Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Pick Me - reviewed!



Ogilvy superstars Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin finally get around to releasing a book jam-packed with years of their collective wisdom; the book is largely based on their online column at Ihaveanidea.org called Ask Jancy. Don’t start huffing and puffing yet though, this book is still such a valuable asset to any hopeful junior or current creative even. I was fortunate enough to see Janet give quite the inspiring speech about the creative process earlier this year; she was a guest in Peter Oliver’s class at the Ontario college of Art & Design. She inspired us, encouraged us to work hard and never give up and spoke highly of her partner Nancy. Now I’m fortunate enough again to get an advanced copy of Jancy’s new book entitled Pick me – Breaking into Advertising and staying there.

The title suggests that the book is aimed solely at junior hopefuls and soon to be graduates, however Jancy does a great overall job with the help of some really special guests (Neil French, David Droga! And more to reach a staggering total of 13 ad greats) to cover pretty much what advertising is all about from scratching the surface to sweating it out with Clients later on when your in your prime. The beauty of this book is it’s not solely aimed at the creative side; it’s for all you aspiring suits out there as well. Jancy sure have an ongoing passion for helping others out and they don’t withhold any information whatsoever.

Jancy gradually tread the many hills and mountains Advertising has to offer, covering a lot of tid bits that you would never learn in school. Witty and insightful writing and responses to many questions keep this book glued to your hands (I finished it in less than a week!) Dealing with many issues that were past mysteries and demystifying them. One thing I found really interesting and insightful was the way they addressed ethical issues in Advertising and how to build a strong argument to back your beliefs. I for one know for sure that our generation has a lot of concerns and issues about ethical practice in any field and Jancy dives in full force comforting our concerns and guiding us on what to do when confronted with such issues, Great!.

Internships, future jobs, agency hopping, Brainstorming techniques, awards, falling in love with your CD, Pregnancy, ageism, sexism, and using cute cats for an ad spot. Can I say they covered everything indepth and in such a generous and humorous way too?

The book ends on climax with two really great sections, the first “ What I know now that I wish I’d known then” offers advice from the likes of Brian Millar, Bob Barrie, Chuck Porter, Chris Staples, Lorraine Tao and more (with a surprise piece of advice from Neil French!) In The second section “What I Look for in a junior” we see also a lot of ad greats get down and dirty giving out all the secrets on what they look for EXACTLY when they hire juniors and how they think even during interviews.

In a nutshell this book is a must, especially if you’d like to see what all those ad greats looked like in the 80’s ;)



Additional Links:

Ask Jancy
Ogilvy Toronto


2 Comments:

Blogger Zack Simone said...

I cannot wait to read this book. Marketing Magazine, gave the book a good review too. soon enough, i will purchase and get the 'valued insights' as ihaveanidea also talks highly of these ladies

9:22 PM  
Blogger David Wen said...

That book truly is a jr. creative's bible.

12:09 AM  

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