11. We Love Anne Heuer. Senior Strategic Planner, W+K Sao Paulo.

Here's what happened: I fell in love. With Anne Heuer. I saw her from across the globe on Skpye and we couldn't take our eyes off of each other (mostly because there aren't many other places to look when you're Skyping). 


Recently, she packed up her bags and flew from her old home at Ogilvy and Mather in NYC to her new home at WK Sao Paulo, Brazil. People asked her why, in her 30's, was she moving across the globe instead of finding a man and making screaming babies and her answer was simple; why not? She wants us to live our lives the way we want to, not taking shit from anyone about who we should be, but rather just doing what we're passionate about.  


Anne has a love/hate relationship with advertising. Her job is all about coming up with methodologies and boiling down insights, which she loves. Agency people joke that "your brief was is showing" because the markets have become so saturated and crowded that some agencies think the only way to sell product is to formulaically highlight its obvious perks, which she hates.


This is Anne:

Why we love Anne: This photo (specifically her shirt), honest, generous, liberated.

More reasons we love Anne: When she feels like she is on top of her game at one agency, she wants to leave, thinks brand's tag lines have become two meaningless adjectives stuck together.

Why we don't: She's in Brazil. Not Oregon. But it's okay, we kind of want to be in Brazil.

Anne Heuer came to advertising without a portfolio or an ad degree (which greatly pleases her), but rather an English lit degree and three years of experience traveling around the world writing for an Asian newspaper. Her first industry job was at Wieden and Kennedy PDX as a planner. She was curious and observant, making her the perfect planner, but she explained that the wine was what called to her. Every night she watched planners gather outside W+K around 6pm drinking wine and knew she wanted to be a part of it.


Anne's Quick Tips for Planning:


Follow something that is bigger and broader than advertising. She wants us to OBSERVE what's around us and who's around us (reiterating Scott Bedbury's point about always being present). This will make us better creatives, planners and thinkers. She hires curious people.


Be impressed with the leadership. Seek agencies with leaders that you respect and want to learn from. It will make our job more fun and we will learn more from someone that we are personally inspired by (something Maria Scileppi touched on during her visit). Anne seeks agencies based on their cleverness.


Advertising will always be there. This one seems to be harder for most of us to grasp, seeing as we're currently spending upwards of $50,000 for an education and would like to see quick results in fun jobs immediately. That attitude generally won't get us a job. If we want to travel the world, run across the country or play with penguins in Argentina, NOW is the time to do it. In fact, it would probably help us get a job later. Her point being; follow your dreams (though she would never say something so corny) and don't only 'be' curious, 'act' curious.

This was one of her Facebook profile photos:

What she loves:
Art&Copy (so does Rob Heppler)
John Steel (so does Deb Morrison)
Mother
People Ideas & Culture
Johannes Leonardo (make sure to check this out when you go there)


Where we can find her:
Facebook

Thanks Anne!

6. A Conversation with Rob Heppler

     "Why the hell would you want to travel around the world this summer when you could create things here and experience life here at an agency, on the streets or in an internship?" These were the first words of advice Rob had for me when I called him up on Monday night.

     I met Rob Heppler at Wieden and Kennedy when he was a WK12er and while I was working there for a couple months creating a fake ad campaign for plumbing. 

Side note: Visit the link to WK12. It's awesome. Then watch this video about what the WK staff thinks about the 12ers to understand what goes on after we graduate and hunt for jobs. It's not looking good. Ultimate message: don't steal other people's food.

     Rob is a copywriter, trendsetter/influencer, knower of all things shoes, social media guru (though he probably wouldn't like me inflicting the word 'guru' on him), designer, pod caster, and blogger. He's worked with four global ad agencies and is currently starting work at Amusement Park, a brand new LA agency. Oh yea, he also spent the first part of his life in prison. Get to know him.

Why we like Rob: He's no bullshit and he's always on.

Why we don't like Rob: His hair looks like the 90s.

The Heppler Guide to navigating your way through the industry:

  1. Know everybody. Make connections with people you know (think neighbors, Dad's coworkers) and use them to make more connections. Learn from everybody.

  2. The more you do, the better you get. Everybody is creative, some people have more natural talent then others, but practice makes better. Write, do, read, listen, watch.

  3. Photoshop will be your friend forever. It's the easiest and most efficient way to communicate your creative ideas with others. Refer to #2 if you haven't learned it yet.

  4. Watch Art&Copy. Especially if you are interested in working at Wieden and Kennedy, the majority of the movie is filmed there. Great video about the work being done in agencies, the how and why.

  5. Make something. Really, it could be anything. Rob filmed himself at the dentist and it's received over 9,000 hits. America must be bored.

  6. Make sure people don't hate you. He believes this is essential. Don't be annoying and you will be liked and maybe promoted, or at least not fired. There should be a 'no asshole policy' at every agency.

  7. Don't talk for your first 5 years. Spend your time observing and making connections (see #1). I think this also goes hand in hand with #6, people that are new probably don't know what they are talking about, hence, they are annoying. 

Agencies he loves:

TBWA/Chiat/Day 

Media Arts Lab

The Martin Agency

BBDO

W+K

Droga5

Anomaly

He also recommends checking in with Agency Spy for the latest agency news and gossip.

Check out the limited edition sneakers that Rob and Tinker Hatfield created for the Coraline movie. Amazing brand connections were made. 

Rob writes: "Phil Knight directed me to 'market a movie in a way that has never been done before.' 3000 pairs of these custom made sneakers that I designed with Tinker Hatfield, were given away to movie goers. I created an influencer outreach strategy which made these sneakers the hottest footwear in 2009. Oh, and the bottom glows in the dark. Kanye West was upset about that."

Follow him @hepdog

Google him.

Facebook him and check out his cool photos with celebs.

Thanks Rob!