Our new blood, Joe Jordan, shares what it was like to jump in at the deep end for his new creative role.

I have only been working in the world of advertising for 3 months and I’m already hooked.

Since starting at Southpaw as part of a creative team internship, this year has been an exciting and eye-opening rollercoaster ride into what working in an advertising agency is all about.

The value of actually being involved in agency life is so high. The experience and skills you learn from getting involved in live campaigns for real clients are things that you just can’t be taught at Uni. The best way to do this is without doubt getting stuck into an internship and bravely jumping in at the deep end by immersing yourself in everything possible. I was lucky enough to be given an internship at Southpaw and for 2 months I was able to absorb so much before being given a full time position.

One aspect of agency life that I’d heard a lot about but not really experienced was the pitch! I’ve listened to people tell stories about 24 hour working days, Pizza being delivered at all hours, tempers being frayed and sleep being a luxury that is rarely achieved. This seemed like a very daunting and stressful thing to be involved in, however, since being a part of it I can safely say I LOVE IT.

September saw the agency tackle two pitches for new business that I, along with Ethan my creative partner, were heavily involved in. The days were long and the agency became my home for nearly 3 weeks but I never once found it hard getting out of bed in the morning. I was excited to come in and see how the ideas generated the night before went down and how the campaign we were putting together was evolving.

My nocturnal lifestyle at Uni had prepared me for staying up and powering through, however the big difference between Uni life and the real world is the amount of time you get to produce the final outcome. Producing a well-rounded campaign from conceiving the ‘Big Idea’ to the final design and presentation in a week was tough. But the buzz you get from seeing your ideas develop into something that could potentially win an account for the agency is all I needed to keep going.

Everyone involved in the pitching process made working late something I really wanted to be part of. From Craig our creative director playing the guitar and doing flips to keep us motivated, to the wide range of takeaways that were supplied for dinner every night. The whole process is something I can’t wait to get stuck into again and I’m sure there will be many more big pitches at Southpaw in the not too distant future.

Joe Jordan
Raving Reporter