15 students get the chance to intern at a topnotch advertising firm
WAKING UP EARLY EVERYDAY and clocking in 8 hours in an office may not sound like a fun way to spend your summer vacation. But not for a select group of 15 interns who are getting a taste of ad agency life at the BBDO Guerrero Proximity office.

This is the ?office? where the character of Bayantel DSL?s Lola Techie was created. This is the creative space where words like Pizza Hut?s ?Hate Late? were thought of and made so powerful that they caught on and has become part of the local vernacular. This is the home of the multi-awarded, internationally acclaimed ad agency.

The office doesn?t resemble a traditional space, where people are boxed into their individual cubicles and suffocated by drab carpeting. For one thing, the company name isn?t rendered as a stiff light box design of letters jutting out of the walls. Instead, bold red and black letters in stylized graffiti overflowing from a jeepney icon announce the company name.

In various little corners and nooks, people are sitting on beanbags with feet propped up on pillows, pounding at their laptops. There is a ping-pong table where you can go and work off some stress, and a small bar set up with waist-high cement bar chairs where you can get some coffee and water. There?s no alcohol at the bar, but the overall look is still one of post-industrial chic.

Brainchild

For the next five weeks, BBDO is serving as the ?campus? for select students participating in the School of Fine Ideas Summer Internship Program.

A brainchild of BBDO that immerses students in the world of advertising, the program covers every aspect of the business, such as Strategic Planning, Account Management, Digital Marketing and Creative Development.

?We love advertising! And we want to find people who love it, too,? says David Guerrero, BBDO?s chairman and chief creative director. ?We want to connect with like-minded people.?

?We?ve done courses like this on a smaller scale, but this is the first time we have done something this extensive,? he adds.

Guerrero laments that there is no school devoted solely to advertising in the Philippines, unlike in Europe and the United States.

At the end of the 5-week period, the interns will get to test their mettle and prepare a pitch for an actual BBDO Guerrero Proximity client and present it to senior agency management.

Qualifications

To get into the program, the 15 interns had to best other entries for a slot in the School of Fine Ideas by producing their own 30-second video, where they pitch their qualifications for the program.

?I was really impressed with the curriculum,? says Kata Pecson, a BA Communications/BS Management student from the Ateneo de Manila University. ?I know for sure I won?t just be stapling during my internship or mixing coffee!?

?Besides,? she adds, ?I hate ugly ads!?

For Mishi del Rosario, a Communication Arts student from De La Salle University, ?We do pitches and ad campaigns all the time for our own classes. Except here, everyone seems to love their jobs, which isn?t the way we feel about our classes!,? she says, laughing.

Del Rosario says her participation in the program was not driven by the need to complete mandated OJT requirements.

?I couldn?t pass up the chance to be get some training from BBDO,? she explains.

?We also get to meet David Guerrero!? says a giggling female student. ?He is like the Brad Pitt of advertising,? says another.

There?s a cash prize of P10,000 for the team with the winning pitch. But for these students, the work experience and training are good enough reasons to junk their summer vacations for a stint in the office.