As part of the advertising leadership series I attended Joanne Zaiac’s speech about the company of Digitas. Mrs. Zaiac is the president of the New York branch of Digitas. First she explained a little bit of what the Digitas Company is, highlighting how it is a top integrated brand agency with a digital core. It has a global reach with over 3,000 people in 32 offices around the world. Many of its clients are fortune 500 companies including: American Express, Delta Airlines, and Kraft. Digitas is made up of three departments that are creative, media, and strategy. All these departments come together to create people insight. The Agencies mission statement is: creating active brands.
Mrs. Zaiac then went on to explain a little bit about what an active brand is. Active brands: listen, engage with consumers, provide content, access, and information when people need it anytime and anywhere. Active brands pursue a purpose threw clients such as Nike that are passionate about being fit and providing a product that enhances athletics. Active brands also create value. An example of this would be how people follow Pita Pit on twitter and receive special promotions. They also seek participants, operate in the now, and stay forever young. One specific example about how active brands operate in the now that Mrs. Zaiac gave that really stuck in my head was an example about downy softener. Downy created a campaign that if you used downy your sheets would stay fresh for a week. To prove it Digitas came up with an event for a comedian to live and sleep in a window display for a Macy’s department store in New York City. After sleeping in the sheets for a week, they had the comedian testify if the sheets were indeed still fresh and they were.
Not only is Digitas one of the best advertising agencies in the world, but they are also one of the best to work for. They have a culture club in every office; there are clubs to join, and even sports teams. It was recognized as one of the top places to work 20 times in 2 years. They have a work hard, play hard atmosphere. They spend a lot of money on training, which the company feels is very important. Community service is also for important to Digitas. One day a year they shut down the entire office and go do a community service project together. For example, last year they sent 600 people to East Harlem and promised the community a 12-hour makeover.
In closing, Mrs.Zaiac gave some key suggestions on how to break into the business. They included: read the trades, take advantage of leadership opportunities, leverage your alumni network, create an online portfolio (for creative), and get as much exposure with media tools like Nielson. DART. DoubleClick etc (for media), and most importantly…PARTICIPATE – tweet. Use facebook, linkedin, download apps, form, opinions, be a researcher.
“Choose a job you LOVE, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”
-Confucius
This is the promo for the Mike in the Window Campaign…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlSwMZUzUnI&feature=related[/youtube]
