Job & Internship

July 2008 Internship Spotlight

Name: Jacob Bofferding
Major: Advertising
Company: Strategic America, Des Moines, IA

Duties: By summer I will have worked as a copywriting intern for an entire year at Strategic America, an advertising agency in Des Moines. It was really too great an experience to leave after one semester. Plus it kept me on my parents’ insurance a year longer. But anyway, my job often consisted of goofing off through writing. It was a lot of fun, but could admittedly be pretty challenging. I spent a fair share of days writing headlines, TV scripts and radio spots that saw quick painful deaths courtesy of my superiors—“What are you thinking Jake, the client won’t buy that!”—and other times the client—“What are you thinking? We don’t want that!”

Despite the eerie feeling that I was at a never-ending funeral, lots of work I did at SA made it out the door as a final product. Of things I’m proud of, I did four radio spots, four TV spots and various print ads (such as sign kits for stores to display). There were plenty of burn-and-turn projects in between there. You know, “Sunday, Sunday, one time only!” type writing. Surprisingly though, I was treated overall like a semi-competent human person, and not something to be shoved in a dark closet of expired cleaning supplies.

Most Memorable Experience: It started with the simple task of writing a 60 second radio ad to announce a client’s new premium coffee. We presented several scripts, including a spot where a crazed coffee addict sets a rival chain on fire (appropriately titled “Arson is Funny”), and the client selected a script they were excited about (not the arson one). As the writer, I was involved with auditioning voice talent and giving instant feedback. We produced the spot, but unfortunately the client suddenly changed the entire brand direction for the new coffee, rendering the spot meaningless. It was back to the drawing board. Following their new direction, they approved another spot I wrote. However, a half hour before we were to produce it, the project was cancelled due to budget concerns. Since the studio time was now nonrefundable, we made the spot anyway. Thus, I ended up with two radio spots the client would never air. But after two months of back-and-forth games, it really didn’t matter—I still had two spots produced!

Special Contribution: I had the privilege of being behind nearly every aspect of Kum & Go’s “Pop vs Soda” summer promotion. I did the copywriting for the store sign kits, newspaper ads, radio spots and three TV commercials. The TV work was especially challenging since our budget could barely buy a lunch at McDonalds, but I’m very proud of how all the materials turned out. Oh, I should also mention—it’s called pop, not soda.

Advice to Future Interns: Forget about your resume. Shred it. Eat it. If you want an internship that’ll grant you real work, you need something impressive from the start. Do some spec work with a fellow graphic designer or copywriter. Make a funny video. Produce something real—and good—that you can mail off to an agency along with a request for an internship. Otherwise, you’ll probably need some solid connections. And if you land an internship that is not keeping you actively involved, work on impressing everyone in your spare time with new ideas.

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