Surviving The AD Camp 2010

CEBU, Philippines - This was the farthest thought from our minds as we got off the elevator. “Here, we make our mark,” each of us thought as our minds fizzled with what seemed like a mixture of hope, nervousness and anticipation. We didn’t know what to expect. All we knew was that we were in for some “intensive training”; given that Campaigns Cebu was the only advertising company that chose its college interns based on both a copy test and an interview. Mustering every bit of courage, I, alongside my fellow interns, Jimma, Prime, Gian, Jay, and Lem, slowly pushed open the light-blue door of Campaigns Cebu and gulped, “Oh God, this is it.”

The words “intensive training” was no joke. Within our seven-week training, we were completely immersed into the crazy world of advertising. Believe it or not, it isn’t as carefree and amusing as it seems. Advertising is more than just creating a piece of art designed to make people say “ooh, that’s pretty.” It’s a science with no absolute formula. No theory is 100% fail-proof. One simple billboard takes extensive research, planning and a lot of brainstorming. This wasn’t what we were prepared for.

Each week, we found ourselves gulping at the thought of our seemingly impossible tasks. We would squeeze our brains dry for hours thinking of great concepts, only to be frustrated when out of seven ideas, no more than two were approved. It was always one rejection after another, big eye-bags and pale faces.

“It’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get up that counts,” Bryan, the Art Director would say. This would be followed by the writers Ryan and Yggy’s jokes, the Senior Visualizer, Norbert’s robot dance and the Account Director, Mong’s happy and gay attitude. It’s safe to say that the staff at CAMPAIGNS Cebu was as colorful and diverse as the colors in their comfortable office. Each day was filled with laughter, surprises and crazy conversations. The staff at CAMPAIGNS Cebu taught us to go beyond our limits, erase inhibitions, voice out our ideas, have fun and work as a team. We learned to befriend stress and laugh at the face of danger. By danger, I mean presenting to the fountain of advertising knowledge himself, Zen, the Exec. Creative Director.

As the days passed, we found that rejection wasn’t as frightening as it used to be. Because of it, we learned to compromise and challenge ourselves to create new and better ideas. Rejection became our driving force. We learned to be aggressive when it comes to defending our concepts and dealing with our target market. Rejection was our mentor; it encouraged us to learn from our mistakes. Our AD CAMP internship experience at Campaigns Cebu was more than what we bargained for. It’s the accumulation of everything we learned during our three-year stay in college and more – it’s finding acceptance in an industry of rejection.