Category: TJA Talent

This month we sat down with our copywriter, Adam Hansen, to learn a little bit more about where he came from and how he got started in the advertising industry. Read on to get to know our office jokester a little better!

1.) Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Marshall, Minnesota—a tiny midwestern town that’s only known for Schwan’s trucks, ice cream and frozen pizza.

2.) What got you interested in the marketing/advertising industry?

I originally went to college for music production but always loved English classes. When I realized that music wasn’t a good fit, an advisor suggested I try advertising to stay within a creative industry. Once I started the program, I realized how much I loved it and knew I wanted to do it for a living.

3.) What are some challenges you face in your role at TJA?

Since I work on projects for nearly every client at TJA, I have to flip a different switch in my brain dozens of times throughout the day. This helps me write in a different voice for each brand. It can be challenging at times, but definitely keeps me on my toes and ensures every day is interesting.

4.) What success have you had in your role at TJA?

I’ve worked with the team to bring some really fun, interesting ideas to life. From talking kabobs and corned beef sandwiches to in-depth bios for imaginary people, we’ve created memorable work that’s backed up by real-world results.

5.) What is your favorite part about your job?

I love having the the chance to work with each of the departments within TJA. Depending on the project, there’s a good chance that I’ll get to collaborate with someone different each day.

6.) What do you know now that you wish you knew at the start of your career?

I wish I had known how much of a role social media would play in our everyday lives and the way brands communicate. There’s really no other medium quite like it, so it takes a whole new way of thinking about your message and how it will translate to that space.

7.) What are some tools you use everyday that are specific to your role at TJA?

I always end up using two things on a daily basis: a thesaurus and Google images. Looking through synonyms helps me find new twists on headlines, body copy or even entire concepts. Similarly, browsing hundreds of different photos while I’m writing can jumpstart new ideas or help me think of something that was hiding in plain sight.

8.) What’s trending now in your department? What do you see happening in the future?

I think both established and new brands are seeing a lot of success when they concentrate on storytelling. This is true for advertising, but also extends to social media and in-person interactions. Providing people with memorable, relatable stories helps them form an emotional connection and can lead to life-long brand loyalty. This is especially important now that consumers have endless choices in pretty much every product category.

9.) What kind of work were you doing prior to TJA?

I began working in the creative industry during college. I started out as a design and photography intern before realizing that I’m better with words than pictures. I also worked as a DJ and marketing coordinator at an independent radio station in North Dakota that played indie and metal music for anyone who would listen. Once I moved to Phoenix, I started writing for brands in many different industries and locations—including McDonald’s, Talking Stick Resort, The State of Arizona and international brands in China and Europe.

10.) What would you tell someone who wants to start a career as a copywriter?

Learn how to translate any concept into a thousand different executions. It’s important to ensure your idea will work for every medium while remaining recognizable and cohesive. That way your target audience gets a similar experience each time they interact with the brand, no matter where they are or what they’re doing.

The old saying is “hire slow, fire fast.” When first starting out, I didn’t really know what this meant. Then, I acted in haste, made some REALLY bad hires and paid the ultimate price. Detangling a bad hire from a tight-knit culture like TJA’s is like trying to cure the entire team of the plague. Not to mention the impact that hiring talent has on external brand perception with our trusted partners, vendors and clients.

So, at TJA, we take a different approach to hiring quality people that will fit into our work family. I am confident that we have some of the top talent in the industry in this building, but sadly, this is not enough to be a quality agency. We thoroughly vet potential new team members and do our best to include as many appropriate opinions into the process as needed. Speaking of process, it’s a long one. This goes back to that “hire slow” mantra.

The mistake we made in the past was that we hired solely for “school” and not for “cool.” While hiring for the right technical talents is crucial, there also must be a genuine personality with integrity, drive and respect for their peers and the trade.  We’ve carefully crafted a hiring process that allows us to vet “cool” and “school” simultaneously, which inevitably results in top-notch hires.

Step One:

When bringing in an applicant for the first time, the department head or director whom that person will report to day-to-day performs a more classic interview, discussing experience, work examples, work tendencies and expectations.

Step Two:

Should that candidate make it past step one, the “skill interview,” I am brought in for a tail-end discussion for about 30 minutes to learn more about the candidate and their character. I’m not asking the questions about how they do their work; instead, I ask questions about what inspires them, transformational travel experiences, more about their family and hobbies/interests. This is really where the rubber meets the road. If I can’t have a fluid conversation with this person or feel like I can go have a beer with them after work, they aren’t the right fit for the company.

Step Three:

Ok, so they’ve made it past the Boss Lady gauntlet. Depending on the position level, we might ask the applicant to perform a test project to evaluate their work ethic. The projects usually entails a deadline and instructions of some sort. When giving this test project to an applicant, we are looking not only for the quality of work, but also what questions they ask, how they collaborate, what their process is and if they turn it in before the deadline. We love when that happens.

Step Four:

Work experience – Check.

Character – Check.

Technical skills – Check.

Let’s get to business. This is the unique part of our process compared to most agencies. We invite the candidate out to lunch with some key TJAers who that person would work with regularly. The kicker – I don’t attend. WHY? We don’t want to inhibit the conversation with Boss Lady’s presence. The lunch should be focused on chemistry and how that person will work within our ecosystem. Sure, some important questions are asked, such as work experience, what they hated and loved about their past job, etc. Really, though, we just want to know if you are COOL.

You would be surprised. We’ve had candidates make it all the way to the lunch, but not ultimately get hired. It’s a crucial part of our process and it works. One time, we were in a hurry and we skipped the lunch. This ended up being a disasterous hire. Great technical abilities, bad cultural fit.

Every industry is different and this approach may not work for all businesses, especially since it takes time from your hiring manager and team members. For us, however, this process positively impacts our workplace culture and is one reason we ranked #2 on Phoenix Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work” list.

Public relations may be his M.O., but this month’s TJA team talent, Keller Perry, has more to him than that! Get to know Keller’s background and what he loves most about PR and working at TJA. 

1.) What college did you graduate from? Major?

Arizona State University with a major in Journalism and Mass Communication, Digital Media

2.) Where did you grow up?

Mesa, AZ

3.) What got you interested in the marketing/advertising agency?

My first internship was a PR position at an agency in the Valley. I was immediately hooked by the fast-paced, no-one-day-is-the-same culture and the broad opportunities a public relations career had to offer.

4.) What are some challenges you face in your role at TJA?

Staying ahead of the game with media. Doing the research, getting to know contacts in the media and figuring out what a reporter will be interested in, and then providing them with the content or source right when they need it.

5.) What success have you had in your role at TJA?

Placing a story for a client that makes a tangible difference is always a win. With some of the media stories we secured, the PR team has helped sell out events, make reservations and put butts in seats at happy hours.

6.) What is your favorite part about your job?

I love that every day is different. I could be prepping a client before they go on camera at a news station one day, writing a press release another day and then having happy hour with a reporter the next day. The variety each day brings keeps things interesting and keeps me on my toes.

7.) What do you know now that you wish you knew at the start of your career?

That there isn’t a formula to this job. You get out of it what you put in, and there are always more ways than one to get to a solution.

8.) What are some tools you use everyday that are specific to your role at TJA?

There are the PR and media-specific tools, like News Exposure to track client media hits and Cision to search journalist databases. News consumption also is important, so I use feedly and am constantly reading headlines on local news websites.

9.) What’s trending now in your department? What do you see happening in the future?

I see the gap closing between PR and digital media content creators. The foundation of the job will be the same: get your client in front of people’s eyeballs. But the way we do that, whether it’s an in-depth newspaper article or a behind-the-scenes video on Facebook, will fall under our department’s responsibilities.

10.) What kind of work were you doing prior to TJA?

Unsuccessfully selling real estate.

11.) What would you tell someone who wants to start a career as a Public Relations Junior Account Manager?

Know your grammar, practice your writing and make as many connections as possible. In this line of work, you’ll never know when you’ll see someone again.

The James Agency is filled with some pretty big personalities, but one of the biggest and larger-than-life personalities of our agency is none other than our public relations senior account manager, John Glynn. In this month’s TJA team talent, get to know John’s background and what got him started in the industry!

1. What college did you graduate from? Major?

Drake University, in Des Moines, IA. I majored in public relations and minored in business administration.

2. Where did you grow up?

Modesto, CA

3. What got you interested in the marketing/advertising agency?

I learned early on that I was an effective communicator and was able to get my ideas across in a clear, concise, convincing way. I always liked the idea of being able to craft the message that others would consume.

4. What are some challenges you face in your role at TJA?

Timing. Life, and particularly pr, is all about timing. We’re constantly competing against other companies and agencies for air time, real estate on page in print and digital space. We have to have a great reason for media coverage, as well as time it perfectly. So, we have to be both strategic, unique and timely.

5. What success have you had in your role at TJA?

We’ve had the opportunity to work on some pretty great accounts and win some pretty prestigious awards. Our department has won Spectrum awards, MarCom awards, PRSA awards and Copper Anvil awards.

6. What is your favorite part about your job?

Helping clients tell their stories and helping their businesses succeed.

8. What are some tools you use everyday that are specific to your role at TJA?

Email email email. Our department also uses Cision to track down journalists we don’t already have a relationship with, and we use News Exposure to track client mentions in the media.

9. What’s trending now in your department? What do you see happening in the future?

Lots of people say the press release is dead. It’s not. The days of bcc’ing hundreds of editors and producers on a press release is dead. We often get asked for a press release when a reporter picks up a story we’ve pitched, so that they have all the relevant information in one place.

10. What kind of work were you doing prior to TJA?

I was director of public relations at a golf ball company.

11. What would you tell someone who wants to start a career as a Senior PR Account Manager

Intern. Learn what makes a story. Watch TV. Read the news. Learn how to make and maintain friends. Learn that everything you do professionally must be mutually beneficial. Learn what makes a good placement for your client.