At first, I was a bit embarrassed to discuss with you what I did here on a daily basis. Because basically, the answer was nothing. Thus far I had one project that I would work on every week (which probably took no more than an hour). One of our clients likes to know what shows they will air in during every week. I would look at the schedule to see what shows are 'content sensitive' enough for this client and create a power point presentation including the programs they would be included in during the upcoming week. Some clients would rather air in shows such as the Fabulous Life or Vh1's Top 20 Countdown than Daisy of Love; even though reality shows such as Daisy of Love usually gets better ratings. Besides that I would sit in on meetings and sometimes shadow some the CSR's. I actually did learn a lot and pick up a lot of information by doing this. However, I did spend a great amount of time at my desk, checking my e-mail and any other Internet site that could potentially keep me busy on the computer.
Last week however I meet a few other people and realized I could sit in on some training sessions. Someone had just started a job in Trafficking (that is where our schedule from Ad Sales goes and they pretty much just make everything official), so I was able to sit in on some of his trainings. This week I also starting helping some of the CSR's with inputting information in Gabriel. I put in information about the number of impressions a client was guaranteed.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Benefits
Internships are about learning what you do and don't like about the company you are interning for. That way, when it is time to choose a job, you have a better idea of what you are looking for and what type of company you would like to be a part of. My past internships have been with much smaller firms. My first internship for example was with a boutique Event Planning and PR firm- less than 5 employees. Now I am working for a multi-million dollar company that controls some of the top TV channels and is located in the heart of the world (in my opinion): Time Square. The benefits to working for both a small company and a large company are endless. Since I am currently at a large company, Viacom, I will tell you about the benefits I have seen thus far.
There is a cool website created for all the employees of Viacom. You can find any information necessary on this web site; the latest information about the company and anything affecting you as an employee. The site also has the daily menu of what is being served at 'The Lodge.' The Lodge is kind of like of cafeteria, but a lot better. Plus, the food is subsidized, so it is about half the price one would pay for food anywhere outside in Time Square. There is also an outdoor part of the cafeteria, where you can sit outside and eat your lunch with a great view of the city. Basically every conference room in the building (and the offices of important people) has the most fantastic view of the city. Sometimes it is hard to concentrate on the meeting with such and amazing view of New York.
MTV also has a lot of seminars for its employees. There was one about how to be a good dad in today's world, which I did not attend, but many other people did just because there was going to be a few famous people there. There was however another seminar with someone from Kaplan who came in to discuss Graduate School admissions which was pretty helpful. It seems they are going to have a test prep class here later in the summer.
Well, since I have not stopped talking about how great it is to work for a large company I must say something positive about my first internship with a very small firm. I think sometimes you can do more 'important' work relating directly to or with the client at a small firm because there are not as many people above you to do the job. If you have a crazy boss of course, you may be doing a little slave work on the side as well, but in a smaller company, more important tasks are likely to be assigned to you. Additionally, when working in such a small firm, you see, hear and experience EVERYTHING. In such a small office, nothing can get past you. There are not weekly secret meetings between top executives. And if there was a meeting in a small firm between the two top people, you are close enough to the room to hear just about everything that is said.
There is a cool website created for all the employees of Viacom. You can find any information necessary on this web site; the latest information about the company and anything affecting you as an employee. The site also has the daily menu of what is being served at 'The Lodge.' The Lodge is kind of like of cafeteria, but a lot better. Plus, the food is subsidized, so it is about half the price one would pay for food anywhere outside in Time Square. There is also an outdoor part of the cafeteria, where you can sit outside and eat your lunch with a great view of the city. Basically every conference room in the building (and the offices of important people) has the most fantastic view of the city. Sometimes it is hard to concentrate on the meeting with such and amazing view of New York.
MTV also has a lot of seminars for its employees. There was one about how to be a good dad in today's world, which I did not attend, but many other people did just because there was going to be a few famous people there. There was however another seminar with someone from Kaplan who came in to discuss Graduate School admissions which was pretty helpful. It seems they are going to have a test prep class here later in the summer.
Well, since I have not stopped talking about how great it is to work for a large company I must say something positive about my first internship with a very small firm. I think sometimes you can do more 'important' work relating directly to or with the client at a small firm because there are not as many people above you to do the job. If you have a crazy boss of course, you may be doing a little slave work on the side as well, but in a smaller company, more important tasks are likely to be assigned to you. Additionally, when working in such a small firm, you see, hear and experience EVERYTHING. In such a small office, nothing can get past you. There are not weekly secret meetings between top executives. And if there was a meeting in a small firm between the two top people, you are close enough to the room to hear just about everything that is said.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
When there is a PROMOTION
The enitre office comes to a hault. Who will get that position? Whowill get the other persons position? One of the VP's came by to letus know that he would be moving to a different department. That meansthere will be a new VP. Will there be a promotion from within? Whowill get the promotion? But who has really earned the promotion? Ifpromoted from within, it will most likely be an AE (AccountExecutive). But then which SSE will become the new AE? And then willone of the CSR's will be promoted to an AE...wow!Which CSR will get the promotion?
Basically that is the thoughts and chatter that goes on for a fewhours (and lingers on for days) when someone high up is promoted.Indeed, all work comes to a hault. Interestingly enough, a few weeksbefore I started one of the CSR's was promoted to be a SSE. Yes, I'msure this involved some talk and chit-chat about the situation, butnot nearly as much as a new VP. A CSR being promoted does not involveas big of a domino effect.
Basically that is the thoughts and chatter that goes on for a fewhours (and lingers on for days) when someone high up is promoted.Indeed, all work comes to a hault. Interestingly enough, a few weeksbefore I started one of the CSR's was promoted to be a SSE. Yes, I'msure this involved some talk and chit-chat about the situation, butnot nearly as much as a new VP. A CSR being promoted does not involveas big of a domino effect.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
This Week…& Some Good-to-Know Terms
There is a lot of talk about the 'upfront.' Currently, Ad Sales isvery busy trying to sell commercial space for the upcoming year.Agencies and brands generally purchase a chunk of commercial ad timefor the upcoming year rather than making all of the deals on a weeklybasis. AE's usually go out to present to companies in March to tellthem all of the benefits of advertising on VH1's network. Thisincludes making business trips to Chicago, LA and in New York (becausethat is where most of the advertising agencies are located). It makesmore sense and is a lot easier to sell a ton of commercial space forthe upcoming year as a whole, rather than every week. First of all,the agencies do not have enough staff and man power in order to be inconstant contact with all the tv channels to purchase air time fortheir brands on a weekly basis. Additionally, it is a lot easier forus to sell a bunch of units (commercials) for the year rather than ona weekly basis as well.
With the state of the current economy, it is not surprising that theupfront has 'gone on sale' but has not 'sold out.' With bettereconomic times, the upfront would sometimes sell out within the first48 hours of being available. Things are a little different this year.With consumers spending less, companies and their brand have lessmoney, which means agencies generally have a lower budget to spend oncommercial advertising with VH1.
Another important term used a lot around here is the CPM (Cost perthousand). This is how sales and money is measured in the office. CPMis the media cost divided by the number of gross impressions.Basically, it measures what the agency is paying for how many viewerswill see the commercial. CPM can differ based on a lot of factors. Ifa client is purchasing a large number of c ommercials, the CPM can godown (this is the same idea as buying in bulk at BJ's). There is alsoa higher CPM if it is for another network advertising their upcomingshow. CPM's can also vary depending upon the time of day and thepopularity of the show it will be aired during. Unfortunately however,in a bad economy, there is less demand and more supply; and in thiscase the average CPM will go down. Agencies are able to bargain for alower CPM when there is more open commercial space.
With the state of the current economy, it is not surprising that theupfront has 'gone on sale' but has not 'sold out.' With bettereconomic times, the upfront would sometimes sell out within the first48 hours of being available. Things are a little different this year.With consumers spending less, companies and their brand have lessmoney, which means agencies generally have a lower budget to spend oncommercial advertising with VH1.
Another important term used a lot around here is the CPM (Cost perthousand). This is how sales and money is measured in the office. CPMis the media cost divided by the number of gross impressions.Basically, it measures what the agency is paying for how many viewerswill see the commercial. CPM can differ based on a lot of factors. Ifa client is purchasing a large number of c ommercials, the CPM can godown (this is the same idea as buying in bulk at BJ's). There is alsoa higher CPM if it is for another network advertising their upcomingshow. CPM's can also vary depending upon the time of day and thepopularity of the show it will be aired during. Unfortunately however,in a bad economy, there is less demand and more supply; and in thiscase the average CPM will go down. Agencies are able to bargain for alower CPM when there is more open commercial space.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Welcome to the Office
The Ad Sales department starts with Customer Service Representatives (CSR) on the bottom. They do a lot of work in a computer system called Gabriel where they move around "units" (basically commercial time) for different brands. They are in contact with different advertising agencies who represent different brands. They agencies have a budget from a brand that they allocate money to different channels to promote the brand to their target consumers. I have been working with a few CSR's to shadow their daily tasks. They communicate with different agencies to comply with all of their requests and specifics for times or shows that they want the commercial to air. The best way to describe working in teh computer system and moving around units is like looking at a puzzle.
Next are the Sales Service Executives (SSE) who are training to be an Account Executive (AE). AE's (and sometimes the SSE) go out to the agencies to bargain a good price for the commercials the brand will be purchasing. So basically, the SSE presents to the agency to tell them why VH1 is the best place for them to advertise because of their demographic; they come up with ideas that will entice the agency to choose spending their advertising budget with VH1. Meanwhile, after the deal and bargaining is made, CSR's must schedule all of the commercial time before it is sent to traffic.
There are then two VP's of Ad Sales, who each have their own team and oversee all that goes on.
Next are the Sales Service Executives (SSE) who are training to be an Account Executive (AE). AE's (and sometimes the SSE) go out to the agencies to bargain a good price for the commercials the brand will be purchasing. So basically, the SSE presents to the agency to tell them why VH1 is the best place for them to advertise because of their demographic; they come up with ideas that will entice the agency to choose spending their advertising budget with VH1. Meanwhile, after the deal and bargaining is made, CSR's must schedule all of the commercial time before it is sent to traffic.
There are then two VP's of Ad Sales, who each have their own team and oversee all that goes on.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Searching for the Perfect Internship
I finally found the perfect internship. And believe me, it was not easy. This just in: The economy sucks. Even unpaid internships were being cancelled, can you believe that?! On top of the economy being in a terrible position, I was in Denmark while trying to find the perfect internship to spend my last summer and last opportunity to intern in NYC before graduating and entering the workforce. I saw this summer as extremely important; it was my last chance to make some great connections in New York, where I may want to settle down, for a while at least.
It was stressful. Not only was the economy bad (did I mention that enough times already?) but being half way across the world made it more difficult to conduct an in person interview, call companies daily to ask about internship programs or inquire about my application and schedule phone interviews.
I had already secured my internship for last summer in February. This year, I was abroad for 4 months and spending 3 weeks traveling the world in April (spring break) with the anxiety of returning home without the important internship I had been hoping for. Then, about a week before returning to NYC I had two internship opportunities: one from MTV and another from a financial firm. The financial firm did not focus too much on marketing which is not what I was hoping for, and people who know me could easily say that I would probably enjoy myself more at MTV. Then again, who wouldn't?
The decision had been made, I would intern at MTV/Viacom in the Ad Sales department for Vh1.
It was stressful. Not only was the economy bad (did I mention that enough times already?) but being half way across the world made it more difficult to conduct an in person interview, call companies daily to ask about internship programs or inquire about my application and schedule phone interviews.
I had already secured my internship for last summer in February. This year, I was abroad for 4 months and spending 3 weeks traveling the world in April (spring break) with the anxiety of returning home without the important internship I had been hoping for. Then, about a week before returning to NYC I had two internship opportunities: one from MTV and another from a financial firm. The financial firm did not focus too much on marketing which is not what I was hoping for, and people who know me could easily say that I would probably enjoy myself more at MTV. Then again, who wouldn't?
The decision had been made, I would intern at MTV/Viacom in the Ad Sales department for Vh1.
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