand within their Red Baron family that delivered superhero taste at heroic price.

Much like the battle cry “Avengers Assemble” when there is need for multiple superhero manpower, Red Baron called their “Agencies to Assemble” to support the major new product launch of Red Baron Baron’s Best. Over about a seven-month period, we worked as a collaborative team to fine tune the “Taste the Legend” commercial program with a focus on driving awareness, trial and repeat/sharing.

The result is a highly integrated campaign with all touch-points, from media to PR to in store, promoting the legendry taste of Baron’s Best and supporting the premiere of “The Avengers.” Our integrated media campaign reaches the masses through National TV and online display and video, reaching 1.1 billion adults April – May.    

Try the new Red Baron Baron’s Best pizza and taste what the legend is all about. While you are at it, check out “The Avengers” – premiering on 5/4.

-- Jessica Nytes,  Media Strategy Supervisor, Compass Point Media unit

Facebook has the most page views on the internet. Facebook has the most registered users on the internet. Facebook garners the most time spent for users on the internet. Facebook serves the most ads on the internet.  As a result marketers have flocked to the platform.  And they have been spending a ton right?

Not so fast.  At least not yet.

When Facebook announced its IPO we found they had about $3.7B in 2011 revenue. That sounded like a lot. But when you look at their competitors -- Google ($37B+ unaudited) and Amazon ($48B) -- they are relatively small.

With their IPO just around the corner, the pressure to boost revenue is dramatic. And since the offering means literally millions of dollars to the biggest shareholders (Mark Zuckerberg and employees), the pressure to increase revenue will not only come from the market, but their own personal pocketbooks.  Look for more marketing revenue to be first on their hit list.

My experience with Facebook as a digital-media professional is that they previously only tolerated advertising. They killed banners that Microsoft was selling for them. They created ad spaces buried in the invisible right rail. And they didn't allow marketers to measure results via third parties or even to animate ads. The advertiser was obviously the lowest priority; marketers were to stay subjugated to the edges of the broader Facebook platform.

An example:  A few years ago I attempted to put together several deals that were relatively creative in the use of Facebook’s advertising space (but required no new ad units nor interrupted the user experience) and literally heard that "Mark said no." (An aside, I have no idea if he personally heard about the deal; the comment could have been an ego-stocking way to let me down after working on it for months.) It was shocking, and they left millions on the table.

You can argue that their strategy worked. Users loved it, and Facebook grew unbelievably as a result. And marketers showed up because we had to, even though by and large we were relegated to the kids’ table.

But the announcement of their Premium ads shows that times are changing. These new ads are the first indication that being publicly traded will reset the balance between users and marketers -- in marketers’ favor. Don't expect MySpace 2.0 anytime soon. But you will see marketing messages continue to invade what has been a largely ad-free place.

If we are all being honest, for 99% of marketers Facebook has been an enigma.  The platform appears to have limitless possibility but Facebook corporate was a restrictive frenemy at best.  We moved into the space on faith chasing the as-of-yet mythical ideal of social at scale.  But Facebook Premium Ads, as the first step of changes driven by their IPO, appear to mark the dawn of a new era that will make Facebook a much improved marketing platform for all of us. 

--Chris Wexler, director of media strategy & interactive in the Compass Point Media unit of Campbell Mithun

Now that the #L13 tweeting is underway, you’ve likely noticed the related data visualization on our Lucky 13 website  Let me explain the info we’ve presented.

First, consider the two graphics that appear in the content carousel at the top of the page: The pie chart is easy. But did you check out the treemap?  I’ve been a big fan of these since seeing a fantastic visualization of the World Debt Crisis done by David McCandless: The video version is insightful, perhaps shocking, and well worth checking out!  Treemaps are a great way of comparing scale and providing context when exploring data.

Our treemap analyzes the content and sentiment of tweets sent by our #L13 applicants. We can quickly see from our visualization that a surprising number of our tweets are replies, and that the main tweets themselves are links (i.e. the jury’s out!), or happy, funny, and informative. Some applicants, it seems, are tweeting lonely and sad tweets (hmm; people, this is supposed to be a happy process!). We’ll be updating the treemap daily.

Now, about the large visualization tool in the middle of the page:

We don’t really have a name for it yet. (Suggestions are welcome!) It’s a fantastic way to compare hundreds of datapoints with multiple features, and an effective way for applicants (when logged in) to compare some of their twitter metrics to the pack.  Each of the rings of the circle represents a different metric (e.g. # friends, Klout score, etc.) and also shows the scale from high (thick bar) to low (thin bar). Clicking on the person with the highest Klout score, for example, shows the inclusion of few links and (perhaps) surprisingly few friends and followers, given the influence rank. There are many tweets however. (Thanks to the creators of d3.js for this great template.)

We invite your comments and tweets about the #L13 data.  As Alan Partridge would say, let’s keep the chat going.

--  Giles Martin, director of analytics and marketing accountability; Duke of Metrics

It hit me for the first time about a month ago.

I was sitting in a meeting. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary. I took a sip of coffee. Looked down at my notes: mostly doodles. Tuned back into the discussion. The meeting was a brainstorm about the 2012 Lucky 13 internship process. Nuts-and-bolts stuff; how the website should look, registration specifics, that sort of thing.

Wait a minute. Lucky 13? It started to sink in. Wasn’t I just applying for that internship? It felt like just weeks ago I was agonizing over whether my latest tweet was funny or stupid (note: it was stupid). That obviously couldn’t be, though. I knew where to get coffee, so I must at least have been working here a while…

In reality, I’d been working at Campbell Mithun ever since I started the Lucky 13 internship last summer—seven months to the time I’m writing this. Time had flown, I’d been hired on after, and I’d been either too busy or too excited to really reflect on how it all came to pass. After that meeting though, I had a little perspective.

How odd it feels to be on the other side of that coin. How lucky, for lack of a worse word, that I should now get to be a part of the Lucky 13 process from the inside, after going through the application myself  just a year ago. In a way, I get to give back to the program that gave me so much. In another, I get to appreciate the inner workings of the process while the memories are still (relatively) fresh in my mind. Truly a fortunate circumstance.

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To the applicants: I know all too well how badly you want this chance. I know how thoroughly you’ll be obsessing over your applications. I know how dangerously intimate you will become with your Twitter profile. I know because I was in your shoes just a short while ago. But hang in there; if I would have known like I do now just how amazing the internship would be, I would have wanted it even more.

A word of advice to take or leave: be yourself and speak your mind, that’s how we’ll get to know you best, which is probably the most important thing. Above all else, have fun! What other job allows for cat videos to be submitted as part of the application?

I can’t wait to read all of your tweets—I have no doubt I’ll be impressed (and afraid you’ll take my job). At that, I wish you all the best thing I can, given the stakes:

best of luck.

 - Vince

-- Steve Wehrenberg, CEO  

Recently I participated in a panel discussion at the U of M on the topic: “That’s a Good Question:  Strategic Communication, Law and Life as a Professional.”  The panel was moderated by Gordon Leighton, Lecturer and M.A. Program Coordinator, and included John Pickerill, a trademark attorney at Fredrickson & Byron, and Jeff Falk, University Relations. 

The focus of the panel discussion was First Amendment rights and free speech as it applies to strategic communications.  We considered examples of companies countering negative media stories, specifically the case of Nike’s response several years ago to criticism of labor conditions in its contract factories. 

Nike used a PR campaign that included news releases, charitable donations and the appointment of a “VP of Corporate Responsibility” to present itself as a “responsible global citizen.” A consumer activist tried to sue Nike on the basis that certain PR statements made by Nike were false and misleading.  Nike’s defense was that their PR campaign was protected under the First Amendment, and that a private individual cannot use the courts to police what companies say about themselves. 

The Supreme Court of California made an interesting ruling:  they determined that “when a corporation, to maintain and increase its sales and profits, makes public statements defending labor practices and working conditions at factories where its products are made, those public statements are commercial speech that may be regulated to prevent consumer deception.”

Whoa!  That’s pretty earth-shaking for those who have believed that PR was sort of exempt from the regulations covering advertising.  In the end the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to decide whether Nike’s corporate ads and statement were protected by the Constitution’s right to free speech.

Indeed, these days, the lines are blurred.  Strategic communication students need to be more aware than ever of how various areas of the law, including privacy, copyright and trademark, may impact their everyday work. 

One of the journalism professors posed this question:  Which comes first, ethics or the law?  My answer:  the law exists first, and marketing ethics requires that agencies always keep in mind possible legal ramifications when creating advertising on behalf of our clients.   In this regard, Campbell Mithun is responsible for following IPG’s standard policies and procedures.  

A closing sentiment:  Communications can be fun and entertaining, but, as I often say, we should strive to push the creative envelope, not the legal one.

--Carolyn Carter, Manager of Legal Compliance (and friendly rule enforcer)