Setting up shop for an in-house ad campaign







Late this year, several key employees in our company were promoted, and responsibilities and tasks were passed on to other teams and personnel to make way for their new responsibilities. One of those fellow employees happened to be handling our in-house career ads campaign. It was fortunate for my team to receive this responsibility -- not because we're masochistic animals who delight in needless responsiblity, stress and pain. Making an ad was a genuine welcome and exciting challenge.



The copy team immediately took action. From the outset, we were faced with an immediate worry: How do we set up a team composed of members from the different deparments that would be able to deliver on the needs for an in-house ad campaign, as painless as it can possibly do this? In answering this question, we boiled down the necessities for the campaign into three specific elements: Strong identity of the concept, an awareness and close adherence to the schedule, and plain old logistics. (Please do note that this process is not the end-all and be-all for all in-house ad campaign projects that you might work with. This process, I have found, works best for our team and for our campaign.)


The Concept
Despite the initial dampener of having to set up a team for the campaign, coming up with the concept for the campaign was not a problem. It was emphasized at the start that each ad should have four characteristics: Each ad had to look polished and clearly stated its message; each ad must have a professional look and feel; each ad must embody a corporate identity or dynamic to it; and as much as possible, each ad have a little spark of fun, or spunk, in it. The main concept was to present the company as a place where people can establish firm and solid careers foundations. Our challenge was to show our "market" just that.





The Schedule
The in-house ad campaign runs for eight months (May to December) and is composed of 19 separate ads. To generate effective ads without losing momentum, these were divided into four phases, each with its own storyline and concept. The last two were where I and my team came in.

Now, what has a storyline have to do with the schedule? Everything. In the standard prose plotline, you have: One, the introduction of the character; two, the rising action, or exposition; three, the climax or the crux of the story; and finally, the denoument, or the ending (or anti-climax, to be technical about it).



Figure out your storyline. Brainstorm. Get the story straight and everyone in your team facing the same direction, and you'll be able to figure out how many ads can be made, which ad has to be the hook, etc. Once done, you can now be able to visualize the idea and get your photographer, your graphic artists, and ad copy writers moving in the right direction.


Then, you can start organizing your schedule. Since we were colloborating with an external client, we had to beat their deadline. Note that even if you are the client in this ad campaign, the classified ads people will drop your ad if you miss a deadline, and that's money you can't get back. So be prepared ahead of time, and make sure that all the people you work with for each ad know that and that any delay at their level will compound and cost you in delivery time.



The Logistics
Getting the graphic artists needed for the ad campaign was a big dilemma. While our office clearly cornered the local graphics talent pool -- no doubt about that -- they were all assigned to different teams and projects -- it would be easier to walk through broken glass than try haggling for their time. Luckily, department managers Rob and Ericson found a loophole: Graphic artists tend to shut down when faced with rote work. To cure this, they would gladly lend their resources on the condition I didn't take them away from their time. I jumped on the chance without looking back. (It's simple, really: "When they know, you'll know -- you know?" Thanks, Crush the Turtle.)

Working on an in-house ad campaign with these three elements in mind helps. But, it should be noted, however, that the team came up with these three elements knowing in advance what these elements were, and what the expectations from the campaign are. Working from the ground up -- that's a different story.


Penumbra: Thanks to my team, and to the graphic artists who worked on these ads you see in this blog post -- salamat kaayo!!!




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