a direct approach

Well things have been definitely been cajoled into the stratosphere.
I started my first job as an employee Junior Art Director last Monday, at the agency DDB Melbourne.
DDB has been around for yonks. The acronym stands for Doyle Dane Bernbach - a combination of 3 Madmen’s surnames: Ned Doyle, Mac Dane and Bill Bernbach. They started DDB in Manhattan New York, circa 1949.
This really excites me to know that I am working under the legacy of Bill Bernback. Particularly because I attribute my employment to one of his infamous creations. “We are number 2, so we try harder” (Avis car rentals). This has been my mantra, it truly has. So thankyou Mr Bernback.

Anyway. I can share with you my approach to getting a gig at DDB - cos I have the job now, so the idea must have worked. After winning an Award and receiving some press I felt pressure to do something big. I felt like I had stolen an audience, and could perhaps capitalize on this. But I became jammed with bad ideas. With big bad ideas, like a wrestling pantomime in an empty stadium. Frozen with anxiety I approached an AWARD school mentor, Kate Lightfoot Associate Creative Director at Ogilvy One - which happens to be the Direct Marketing arm of Ogilvy.

So I told Kate my big decomposing idea, and she was polite to say the least. It was just another attempt at relevance - a mash up of odds and sodds with one weak excuse for a meaning. Here is the logo anyway. Lets just say it involved questioning who to approach with your book - Executive Creative Director - or - Creative Director at said agency.

Kate gave me some simple advice - maybe you don’t need to go big. Maybe you need to try and go small, personal and targeted. This was rich coming from someone working in DM. But yeah she was right. So I chose a creative director, found out everything I could about them, then sent a package to reception. It involved a tacky caricature, a letter from Centerlink and some crossed fingers, feet and toes.