Episode #27
Stop Blending In: Advice For Your First Marketing Job
Your first marketing/advertising job, from a brand strategist who hires: how to stop blending in, pick the right boss, and answer "why should I hire you?" Andrew Butler spent 25 years in brand strategy at Chiat\Day, Hill Holliday, Arnold and Leo Burnett, was chief brand officer at Big Boy, and now teaches brand management at Northeastern, where he runs a personal brand program for students heading into co-ops and their first jobs. He wrote Fear The Familiar. He also hires, and he told me exactly what he hires for. We start with what a brand strategist actually does and the difference between branding, marketing and advertising (brand is why you exist, marketing is how you tell the story, and at Big Boy he pulled money out of marketing to retrain the staff first). Then the exercise he runs on every student: erase the names off the résumés and they all read the same, so what makes one of you different than the next? He walks through how to introduce yourself by how you see the world, what to post on LinkedIn when you are scared to post anything, the self-audit that finds what you are known for, and whether a career coach is worth the money. The back half is first-job advice. Pick the person you will learn from over the brand on the door. Move on after two or three years. Why his political science degree did not decide his career. The number one soft skill if you ever want to lead. And why he tells students to put their phones down and skip the marketing books. Watch next: What 25 Recruiters Say Actually Gets You Hired In Marketing & Advertising https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d63P9jjWqWs CHAPTERS 0:00 Meet Andrew Butler, brand strategist and Northeastern professor 0:41 What does a brand strategist do? Brand before marketing 0:52 Branding vs marketing vs advertising, in one line 2:20 Big Boy pulled its marketing budget to fix the restaurant first 5:09 Building a personal brand as a young marketer 6:11 The résumé test: erase the names and they all read the same 8:28 Introduce yourself by how you see the world 11:06 Scared to post on LinkedIn? Have a point of view 15:28 The Breaks: Andrew's personal brand program for students 19:16 Is a career coach worth it? The self-audit 22:58 Is the book too aggressive for this generation? 28:31 Where students fall short: don't ask for the playbook 31:44 First marketing job advice: pick the person you will learn from 33:08 Two or three years in a first marketing job, then find the next mentor 36:22 Does your major matter? Pre-law to advertising 39:43 The number one soft skill for your first marketing job 41:12 Put your phone down and talk to people 44:20 Marketing books are stupid; go learn culture Connect with Andrew Butler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theandrewbutler/ Andrew's book, Fear The Familiar: https://www.clutchworkshop.com/fearthefamiliar Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/broxten-davis Follow the show on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebroxtendigitalshow Subscribe to get more actionable advice from the best in advertising & marketing. #FirstMarketingJob
