Month: July 2015

Posted on

New hire at Oliver Russell

Oliver Russell in Boise continues to make moves. Their most recent is the addition of Tyler LaDouceur to their team as a Producer.

Before joining Oliver Russell, Tyler spent several years with DaviesMoore, most recently as Account Services Manager, where he was responsible for oversight of the account services department. While at DaviesMoore, he also held a variety of roles on both the account and media sides of their business. Prior to joining DaviesMoore, Tyler was with CLM Marketing & Advertising.

Tyler is a graduate of the University of North Dakota with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing, a rabid hockey fan, and devoted husband and father. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Boise Advertising Federation and is the incoming President for 2015-2016.

And as anyone who has ever met him will agree, he is one of the genuinely good people in this business.

Congratulations Tyler.

Posted on

The well-crafted brief

If you haven’t seen it by now, you owe it to yourself to take a few minutes and watch Close to Home, the latest in the It Can Wait campaign from AT&T.

Go ahead, we’ll wait.

As good as this piece is, for those of us in the ad world, the story behind it is even better.

Recently, Ad Age published The Story Behind AT&T’s Disturbing Phone-Safety Ad, Ann-Christine Diaz goes inside baseball on the film, how it was made, and the thinking behind it.

A few notable nuggets from the article:

AT&T research found that while the general audience, namely, consumers in their 30s, had agreed with messages from the previous ads, they were “rationalizing, giving reasons why they could [use their phones and drive] safely, whether it’s because they’re an experienced driver, or doing it at a stop sign,” among other things, said Ms. Kuckelman. Moreover, it showed that not just texting or email, but social media and other phone activities were contributing to accidents.

And this:

“The agency brief started with, ‘think of this not as an advertising campaign but an opportunity to save lives,'” Mr. Planchon said. “They wanted the tone to be raw and emotional.”

Take a few minutes and read the entire article. It’s worth it.

In the end, however, this a fact that we’ve seen over and over — in the right hands, a well-crafted creative brief provides the framework, and the opportunity, to do some amazing work.

If you’re on the creative side, insist on them. If you’re on the account side, write them. Then rewrite them. Make them better. Your client — and your agency — with thank you for it.

Posted on

Job Opening: Project Manager

PM Digital in Boise has an opening for a Project Manager (Online & Offline). From the job posting on LinkedIn:

The primary role of Project Manager at PM Digital is to oversee digital projects from inception to completion.  You will work directly with Relationship Management, Creative, Development and other teams to deliver a quality product/service on-time to our clients.

Responsibilities:

  • Facilitate the definition of project goals, objectives and scope
  • Define project tasks and develop project schedule
  • Define resource requirements and request assignment of project staff
  • Develop project budget and manage budget throughout the project
  • Gather estimates from internal team members, external partners and print vendors
  • Track project deliverables, ensuring all team members understand roles, expectations, deliverables and timelines
  • Traffic manager between agency, print vendor and client
  • Provide direction and support to project team
  • Identify project risks, develop mitigation plan and manage risks throughout the project
  • Quality assurance and reviewing proofs
  • Develop communication plan for internal and external (client) communication and execute plan throughout the project
  • Identify changes in scope, communicate to client and work with Account
  • Management (where applicable) on Change Orders

Full details about the job and how to apply can be found here.

Posted on

Job openings at Drake Cooper

It seems the folks over at Drake Cooper are looking for several new people to add to their team. The following jobs are currently listed on their website:

Digital Project Manager

DESCRIPTION
We are looking for a Digital Producer/Project Manager who will take on the management of key client projects with the goal of delivering every project on time, within budget and within scope.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Coordinate internal resources and third parties/vendors for the flawless execution of projects
  • Ensure that all projects are delivered on-time, within scope and within budget
  • Assist in the definition of project scope and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility
  • Ensure resource availability and allocation
  • Develop a detailed project plan to monitor and track progress
  • Manage changes to the project scope, project schedule, and project costs
  • Measure project performance
  • Report to management as needed
  • Successfully manage the relationship with the client and all stakeholders
  • Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation
Interactive Designer

DESCRIPTION
We are looking for a talented Interactive Designer to create amazing user experiences. The ideal candidate should have an eye for clean and artful design, possess superior user interface design skills and be able to translate high-level requirements into interaction flows and artifacts, and transform them into beautiful, intuitive, and functional designs.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Execute all visual design stages from concept to markup
  • Conceptualize original ideas that bring simplicity and user friendliness to complex design roadblocks
  • Create wireframes, storyboards, user flows, process flows and site maps to effectively communicate interaction and design ideas
  • Present and defend designs and key milestone deliverables to peers and executive level stakeholders
  • Establish and promote design guidelines, best practices and standards
Interactive Designer (Contract)

Same general description as above

Interactive Developer

DESCRIPTION
We are looking for a Junior WordPress/PHP developer who is dedicated to their craft, writes code that they are proud of, and can hit the ground running. We need this person to write beautiful code in a timely and scalable way that improves the code-base of our products in meaningful ways. This person will be a part of a digital team that is responsible for all aspects of the ongoing development from the initial specification, through developing, testing and deployment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Write “clean,” well designed scalable code
  • Troubleshoot, test and maintain the core product and databases to ensure strong optimization and functionality
  • Contribute in all phases of the development lifecycle
  • Follow industry best practices
Interactive Developer (Contract)

Same general description as above

Media Buyer

DESCRIPTION
The function of the Media Buyer is to create and execute the most efficient and effective media buys on behalf of Drake Cooper clients and assist in the development of media plans. Specific responsibilities include:

  • Be an expert on radio, print, social, outdoor and out-of-home media; have a solid understanding of media fundamentals and market factors
  • Facilitate RFP process
  • Negotiate rates as needed; ensure that rate, programming and media option information is accurate and up-to-date
  • Maintain positive working relationships with media sales reps.
  • Shepherd media buys from start to finish
    • Ensure accurate execution of any media contracts or agreements
    • Request and enforce receipt of appropriate proof of performance
    • Review all invoices and affidavits to insure accuracy
    • Reconcile discrepant invoices
  • Order media for clients
    • Manage and negotiate makegoods
    • Ensure that all orders go to accounting for payment
    • Negotiate promotions as needed
    • Provide media reports to clients, including recaps and any other client-specific forms
    • Coordinate social ads through appropriate dashboards
  • Evaluate vendor proposals
  • Maintain quarterly rates database
  • Coordinate and traffic creative assets related to radio, print, outdoor and social buys
  • Ensure timely delivery of assets for campaign launch
  • Research client requests as needed
  • Be an expert on research methods and available sources, especially as it relates to specific radio, print, social, outdoor and out-of-home media
  • Ensure that radio, print, social, outdoor and out-of-home media library information is up-to-date
Media Designer

DESCRIPTION
Drake Cooper is looking for a passionate, flexible designer to help us quickly design and implement the graphic components of online and social media campaigns that are highly tailored to the target audience, make adjustments on the fly based on real-time data, advise on appropriate content changes to increase engagement and offer feng shui advice on our desk decorations.

  • Hourly Job
  • Reports to Media Director
  • 15-20 hours per week in the Boise office, could be up to 40 hours depending on workload/season with appropriate notice, ideal for a design student or fresh graduate
  • Design work will be focused on “Active Media” quick-turn digital banner projects, paid social ads and any media-related, non-campaign design needs (infographs, anyone?)
  • The ideal candidate will be, or become, an expert on ad engagement, asking the question “What makes someone more likely to interact with our message?” and take those learnings as well as real-time data from live campaigns and apply it to design

Full details on each position, including how to apply, can be found through their respective links. And should you apply, be sure to tell them you saw it here.

Posted on

Job Opening: Creative Lead

Name Brand Promotions in Boise has an opening for what they’re calling a Creative Lead. This is primarily a designer role that could ultimately lead to an art director role.

From the job description on their website:

We’ve grown quickly; frankly we intend to keep growing… quickly. Much of our growth has revolved around creativity. Great ideas, functional, well-received concepts. Innovative product. We have arrived at a moment, where we need a full-time designer.

We won’t promise the applicant a role that confines you to logo or brochure design. Instead, we’ll promise you an incredibly fast paced & varied role. From concept work on: marketing goods, product development, merchandise lines, head-ware design, sports merchandise, web-site development, e-retail store themes, pitch boards, as well as our own marketing initiatives; and of course, the aforementioned standard graphical duties. Creativity is intrinsic to our business plan, future growth and success. We are looking forward to having you on-board

Qualifications

  • Requires design degree and or 3 years experience in a design/studio environment.
  • Multi-skilled creative, who is as proficient with InDesign as they word-press. And just as importantly, a willingness to adapt and learn new software as the situation demands.
  • Excellent time-management & prioritization skills.
  • Willingness to ‘dive-in’ to other duties, should they arise.
  • Understanding of brand guidelines and how to still achieve uniqueness in and around them.

Full details about the position and how to apply can be found here.