Feature -- by Berenice Gargus

Walking into Parallel's offices, you quickly get the impression that this is an active, hip, well-respected advertising agency. Not just from the long, curved receptionist's desk or her pleasantly formal offer to hang your coat in a frosted glass closet. You can tell by the overflowing heap of Anvils* in the waiting room.

These Anvils are the highest award in Calgary advertising.

*Anvils are the coveted Calgary advertising awards distributed at the Ad Rodeo, an annual recognition event judged internationally and the biggest of its kind in Canada.

Art Director Leah Gray and Copywriter Mel Woytiuk have lost count of how many Anvils Parallel Strategies won over the years. Judging by the display in the lobby, it's a big number.

Big Windows, Nice People

Over in the keypad-locked creative area - somewhat less formal than the front office - hang posters from the United Way's 2003 campaign. "Their slogan was Building Stronger Communities," says Gray, so rather than just show a homeless man and repeat the slogan, "we wanted to show people how the United Way is building stronger communities."

To do this, Gray and Woytiuk created a red bus bench that reads "No Longer a Bed", a transit ad made from a newspaper covered with the text "No Longer a Blanket", and a series of clever posters. One shows a bottle of alcohol with the line "No Longer A Crutch".

Parallel's 2003 zoo campaign hangs on the opposite wall. Created by Kurt Beaudoin (Copywriter) and John Williamson (Art Director), the main poster shows a sad-eyed weimaraner dog wearing a long gray sock on his nose. The caption reads "There's No Substitute for the Zoo".

Think you could come up with such good ideas?

If not, this still might be the industry for you. Parallel is an example of a fairly large Calgary firm. There are jobs in client services and administration. It also has an interactive department that handles web work, a video production and editing facility, and a design department.

"Designers do more collateral pieces," Woytiuk says. "They work on corporate identity, on details like choosing the right colours and paper stock" for business cards, logos, and "big books" like catalogs and annual reports.

Other creative types - illustrators, photographers, and voice-over actors - are usually freelancers contracted for specific jobs.

Once a client decides to hire Parallel, they meet with the account services department to explain their marketing plan. Let's pretend the client is a company called DDD Trucks. Parallel's Account Manager determines what product, service, or idea must be sold; in this case, a heavy-duty vehicle. The Account Coordinator takes notes during the meeting and attends to other assistant duties.

Mel Woytiuk (left) and Leah Gray (right) are Calgary's only all-girl creative team.

From there, the media-buying department works with the creative team to figure out who they should target with the ads. They strategize which media - radio, television, magazine, newspaper, web, outdoor, or direct mail - would be the best fit for the product and budget. For DDD, perhaps TV ads that run during sports games would work, because men aged 25-55 usually buy the trucks in the family.

From there, the creative team of an Art Director and a Copywriter come up with an advertising plan. Perhaps they think they can sell trucks to these guys by appealing to their sense of toughness. How? Show DDD trucks doing a lot of hard, manly work that involves plowing through stacks of dirt. See? Easy.

Or is it?

"Coming up with the best idea" can be the hardest part of the job, says Gray.

"-Or compromising with the client on what the best idea is," adds Woytiuk. "When you come up with something smart that is going to resonate with the consumer but the client is too conservative to try it, that's the hardest to recover from."

Woytiuk explains Calgary has a fairly stable market, so you probably won't have to worry about your agency going down in flames if your big client pulls their account. Plus, the industry itself is ever-changing and adapting to new technology.

Get Weirder

So just find a better way to sell and you could be an instant superstar, right? The women scoff at the way advertising is glamourized - like the mailroom girl nailing a Nike account in the movie What Women Want. However, they agree that once you're in, you can work your way up.

This happens a lot faster if you walk in with a great portfolio. After all, creative talent is the essence of their business. "A lot of students assume you need to be on the honour role, but you don't," says Woytiuk. "To work in advertising you have to be funny, smart, and weird."

"Definitely weird," Gray laughs, mentioning Taco Walko Tuesdays, a slogan they developed for their weekly lunchtime walk. "I love the people I work with," she says. "It's like a big slumber party."

Hit The Books, Babe

Let's face it. You need a post-secondary education to work in advertising. That might be a Marketing Degree or a Communications Degree. That might be college. But it may not have to happen before you get on the payroll.

"I came to Parallel nine years ago through high school work experience," says Gray. "I just started serving coffee." For that first year she shadowed the different jobs. "That's what helped me decide what I wanted to do in the agency."

While working at Parallel, Gray completed SAIT's Desktop Publishing Certificate in the evenings and took additional courses at ACAD to get the technical expertise she needed. She then worked as a Graphic Artist for over six years, and has been an Art Director with the agency for more than two.

Woytiuk took the post-graduate program in Media Copywriting at Humber College in Toronto. The only one of its kind in Canada, the program offers three semesters of study capped with an eight-week agency practicum.

Both women agree that volunteering is a great way to learn and find your niche within the advertising world before you invest in post-secondary. These may be unpaid grunt jobs, but you get to mount ads or scan photos a couple days a week.

In addition to building your portfolio, Woytiuk advises doing informational interviews with agencies or job-shadowing. Pick someone junior to start with and you'll be more likely to find a mentor who has the time to show you the ropes.

And the Rewards?

The women say that pay in the advertising industry generally starts at $28,000/yr and can go as high as $200,000/yr for Creative Director. (Note that agency top dog is not an easy height to reach.) Until you get there, Woytiuk explains that people will sometimes intentionally change agencies to boost their salary by as much as $10,000/yr each time. Eventually this strategy will stop working.

However, even in the more entry-level positions, you might be in line for a bonus if you do brilliant work and line up an Anvil or two for your firm. "When you win awards, you benefit and so does the agency," says Gray.

If you don't, you won't get fired but you might not get a raise as quickly either.

Get the feeling this is a highly competitive industry? "It is competitive," agrees Gray. "You want to keep your clients, and other people want to steal [them]. In that regard you're always trying to keep on the ball and [provide great] service."

Is it worth the occasional 14-hour workday and the grueling weekend shifts some agencies demand? How about the pressure of having to perform creative miracles on impossible deadlines? Gray and Woytiuk have no doubt. "It can be so exciting," says Gray. "It's never the same day twice. I totally love my job."

Links

Calgary Advertising and Sales Association (CASA) This site also has a great links page.

Calgary Advertising Agencies & Consultants (yellow pages directory)

Career Information:

Advertising Educational Foundation

My Big Future

Ad freaks

Resources:

Advertising Standards Canada

Canada Cannes

International Advertising Association

Institute of Communications and Advertising

Texas Advertising includes a fantastic glossary of terms.

Publications:

Advertising Age

Marketing Magazine

Ad News

PubZone - Canada-wide Advertising Page

The Printed Word

To receive a free copy of Show Off - a Calgary magazine about the communications industry - contact Dion Zdunic at Adjective Design Group: dion@adjectivegroup.com or 234-9689.

CBC's weekly business show Venture profiled a Vancouver advertising firm.

For Further Research

Advertising-related jobs to check into:

flyer delivery
developing promotional products (i.e. silk-screening at a T-shirt & hat company)
selling advertising space/ad booking
market research
public relations
electronic pre-press and digital imaging
commercial/corporate cinematography
package design
radio or television acting
photography