GenNext

Go Beyond Quick Fixes, Even in a Recession

Millennials Can Boost Job Security Without Sacrificing Creativity

Posted by Sarah Ewing on 04.07.09 @ 12:33 PM

Sarah Ewing

Recession. It's like a rampant disease that every office and employee seems either to be catching or is afraid of catching. In the creative environment, our vaccine is a bold attempt to focus our ideas on only those that will give us the most immediate bang for our long-term buck.

Institute a 'Management-Under-Maternity' Plan

New Hires Need Extra Help When Boss is Busy With Baby

Posted by Sarah Ewing on 01.16.09 @ 02:23 PM

Sarah Ewing

First day at work: Take 2.

That's what it felt like for me last week upon the return of my senior-VP from a three-month maternity leave that had begun the ninth day of my employment. In mid-September, I met my boss for the first time as her employee and immediately looked at her protruding belly and thought, "How did I miss that during my interview process?"

Advertising Must Work on Trust Issues

Financial Meltdown Has Given Everyone a Bad Name

Posted by Sarah Ewing on 11.13.08 @ 01:36 PM

Sarah Ewing

Lately, the U.S. work force sounds like it is singing a song straight from the musical "Annie." Does anybody else hear the chorus sing, "It's a hard knock life for us. Instead of treated, we get tricked. Instead of kisses, we get kicked. It's a hard knock life"? The advertising world is not immune to this lament. Yet our advertisements, not our own employment, should concern the advertising world.

Many MBAs consider advertising to be a dirty word. Advertising creates unnecessary needs. Advertising slants the truth. Advertising takes advantage of peoples' vulnerabilities. Many people might say that advertising directly contributed to our current credit crisis. You and I know that advertising ideally helps people find solutions to existing needs. Consumers flock to trusted brands (which continue to advertise) as a source of stability in chaotic times. However, the economic meltdown may require us to change our communication strategy if we are to maintain our customers' trust.

As part of my Web 2.0 management role within a triple-bottom-line organization (we measure profitability, sustainability and community development), I perpetually dive into the blogosphere to keep a pulse on the current market, and that pulse is rabid with distrust. The credit crisis stripped the financial industry to its core, revealing which companies talked the talk and who really walked the walk of honest lending. As a result of this distrust, we might no longer be able to jump on marketing initiatives in advertisements -- such as making green claims unless that whole company focuses on environmental sustainability initiatives.

Political Advertising Should Be Held to Higher Standards

Consumer Ads Would Never Get Away With This

Posted by Sarah Ewing on 10.13.08 @ 10:48 AM

Sarah Ewing

The heat on the presidential campaign is bringing candidates' arguments to a boil. Nowhere is that boil more evident than in political advertising. The closer Nov. 4 gets, the more political advertisements flood our media. And our industry couldn't be happier for it! A business publication this past summer stated that presidential campaign media buys have filled the gap left by recessionary advertising cutbacks.

Why Would a Millennial Try to Pass as a Gen-Xer?

Agencies, Clients Aren't Quite Ready to See Us as Managers

Posted by Sarah Ewing on 10.02.08 @ 12:46 PM

Sarah Ewing

The advertising industry is now crawling with millennials. Yet, without age knowledge, can you find us in your sea of employees? In contrast to my colleague Kelly Eidson's post regarding the advantages of youth, I feel a millennial must blur her age to succeed.

Keep the Food; I'll Take the Cash

Posted by Sarah Ewing on 09.29.08 @ 12:54 PM

Sarah Ewing

Incentives. Few single words possess such great power. For prospective employees, incentives in an offer letter serve the same purpose as a child in an advertisement: The target is instantly attracted to it. Prospective employees drool for Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. Why? Benefits.

The Art of Seduction

Posted by Sarah Ewing on 09.15.08 @ 07:00 AM

Sarah Ewing

Just because I loiter on the Craigslist job site like a harlot under the overpass does not mean that you should not treat me like "Pretty Woman." Recessionary times call for drastic measures, especially for "online advertisers" like me. But despite living in an employer's market, an employer should still behave with the enticingly polite manners of a guy or gal on a first date to retain positive talent relationships.