advertising

For my advertising class the big project at the end of the semester was to create a line extension(like a new flavor or variety of a line that already exists) and create advertisements for it, and then use a budget to plan where we’d put those advertisements to be most effective.

We did it as a group project, with each person acting as a different department in a advertising agency. I worked on the creative part – my “job” was to come up with a television advertisement for our product, Banana Walnut Special K cereal.

Our group had determined that the target market for such a product would be females ages 18 and up. Women with busy lives who needed a quick and healthy breakfast, and also women concerned with weight loss. Based on that information I decided to gear the commercial specifically to women with children, using younger children in my commercial but wording it in a way that could impact moms with children of any age.

So when creating the advertisement, I thought about how children of any age where they’re living at home can tend to make a mom’s life a little chaotic, and those moms spend a lot of their time sacrificing their needs for their children’s. Ask any mom and she’ll say she’s happy to do that for her kids because she loves them – but ask her if she enjoys a few minutes a day to herself and I bet she’ll agree.

This is where Randy Pausch and the book I read came into play. He talked about airplanes. You know how when you get on an airplane and they play that video telling you what to do in an emergency? And they tell you that if that cabin were to lose pressure and the oxygen masks would drop down, you’re supposed to put on your own mask before assisting those around you. You need to take care of yourself to be able to take care of others.

I felt like that’s a generally simple concept that people understand and have heard before – but that they don’t always remember and put into play. So in the commercial, I told moms to take a moment to take care of themselves – so they can take care of the kids they love. It appeals to the woman’s desire to be a great mom – and confirms that they can do that while taking time to themselves. The imagery in the commercial connects those things to Special K, showing moms how our product can help them do that.

Forgive the roughness -- but to create the storyboard I took pictures of Jilane as the mom with some of our guy friends playing the kids. Well, that didn't turn out so well, because you could see their biceps, and little kids don't have biceps. So I had to put Ty and Jacob in to be kids.

The commercial starts out with two kids sitting at a dinner table eating breakfast, and you can see their mom in the background looking at them, with soft, normal breakfast noises like spoons hitting bowls and the kid's movement.

Then the focus switches to mom, because our product is for her, not them, while a voiceover says, "you know breakfast is an important part of their day..."

"...but did you know it's an important part of your day too?"

The screen shot changes to her reaching to get a box of Special K out of the cupboard.

As she pours herself a bowl and moves to sit down in a comfy chair, separate from the kids but where she can see them, a voice over says, "take a moment to take care of yourself..."

Looking at this now I would've shot it differently, but I didn't have the whole commercial figured out the way it turned out to be when I was shooting. I'd rather have a side shot that shows the side of her face as she takes a bite of cereal and then looks up at the kids, but this shows the idea.

"...so you can take care of them."

As that's being said, the view switches from the side shot of the mom to the kids, because that's again what she loves.

I ended the commercial then with a product shot, and a voice over saying,

"Start your day with Special K", the slogan we'd come up with.

It was actually a really fun project. And my teacher liked it, which I was worried about, because he's really hard to read and he wasn't very clear on our expectations. But he loved the airplane concept and thought the ads looked good. Most of the groups did a line extension of alcohol, but he said we took a boring product and made it interesting, which is pretty much the goal of advertising. I was happy -- definitely the best final I had!

college

Things college has taught me: I'm drawn to the quiet kids.

I'm one of those people who unconsciously draws people who need to talk to myself. The amount of people who have poured out their hearts to me the first time I've ever talked to them and end the conversation with, "I've never told anyone that before" is insane. I've noticed this about myself since middle school, it's just how I'm made. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I'm like, "WHY ME?! WHY are you telling ME all these intimate details about your life?!" I always thought I couldn't avoid this if I wanted to, that people would just tell me things no matter what I did.

Now. When I go to class on the first day and walk in the back of the room, the first thing I look for is any of my good friends. People I know well and know won't drive me insane to sit next to for the whole semester. If none of my friends are in that class, the next thing I involuntarily look for is a guy who looks like he's not going to reach out and talk to anyone unless I sit down next to him, thereby forcing him into conversation. It's usually always guys, not because I'm trying to pick them up, but because they're generally less complicated than girls. More willing to help you if you don't get something or miss a day, and all around just less dramatic.

This unconscious strategy has turned out to be great for me. In my law class, I sat down next to a kid named Brad. Brad was quiet, but he had friends who weren't, and I wound up on a debate team with all of them and we kicked butt. They explained things to me that I didn't get and I wound up enjoying the class. In Jazz History I found Alex, who quickly became one of my best friends. For Philosophy, it was Chase, a commuter who didn'tknow anyone and didn't talk to anyone else in that class all semester, but had things to tell me every single day. And this semester, it's Brian. He's in two of my classes, and he appears to be quiet. But once you get him talking, the kid is hilarious. We keep each other laughing through Finance and Accounting. It rocks.

Through this, I've realized that while people are drawn to me -- I'm also drawn to them. The kids who are quiet but have something to say, and I unconsciously set up a situation that makes them feel comfortable talking. And I could probably avoid it. But that would involve me not talking...and I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon.

begins

And so it begins, yet another semester of school.

Last semester I was really blessed. I despised accounting more than I know how to put into words, but I had three classes with teachers who quickly became three of my favorites, and liked the last class I had.

This semester...oh boy. Lots of financial math stuff. And more accounting. My only hope is my advertising class, that was cancelled today. On the first day. For good reason I'm sure, but I was hoping I'd get to go to that class and discover what a light at the end of the tunnel it would be for me. At least, I sure hope it will be, or this is going to be one rough semester.

years

I am not a person who gets all excited about New Year's Eve/New Year's Day. I'm just not.

I woke up this morning in 2010 and was like, oh look. It's tomorrow. Okay, moving on with my day. I didn't have a big reflect back moment on the ups and downs of my 2009, and I didn't spend a long moment thinking about what I'm going to do this year.

I did, however, have a very brief moment where I was like, hey. Wait a second. I GRADUATE this year.

Okay, now that is something to look forward to in 2010.

college

I'm starting a new thing. A new reoccuring theme. Like my little thankful bits. These ones, however, are about college. And what I've learned in college over the last three and a half years, and what I'll continue to learn over the next year. One year! That's all I have left. It feels like such a relief. I'm sure I'll miss it when I'm gone, but as of now, I can't wait to be done.

Without further ado...something I've learned in college:

By comparison, I am a ridiculously fast test taker whether or not I am confident on the material. Four for four this semester, I was the first one done with my finals. And in many of those classes I was the first person done with all the tests we took that semester, with grades ranging from A's to C's. Has nothing to do with how well I know what I'm being tested on. What good that does me, I have no idea. But I learned it in college.