Category / Uncategorized

by lauraarizaa

A Little About Who I Am

Photo by EA on Pexels.com An image of Colombia over the summer

Hello my name is Laura, I’m a first year student at the University of Florida working towards a health science major on the pre-medical track.   

I’ve always been active in the community, volunteering at the local hospital, planning fundraisers for orphanages, and working as a camp counselor. Throughout these experiences I realized my passion to help others in need, especially children. I hope to one day become a family practitioner or an Obstetrician-gynecologist, and complete research at a University.

My interests include sociology, playing music, traveling, and participating in service organizations. I’ve always had a knack for understanding and talking to children. My ultimate goal in life is to help children. While sociology is slightly different than the rest of my interests, I’ve always been motivated to know why people do the things they do. In addition, I love to travel and volunteer wherever I can. I recently went to Colombia over the summer and tutored children in English.

I’m deeply passionate about research and advancement in the medical community. While the technological aspect of advancement is exciting, so are the changes in patient care. For this blog, I’ll be writing about the changes in the medical community in regard to health care, technology, and doctor-patient relationships.

by ianmmeredith

Chapter One

Hi, my name is Ian! I’m a second-year student studying telecommunications at the University of Florida.

Visual media is everything to me. I spend my free time watching new blockbusters, re-watching old classics/my personal favorites, taking photos on 35mm film, and writing every day. My dream is to one day I move to Los Angeles and make a living as a writer, so I study screenwriting and storytelling in my free time. I think that writing is crucial, and I consider it a universal medium because it can be translated to so many different forms. Without it, your favorite movies, shows, and songs would never exist.

I plan to post about recent happenings in the film industry, from steps forward in minority representation to critics’ praises and criticisms of the newest releases. I hope that my love of writing for film will rub off on everyone who reads these posts, inspiring them to read more about the craft and maybe begin to practice it themselves. I think that it is truly an underappreciated art form, and that people should not only develop a deeper understanding of, but also grow a greater love for their favorite movies through the study of it.

by drey3113

Me and Why You Should Be Interested

Hey guys! Darian here. I just wanted to tell you all a little bit about myself and give some insight on my life so far. I’m a musician that started in engineering, changed to public relations and ended up in advertising. Sounds interesting right?

My time at UF has certainly been anything but boring. I came in with the sole purpose of getting my degree in civil engineering because that’s what everyone expected of me. I picked up math and science subjects pretty well, so obviously I was “destined” to be a stem major right? Well after a little introspection and a couple of mental breakdowns I thought that maybe I could at least double major in something I love like music. I had played saxophone and trumpet in high school, so why not give it a shot here? Well apparently the music based scholarships were only available to oncoming freshmen and of course I discover this after my first semester. I did a little more research and decided that a minor in music was more manageable, fun and didn’t require me to sell an arm and a leg to cover the extra credits. So majoring in music was a bust, so what then? That was when I took my first class in the school of Journalism and Communication.

After taking a class in interpersonal communication I discovered that I love communicating. Learning the ins and outs of how and why people discuss things the way they do was fascinating and a career that involved constant interaction and presentation became my new obsession. This lead me to visit the PATH advising office and switch my major to public relations for my sophomore year. Funnily enough, I ended up switching again to advertising my third year because journalism based classes just weren’t my thing. Especially reporting. Just the thought of it makes me shudder. Anyways, this leads me to my life right now. I got to play in the marching band my freshman year, cried taking calculus, grew as a communicator in multimedia writing, and discovered what I really want in principle of advertising.

I’ll be posting interesting advertising trade posts that really make you scratch your head like how IHOP had one of the most successful campaigns in the past few years just from a name change. My goal is for both me and you to learn a thing or two about how taking risks and being bold can bring success. I’m excited for what the future holds, both with this class and in my career. Hopefully you’ll be looking at the next big advertising account executive in the next couple of years!

by Julia

Advertising Me

Hello! My name is Julia and I am a sophomore looking to get a degree in advertising at UF. I recently made the big change switching my major from Aerospace Engineering which I understand to be a drastic difference from each other. The field of Advertising drew me to it as it is not only prevalent in every person’s life, but also involves so endless creativity and freedom.

I have previously found a creative outlet mainly with music as I have played many instruments including the violin for fourteen years, but I also love reading and doing puzzles in my free time and feel that advertising is a great combination of the creativity and analytical aspects involved in these activities. The aesthetics of design paired with the strategic psychology involved in advertising are what I am hoping to focus on for my future in advertising. I am also looking to eventually work for an agency and help in developing advertising campaigns for companies.

On here, I will mainly write trade press releases regarding important trends seen in advertising. Hopefully, this blog will help me to practice strategically communicating in the style of social media which is deeply relevant to popular work in advertising today.

by hannahjdavidson

Who I Am

New York City

Hi and welcome! My name is Hannah and I’m a third-year student pursuing a degree in advertising at the University of Florida. My love for creative content stems from my interests in art and fashion. I am passionate about designing visuals and developing strategy through market planning.

I love graphic design, media planning, brand strategy, and account management. I am most interested in both creating content that is engaging and tailored to the brand of a company as well as building strategy to promote brand performance. I recently received an internship with Elevate Agency and am eager to learn more about the advertising field.

For as long as I can remember, I have been captivated by the world of fashion. It is one of the only forms of art that is inclusive of people of all walks of life and allows for freedom of personal expression. I am hoping to pair my love of fashion with graphic design by finding a career in advertising in the fashion industry.

I dream of taking my skills to New York City, one of the fashion capitals of the United States. I love the city’s blended culture and fast-paced lifestyle. After graduation, my goal is to work for an advertising agency in New York City that specializes in fashion.

by gabrielaharmon

Wall Street Bound

Financial District in New York City

Hello, my name is Gabriela – second-year accounting student at the University of Florida.

Why accounting? For me, it’s not the plugging and chugging of numbers that interests me about accounting, but rather the power of knowledge that comes with being able to analyze and understand the ins and outs of businesses. In addition to business, I have also taken many political science and communications courses because I have always loved reading and writing.

This upcoming summer, I will be studying abroad for the third summer in a row. Throughout my time at UF, I have focused on internationalizing my degree and expanding my global perspective and network. Through involvement on campus, I guide UF students through the application and pre-departure process of study abroad and mentor international students studying abroad at UF.

In order to combine all of my interests in business, reading, writing, and international studies, I plan to attend graduate school to earn my Masters in Accounting and my Juris Doctor degree. I hope to eventually work in both the United States and abroad for an international company practicing international tax law. For this blog, I will be updating readers on the changing climate of the business and legal arenas all around the world.

by Oriana

About Me

A patch and cross stitch that I made.

Hi, my name is Oriana! I am a junior advertising major at the University of Florida with a concentration in studio art. I transferred to UF at the beginning of the fall semester from Broward College in South Florida. I discovered my love for the field about a year ago when I decided to switch from my major in graphic design to do something more meaningful to me.

My interests include drawing, painting, knitting and pretty much anything else art related. I have always loved drawing, but recently discovered my love for sewing and knitting. When I was a kid, I had always dreamed of being an artist, and I feel like in a way I am making that dream a reality with advertising. Hopefully, I will be a part of the creative department in an agency and eventually be a creative director.

My posts on this blog will mostly consist of trade press releases for trade publication topics related to advertising happening each week. This blog will be used to aid me in the use of social media in my career and to allow me to get used to writing blog posts on a consistent basis.

by graceubben

This is me.

The Palace Theatre in New York City, NY

Hello, I’m Grace – former thespian, now full-time ad major. I’m a passionate UF student pursuing a degree in advertising with a minor in digital design. I love good branding, storytelling and content creation – from beautifully designed static posts to compelling video.

My interests include digital design, blogging, and stakeholder engagement. I love creating content and pairing words with visuals that are compelling and aesthetically pleasing. At the same time, I understand that behind every beautiful, engaging Instagram post is a well thought out strategy and data to back up each decision and detail.

My heart belongs in New York City, specifically on a little block known as Broadway. I am passionate about musical theater and advertising, so I hope to one day blend my two passions by working in the marketing and advertising field with a focus on performing arts promotion.

One of my biggest goals is to graduate college and move to New York to work in advertising for Broadway shows. I would love to run the social media pages for live-entertainment brands and promote the latest smash hits. My goal is to serve as a creative director for a New York ad agency that specializes in arts entertainment and culture.

by Kea

What We Do

Content is king! I’m sure everyone has heard this little pearl more than once from a variety of sources. The idea is a staple of marketing firms and news organizations across the globe. Bill Gates famously penned an essay about it in the naught ages of the 1990s.

“Content,” he writes, “is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the internet, just as it was in broadcasting.” He was right.

In the early days of the internet, having something to write or promote promised you popularity and financial success. Now, not so much. In the age before social media, content was king; now, it has been demoted. We are living in a time where we are saturated with content, and not all of it is good.

Content can range from very informative to very ridiculous. In between that, you have multiple people peddling the same content over and over again. So, who, or rather what determines the winners and the losers?

Move over content; here comes the Queen: Branding. (Queen B!)

Branding makes all the difference. Think about it: How many lifestyle blogs are there? Why do some deserve our attention and others deserve, in the parlance of the day,  “to be paid dust?”

Branding.

How many ways can you make guacamole? Far fewer ways than there are blogs about it, but there are still people willing to read specific blogs that tell them how to do very generic things. It’s all about the spin.

This blog will not follow that trend. What we will do is observe how it’s done. We will look at various branding strategies and analyze, comment, and, in some cases, critique those strategies.

Since this is a class blog, it will feature posts from people working out what works about marketing, advertising, and branded content, and what doesn’t. We will take a critical approach to understanding the relation between product/idea and consumer.

Hopefully, what we all learn from working on this blog will help us to create and promote branded content that is both useful and beneficial.

Upwards and onwards!

-R