One Day, One Job » marketing

Forrester Research

Willy Franzen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:54:47 +0000

I’m sure that you’ve heard plenty of people bemoan the fact that it’s nearly impossible to get users to pay for online content. Most people wouldn’t pay a single dollar to read a wonderful article from The New York Times. Maybe this will change eventually, but for now the “freeconomy” is giving many content producers fits. Some people who aren’t having a problem are the folks at Cambridge, MA based Forrester Research. They’re “an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology,” and they consistently get people to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for their content. Most of the reason for this is the fact that they’re often selling to corporate clients who are a lot less price sensitive than individual users, but it’s still impressive. Buying research done by Forrester is a lot cheaper than doing the research yourself, so it’s a smart investment. That’s why Forrester Research was able to generate nearly a quarter billion dollars in revenue in 2008.

Research Pays

You’re probably wondering what kind of research Forrester does and why it’s so lucrative. It’s really all over the place (as long as it relates to business and/or technology). For $499 you can buy a report on The All-Wireless Campus: A Westmont College Case Study or a Western European Online Retail Forecast, 2009 To 2014. And at the $1,749 price point you can read up on The State Of Consumers And Technology: Benchmark 2009, Canada. If you’re only willing to spend $250 you may want to attend a teleconference on How To Use Twitter For Customer Service or Global Banking Platform Deals 2009. If you want to get a taste for yourself, and you’re not ready to pull out the credit card, then you should probably take a look at Forrester’s free research.

If you find some of the reports fascinating and not boring, then you should probably consider a Career at Forrester Research. They’ve won a lot of awards, and they seem to be using social media as a big part of their recruiting. Their current openings (in Cambridge unless otherwise noted) include: Web Developer, Sales Development Specialist – Selling to Technology Vendor Professionals (London, UK), Research Associate (also in London and New York), Events Coordinator, Database Marketing Associate, Client Relations Specialist (San Francisco, CA), Citations Specialist, Briefings Specialist – Client Services, and Billing Specialist. There are a lot of options for new and recent grads, and they’re a great alternative to hanging around in academia. Forrester’s research locations include Dallas, TX; Foster City, CA; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC; Amsterdam, NL; London, UK; Frankfurt, Germany; and Paris, France; while they have even more sales centers, so be on the look out for more positions in those locations. And if you want an inside look at what a Research Analyst does, here’s a great blog post on the topic.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you ever read a Forrester report for pleasure reading?

General Mills

Willy Franzen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:51:47 +0000

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In past years we’ve looked at Shamrock Boats and Luck Stone to celebrate the holiday, but today we’re going to take a look at jobs with Minneapolis, MN based General Mills because there’s no more authentic Irish breakfast than Lucky Charms. Now, it’s been a while since I last had a bowl of everybody’s favorite marshmallow-filled cereal—ok, it’s been a month—but it feels like it’s been much longer. Beyond Lucky Charms, General Mills’ brands include Cheerios, Pillsbury, Gushers, Haagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Cascadian Farm, and many more names that you’ll recognize from the center aisles in the grocery store. Most of them may have nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, but add some green food coloring if that’s what you’re really concerned about.

Work at the Mills

There’s not much more to say about General Mills. Their focus is on their 100+ brands, and that’s what makes them the world’s 6th largest food company. They hold the No. 1 or No. 2 position in nearly every category that they compete in, and their products are so ubiquitous that the average U.S. grocery shopper places at least one General Mills product in his or her cart every time he or she shops. Because General Mills is such a large company, they have a very strong Campus Recruiting Program. Unfortunately, their Campus Events Calendar indicates that most of their recruiting has passed. Typically they place new grads into the following areas:

Because the Campus Recruiting season has passed for General Mills, your best bet is to use their job search function to look for positions. There are certainly entry level positions available, so give it a look and hope for some St. Patrick’s day luck when you apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite General Mills brand?

Communispace

Willy Franzen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:43:37 +0000

We’re already working on new projects based on your feedback. If you want your voice heard, please take 3 minutes (seriously, it’s short) to complete our One Day, One Job survey.

As the preceding note indicates, I’ve been collecting user data over the past week to help me make the site more useful for you. So far the survey has received hundreds of responses, and there are a number of common themes that keep coming up. It’s amazing at how well an 8 question survey can tell me about what you guys want in a job search tool. For companies that need a little more than an 8 question survey, there’s Communispace, a Watertown, MA based market research company. Their name probably wouldn’t have made them too popular during the cold war, but fear of communism has been replaced with community building—which is what Communispace is all about.

Join the Communispace Community

Communispace works with some of the world’s biggest brands (like Pepsi, Hallmark, and Unilever) to build private online communities. These communities allow Communispace clients to interact directly with their customers. They can ask for insights, identify trends, test nearly anything, and build customer loyalty. As a business owner, I know how valuable all of those things are. Luckily, I already have a community of awesome users who are constantly giving me feedback. It isn’t so easy for huge brands. They need help, and Communispace offers an end to end solution. They provide the technology, the expertise, and the community management. The world of market research is changing as it gets cheaper and easier to reach customers en masse, and it seems that Communispace is at the forefront of this change. If you’d like to join them, check out their Jobs page. The most suitable positions for new grads are Associate Community Manager and Sales Operations Associate. There are also some technical/software jobs, but they don’t seem to be geared towards new grads. Most importantly, Communispace allows you to apply for an unlisted position, so you can do some research on their Team page and on LinkedIn to get a better sense of what kind of positions they offer but may not have posted.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you taken our survey yet?

RKS

Willy Franzen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:00:10 +0000

Apparently the hot dog is a killer. Who knew? I had heard that the preservatives in hot dogs might cause cancer, but I read yesterday in this Fast Company article that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently “called for the redesign of hot dogs” because of the choking hazard. One of the Academy’s doctors even went so far as to say that, “If you were to take the best engineers in the world and asked them to design a perfect plug for a child’s airway, you couldn’t do better than a hot dog.” The article went on to discuss how RKS, a Thousand Oaks, CA based industrial design firm, was playing with ideas on how to redesign the hot dog. That’s a big task to bite off, but RKS was able to come up with some pretty cool concepts in their brainstorming. It shows why they can claim companies like Apple, Coca-Cola, Nissan, and HP as clients.

Bite Off More Than You Can Chew at RKS

Despite their work on sausage design (did I ever mention that I took a Meat Science course in college?), RKS actually isn’t usually focused on food. While they seem willing to work on any type of project, their areas of focus include: Product Definition, Consumer Research, Market Analysis, Brand Strategy, Brand Communications, Industrial Design, Engineering, Prototyping, Human Factors, User Interface, Manufacturing Liaison, Packaging Design, Web Design, Channel Strategy, and Experience Design. RKS says that they “create designs that harmonize function, aesthetics, and emotions,” and that’s the key to what they call Psycho-Aesthetics®. Those are all nice words, but to really see what it all means you need to look at RKS’s portfolio and case studies. The RKS website is filled with great information about them, so you should definitely spend some time getting to know what their business is about. Once you do that, you can check out their Jobs page. They don’t post any positions on there, but they do allow you to apply for a job in the following areas: Industrial Design, Design Strategy, Graphic Design, Engineering/Innovation, Project Management, Model Shop, and Business Development. I’m not sure what it takes to get an entry level job at RKS, but you can be sure that you have to be very good at what you do. In addition to their web submission form, you can also reach out to RKS about employment opportunities at careers@rksdesign.com or by contacting Amalia Azzam Human Resources at amalia@rksdesign.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

How would you redesign the hot dog?

Zinch

Willy Franzen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:46:38 +0000

If you’ve been in the job search for very long, you’d probably do anything to go back to Senior year of high school when you were applying to college. It’s not that the admissions process is particularly fun, but at least it has a set timeline and a fixed set of options. Still, there’s plenty of room for improvement. That’s why there are quite a few young entrepreneurs who have built companies that aim to make the college process better, just like I’m doing with the entry level job and internship searches. One of these companies is San Francisco based Zinch, which was founded by Mick Hagen, a Princeton dropout. They’ve created a social network that allows high school students to connect with the colleges that they want to attend. There are more than 700 colleges and universities that invest in Zinch, which is why more than 1.5 million students have created Zinch profiles to show off to admissions counselors and to apply for scholarships and financial aid packages.

Getting a Job Is a Zinch

Zinch’s motto is simple: “I am more than a test score.” They’re all about helping students make their case for why they’re a great fit at a given institution of higher learning. It’s the anti-common app. But what about Zinch’s business model? How does it work? Well, Zinch is free for students, but colleges must pay an annual fee to connect with students. This may seem strange to you, but you have to remember that colleges are essentially businesses, and they need a constant flow of customer. While schools like Harvard and Princeton constantly have way more qualified applicants than spots in their Freshman classes, most colleges aren’t so lucky. They need to market themselves to students. Traditionally they’ve done this by inundating the mailboxes of high school juniors and seniors based on data from standardized test scores. (Side story: My mom forced me to check the “do not mail me” box on all of my testing stuff, so I felt left out when all of my friends were getting recruited and nobody was sending me anything.) Zinch thinks that’s a poor model, so they’ve stepped it up a bit. They’ve created a new marketing platform for colleges, and it seems to be working out pretty well.

This means that Zinch is growing and hiring. If you check out their Jobs page, you’ll see that they are looking for people in Engineering/Software Development, Sales/Marketing, Internet/Search Marketing, Graphic Design, Public Relations, and Videography/Cinematography. To apply for any of these positions, you need to e-mail work@zinch.com with the following:

1) An attachment of your resumé/CV
2) Answers to the following questions:
+ If you could change/add one thing about Zinch, what would it be and why?
+ How would you move Mount Fuji?
+ What are three things you want to accomplish before you die?
+ What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done (crazy can be defined as, for example, dangerous, silly, stupid, etc)?

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you wish that you had Zinch when you were in high school?

Rosetta

Willy Franzen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:31:08 +0000

I got a tip on this one from a fellow Cornellian (which is cool because a few of my friends from Cornell work at Rosetta). If you ever find a company that you think that we should feature, e-mail me at willy@onedayonejob.com. We feature a lot of interactive marketing agencies because they’re usually pretty big on hiring young talent whether it be at the intern or entry level. Rosetta stands out because of their size and sophistication—they almost seem more like a consulting firm than a marketing agency, at least in the way that they present themselves. For instance, they recently become a “top ten interactive agency” by means of an acquisition. That seems so different from the image that most agencies try to portray, but it’s working. Through “dedication to client work within Consumer Products & Retail, Healthcare, Financial Services, Consumer Technology & Media, B2B, and Travel & Hospitality industries” Rosetta “has created enduring partnerships with [their] clients including Scholastic, Coach, Borders, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Nationwide, Marriott and Microsoft.” Those are huge names, so you know Rosetta, which is headquartered in Princeton with offices in New York, Cleveland, Boston, Chicago, and Denver, is capable of delivering results.

Relationships Matter

One of Rosetta’s key offerings is their suite of Relationship Marketing Services, which are focused on helping clients segment customers and offer “intelligent, personalized interactions across all online and offline channels.” This is just one part of the story, though. To get the full story on Rosetta’s offerings, you should take a look at this diagram. It shows how Rosetta walks clients through the marketing process—from creating the top-level strategy to using analytics to measure results. This means it’s not surprising that Rosetta’s job offerings are as varied as their service offerings—their Careers page is titled “Graphic Design Careers, SEO Jobs, and Financial Services Consulting Opportunities at Rosetta.”

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, Rosetta seems to have a strong connection with Cornell (and probably quite a few other colleges) based on campus recruiting. Interestingly enough, Rosetta doesn’t really have a campus recruiting page—just a profile of a new grad who went to work for them. From there you can find their job search function, which is pretty terrible. It does appear to let you search for specifically entry level positions; however, there are at least 3 different queries that you can use, and they all seem to deliver different results. Your best bet is to look at their full list of job openings, or to look for positions like Recent Graduate Business Associate, Recent Graduate Technology Associate, Associate Consultant, Account Executive, Technology Associate, User Interface/Rich Media Developer, Recent Graduate Business Analyst, and quite a few others. The way that Rosetta lists their jobs is really a mess, so you need to take note that different jobs with the same title may be in different practice areas. Additionally, single job postings may be for multiple locations. They do have some nice pages on their Careers site like Meet Our People and Fun at Rosetta, but the whole thing is disorganized. I expect a lot better from a top ten agency. You can apply online for any of these positions, so forgive Rosetta for the lack of usability on their Careers site and see if you can help them move further up the top ten.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Were you looking Rosetta Stone’s jobs?

Organic

Willy Franzen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:04:24 +0000

I hope the title of today’s post didn’t make you hungry, because we’re not talking about jobs in organic food. Organic is a San Francisco based interactive marketing agency with a brand that has gained a lot of keyword competition over the past 16 years. Yes, people were eating organic back in 1994, but the word wasn’t nearly as common as it is today. Doing research on Organic is tough because the organic search results (excuse my SEO pun) have all kinds of other stuff in them (at least they own Organic.com). Either Google needs to get inside my head to discern my intent, or Organic is going to have to hope that artificial packaged, processed foods go back in vogue. Ok, enough of my ripping on their name—Organic was ranked by AdWeek as the #1 interactive agency in 2007. That fits in perfectly with my impression of Organic from browsing their website and looking at their work. In fact, I’m blown away by how good Organic’s website is. It’s easy to use, it’s full of information, and it’s gorgeously designed. Their corporate mantra is “Exceptional Experience,” and they certainly live up to it.

Live Organic

I’ve found that interactive agencies sometimes go too far with their websites. They get too fancy and end up making an unusable piece of garbage. The way Organic has built their website shows that they’re good at what they do. Beyond San Francisco Organic also has locations in New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Toronto. The company’s clients include Bank of America, Jeep, Nike, Guitar Center, and plenty more. I could tell you more about Organic, but you’re much better off visiting their website, because it does a great job of telling their story. Organic even does a great job with their Careers site—they even make a usually crappy applicant tracking system look good. The interesting thing about Organic is that most of their 40 job openings are at pretty Senior levels. Their only real entry level job is Interactive Strategist (San Francisco). You might also want to check out Contributor Mktg Intelligence (Detroit), Associate Producer (San Francisco), Associate Delivery Management (San Francisco), and Recruiter (Toronto), but they all require some prior experience. You can apply online for any of these positions, and you can also submit a résumé for general consideration (this might be the best tactic, as they do list college recruiting as one of their sources). Finally, Organic seems to allow new grads in their paid internship program, so that might be another option.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Organic’s name?

NetJets

Willy Franzen — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:36:24 +0000

If I ever make a ridiculous amount of money, the first thing that I’m going to do is buy a private jet—or at least a share in one. It seems like the ultimate way to travel. I’ve been on private planes before, but they had propellers and I was sitting next to or right behind the pilot (not nearly as classy). NetJets is a company that allows wealthy individuals and businesses to buy shares in private jets (since who really needs an entire jet to himself or herself?). They also have a subscription service called MarquisJet that lets you get a guaranteed number of hours of private jet use. It may not make private air travel affordable or cost effective, but it certainly puts it within reach for a lot more people. NetJets is by far the market leader, and they’re also a Berkshire Hathaway company. You know if Warren Buffett is investing in it, it has to be pretty good. NetJets is based in Columbus, OH, but quite obviously they operate all over the world.

Be a NetJetter

Even Warren Buffett thinks that private jet travel is a ridiculous luxury, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a customer and then buying the company when the time was right. The truth is that commercial airline travel is a pain in the butt, and many people will pay exorbitant costs to avoid it. Even if energy costs get continue to grow, you have to like the future of NetJets. Assuming that you aren’t morally opposed to private air travel, you should check out NetJets’s Jobs page. It’s split in to three sections: Pilots, Flight Attendants, and Corporate Positions. We’ll look at the latter since that’s most likely to have good fits for new grads. There are 15 jobs posted right now, and a few appear to be suitable for new grads. These include IT Business Analyst, Prospect Development Specialist (Teetorboro, NJ), and Technical Marketing Analyst. You can apply online, but we can’t link you directly to the job descriptions because NetJets uses a crappy applicant tracking system.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever flown on a NetJet?

Dealer.com

Willy Franzen — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:03:16 +0000

I know that it sounds like a place to buy illicit substances, but Dealer.com is a legal operation as far as I know. They may operate in the underworld of search engine optimization, but so do I, and I’m not a sleaze bag or spammer. Dealer.com is a Burlington, VT based company that “has become the global leader in online marketing solutions for the automotive industry.” They provide a platform for car dealers to generate leads online. I’d imagine that Dealer.com is a direct competitor with Cobalt, a company that we featured back in January. It’s no surprise that automotive online marketing is a growing industry. Most car dealerships don’t have the resources to do online marketing themselves—cheesy tv commercials don’t translate to the web. So how do they reach the masses of people who are using search engines to aid in car buying decisions? They either build an internal online marketing division, hire a local agency that doesn’t know anything about the industry, or go to Dealer.com. Which decision do you think will sell the most cars?

See What You’re Dealt

The thing that really stands out about Dealer.com is their culture. They’re aiming to be the “most sought after automotive web solutions provider in the world,” and it’s very clear that they think that treating their people well will help them get there. Their “brand-new Green Certified Corporate headquarters has a 35,000 square foot fitness facility and in-house organic cafe,” and they offer half-off ski passes at local mountains. It’s the epitome of a cool place to work, which is why they probably keep racking up awards. This attitude is also reflected in the way that Dealer.com does recruiting. I randomly came across the company’s website last night, and it turns out that they’re having a big recruiting event today at the Sheraton in Burlington. I realize that you probably won’t be able to make it, but you can watch the event live at 6 PM EST today on their Careers page. It’s a recruiting tactic that I haven’t seen before, and I really like it. You can tell that they’re serious about talent. There are plenty of job openings at Dealer.com, so if you can’t login to the event, check out the following positions: Billing Specialist, Marketing Graphic Designer, Jr. Graphic Designer, Web Developer, SEO Analyst, SEM Analyst, Product Training Evangelist, and Javascript Developer. You can apply online for any of these positions, so get to it. I’m sure the event today is going to make it very competitive for a lot of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any companies run live events for recruiting like Dealer.com?

The Economist

Willy Franzen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:00:13 +0000

I’ll admit it, I don’t read The Economist regularly, but plenty of my friends do—mostly the smart ones. It’s a magazine (they call themselves a newspaper, but you’d likely identify it as a magazine) that stands apart from other periodicals in a variety of ways. It’s not the topics that they cover—they offer both news coverage and analysis and opinion on business and politics—it’s more the way that they cover those topics. The most interesting thing about The Economist is the fact that all of their articles are written anonymously. It’s about “a belief that what is written is more important than who writes it,” but you have to like the fact that anonymity allows the writers the freedom that they need to address topics in the ways that they should be addressed. The Economist is all about free trade and free markets, yet it “considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability.” The Economist is based in London, but they are very much an international business and magazine.

Put the Free Market to Work

I can’t imagine that you could take a job with The Economist without being an avid reader. If you’re already one, then I’m sure that you’re chopping at the bit to see what kind of jobs they have available, and if you aren’t, then you better go pick up a copy or start browsing their website. You’re certain to find yourself challenged in a way that you never have been before. Not only does The Economist’s approach make them stand out editorially, but it also makes them stand out as a business. While many huge names in the print media are struggling—the New York Times is a perfect example, The Economist continues to thrive and grow. This article from PaidContent.org goes into more detail about The Economist’s economic successes, which are even more impressive considering that their parent company (half owner) Financial Times is struggling. So what about those jobs? The Economist has job offerings all across the world, but we’re going to focus on their US based opportunities, which are mostly located in New York City. Potential entry level opportunities include UI Developer, Account Executive – EIU Enterprise Subscription Sales (Chicago, IL), Distribution Customer Service Analyst, Integrated Marketing Coordinator, and Drupal Developer. All of the jobs look really interesting, and you can apply by using the HR contact info on The Economist’s site. If you’re looking for a job on the editorial side, I’m sure that you have your work cut out for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Economist?

Appalachian Mountain Club

Willy Franzen — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:17:54 +0000

I don’t know if you’ve ever spent anytime on the Appalachian Trail, but if you haven’t, you should. The trail stretches from Georgia to Maine, while the range of mountains touches as far south as Alabama and as far north as Newfoundland. It’s 1,500 miles of natural beauty that is prime territory for naturalists and adventurers. Back in 1876 there was a club called the Appalachian Mountain Club started in Boston for people who enjoyed the range. Now the club consists of more than 12 chapters and 100,000 members—it’s the “nation’s oldest outdoor recreation and conservation organization.” They’re still based in Boston, and they’ve developed into a non-profit that promotes “the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region.”

Outdoor Enthusiasts Wanted

The work that the Appalachian Mountain Club varies greatly. They fight for conservation, educate people on safe outdoors practices, maintain trails, and put on more than 8,000 trips a year. It’s a great organization that spans many different interest groups—it’s not just the hikers or the birdwatchers or the fisherman. It’s for everybody who loves being outdoors in the Appalachians. The scope of their work is really impressive, and if you want to be a part of it, you should check out the AMC’s Jobs page. Full-time opportunities include Web Production Associate and Senior Online Marketing Associate (it’s pretty entry level if you have a background in online marketing), which are both based in Boston, along with Hospitality Coordinator in Bretton Woods, NH and Storehouse Supervisor in Gorham, NH. There are also seasonal opportunities in Trail Crew type positions in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. The application instructions vary by position, so look at the specific postings for details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you spent any time in the Appalachians?

OkCupid

Willy Franzen — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:53:55 +0000

I probably should have done this post last week in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, but I still think it’s worth talking about New York City based OkCupid today. They’re a free online dating site that matches people based on what they say they find important. Since I’m not looking, I don’t usually come across dating sites in my daily Internet travels, but OkCupid keeps popping up. Most of the time it’s because of their brilliant blog called OkTrends. It has some amazing posts that analyze the data generated by OkCupid’s users. Previous articles have covered topics like profile pictures and how race affects online dating outcomes. It’s really impressive and interesting stuff. OkCupid is actually run by a company called Humor Rainbow, but that website redirects to OkCupid.com, so it’s clear where their priorities are.

OkJobs

Most paid online dating sites spend boatloads of money on advertising for customer acquisition. If you were watching tv last week, you probably saw tons of online dating ads. All of that advertising is expensive, which is why these sites typically charge money. OkCupid has a very different strategy. They use viral marketing strategies like writing great content on their blog and generating quizzes that are fun to share with friends. They also focus heavily on search engine optimization. OkCupid is able to acquire users much more cheaply than other dating sites, so they’re able to allow you to contact matches for free. How do they make money? Selling advertising and offering premium features. At this point they seem to be running off of venture capital investment, but they are growing and will hopefully become profitable in the near future. If you’d like to be a part of that ambition, then you should reach out to the folks at OkCupid and see how you’ll fit in. They don’t have job postings, but their Contact page encourages people who are “very smart, hard-working, and willing to live in New York City” to reach out to them at hr@okcupid.com. They might have positions on the Marketing or Business Development side, but they are almost definitely interested in high performing web developers.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you tried OkCupid?

Joby

Willy Franzen — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:31:23 +0000

Whenever I get a new Facebook friend, he or she usually tells me that I have way too many pictures of me fishing. Since I let go nearly all of the fish that I catch, I love snapping a quick picture before the release—it gives me bragging material. That’s why I consider it important to have a fishing buddy who also knows how to take a decent photo. The problem is that I still spend a lot of time fishing alone, and trying to take a self-picture with a fish in the other hand is extremely awkward. Luckily I discovered the Gorillapod, a small tripod that has flexible legs that wrap around nearly anything. It’s a fishing buddy that fits in vest’s pocket. The Gorillapod is made by Joby, a San Francisco based company, and it really is an ingenious product—it takes all of the hassle out of lugging around a tripod.

Putting the Job in Joby

Joby is still a relatively small company, but they’re expanding their products lines by filling new niches with the same idea and technology. They have a Gorillatorch, which is a handsfree flashlight, and a Gorillamobile, which will allow you to attach your iPhone to nearly anything. The former is perfect for working in dark places when you need both hands, while the latter will let you use your phone as an in-car navigation system. I’m not sure which market Joby will go after next, but it seems safe to say that they’re continuing to focus on growing their business. Their Jobs page doesn’t go into much detail about what type of positions they have available, but it does say this:

Joby is always in search of curious individuals who think differently and are willing to break boundaries and disrupt convention. If you are razor sharp, enthusiastic, entrepreneurial and fanatical about the consumer experience, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line at jobs@joby.com and let us know a little about what makes you tick and how you would contribute to Joby.

I did find one job posting that was listed as entry level on one job board, but the description says it requires 3-5 years of experience. You can find the full description here.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own a Gorillapod?

Tough Mudder

Willy Franzen — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:00:58 +0000

In the world of startups, hardcore usually means eating ramen for 17 meals straight, working 100 hour weeks, and sleeping under your desk. That’s not the case with Tough Mudder—that kind of lifestyle will prevent you from finishing their races. What races? The most hardcore races known to man. Tough Mudder was “launched because there is not a race in America that tests toughness, fitness, strength, stamina and mental grit all in one place and all in one day.” There will be soon. The team at New York City’s Tough Mudder doesn’t think much of marathons or even ironmans. They want something that puts the human body and mind to the ultimate test in one day and one location. They haven’t quite nailed down what this race will look like, but I think the pictures on their website will give you a good idea of what they have in mind.

Are You A Tough Mudder?

Tough Mudder was an idea that came out of a Harvard Business School Business Plan Competition, and now they’re putting it into action with a plan to put on 3 events this year and 12 in 2011. The business side of Tough Mudder seems to consist of two components: sponsorships and event fees. According to their business plan, they think that putting on 20 races over the next 5 years will be a $20+ million opportunity. To achieve that they’re going to need to grow their team, and that’s, obviously, why I’m talking about them here. Tough Mudder isn’t quite ready to commit to making full-time hires, but they have some intern-to-hire opportunities that seem like great options for new grads. You can find the posting here (not on their Jobs page). You’ll see that they’re looking for people in PR/Marketing, Sponsorships, Event Planning, and Web Design/Graphics. You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to jobs@toughmudder.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Would you run a Tough Mudder race?

Demand Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:39:28 +0000

I’m sure that you’ve heard a lot in the news about how traditional media companies are having trouble taking their business models online. You may be under the impression that making money from web content is near impossible, but there’s a dirty little secret: it’s not. While companies like the New York Times stick to editorial integrity and chasing Pulitzers, there are companies out there that craft their content with the sole purpose of making money. A perfect example is Santa Monica, CA based Demand Media. They’ve secured more than $355 million in venture capital funding, grown annual revenue to more than $200 million annually, and reached a valuation north of $1 billion all by taking an ROI based approach to content development. How does that work? Demand Media has developed an algorithm that helps them find profitable topics. By using data from Google AdWords, they’re able to estimate the demand for a given piece of content (example: an article and video on how to tie your shoes) along with the revenue that the yet to be developed piece of content could be expected to make given a certain number of pageviews.

Demand a Job

This may sound unsavory to some of the writers out there, but I’d imagine the business students are in awe. Demand Media delivers their content through a number of web properties, and some of these include eHow, Cracked, and Livestrong.com. In addition to distributing profitable content across their web properties, Demand Media also licenses some of the social media tools that they’ve developed internally to other businesses. One of the amazing things that I learned about Demand Media while researching them is that they publish approximately 4,000 articles and videos every day. Demand Media is YouTube’s largest contributor, and the number of pageviews that they’re driving across their network is staggering. They’re able to develop so much content through an army of freelancers who work through a site called Demand Studios. If you’re a Writer, Filmmaker, or Copy Editor, that’s the first option for getting a “job” (it’s only freelance, and the rates are kind of low) through Demand Media. Your second option is to check out Demand Media’s Corporate Job offerings. They have a number of positions that seem suitable for new grads including HR Coordinator (Bellevue, WA), QA Engineer (Austin, TX), Marketing Associate (Bellevue, WA), QA Engineer (Santa Monica, CA), Algorithm Scientist (Austin, TX – PhDs only), Account Manager (Bellevue, WA), and Web Developer/Graphic Designer (Austin, TX). You can apply online for any of these positions, but before you do, take an hour to learn more about Demand Media—there’s a ton of information available about them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Demand Media’s business model?

Invodo

Willy Franzen — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:53:59 +0000

Video is an amazing sales tool. It’s able to show you exactly what you’re buying and how it works. The only thing better is an in-person demonstration, and those are far too expensive for most products. Now that online video capabilities are pretty much ubiquitous, we’re seeing more and more companies adopt video as part of their sales process. More and more product pages have an embedded video along with all of the stuff you normally expect to find on an e-commerce site. Invodo is the company that is often behind these videos. They’re a three year old company based in Austin, TX, and they offer “a full-service eCommerce video solution that drives conversion for retailers, consideration for manufacturers, and satisfaction for consumers.” They work with more than 2,500 manufacturers and retailers including Sony, New Balance, Toys “R” Us, and plenty more major brands.

Video That Sells

If you want to take a look at the type of video that Invodo offers, all you have to do is check out their home page. It’s loaded with samples of work that they’ve done. Invodo offers a full solution for their clients. This includes content production, a platform for delivery, and a network for distribution. Surprisingly they don’t seem to have a video about themselves—you’d think that would be a key part of their sales process. They also don’t have a video about their Careers, but they’re a small company so that’s understandable. Their Jobs page only shows one position right now, and it’s for an Enterprise Salesperson. The position seems perfectly suited to a new grad, and it seems to be more Sales & Marketing than just Sales. To apply send your cover letter and résumé to careers@invodo.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Has video influenced your purchasing decisions?

Fantazzle

Willy Franzen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:47:34 +0000

It’s a tough time of year for fantasy sports enthusiasts. The football season is over, and it’s still a bit early to be preparing for your fantasy baseball draft. There’s hockey and basketball, but they’re right in the middle of their seasons. The excitement of the draft is long gone, and the playoffs are still too far away. You need an outlet for all of that fantasy sports energy, and Arlington, VA based Fantazzle might be the perfect outlet. They’ve only been on the scene for a couple years, but they’ve already been acknowledged by The New York Times’ Fifth Down Blog as having the most accurate preseason fantasy football rankings for the 2008 season. I haven’t played any of their games, but it appears that they run weekly games instead of full season games. It’s for players who don’t the attention span to last a whole season (or maybe players who get discouraged by being in last place after a couple weeks).

Dazzle at Fantazzle

When I first came across Fantazzle, I had a few hesitations about featuring them. The only games that they have available today are fantasy golf and fantasy racing. The site also doesn’t seem to be generating much traffic, which means that they’re probably not generating much revenue. They are, however, an early stage startup, and they received $352,000 in funding over the past few months. They do a charge a fee for some games and they do offer cash prizes (hopefully that’s not considered gambling by the government), so they do seem to have a business model that will scale nicely. Despite my hesitations, I think it would be pretty cool to work at a fantasy sports startup. Fantazzle’s Jobs page shows that they’re looking for a Fantasy Sports Social Media Professional. The salary is pretty low, but there you’ll get flexibility (they’ll let you work virtually) along with some perks. You can apply online, but you’ll probably want to do a little more digging to get the full read on where Fantazzle is going first.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you play fantasy sports?

Knewton

Willy Franzen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:45:31 +0000

You thought that you were done with test prep, but now the economy is in a rough spot and the job market is kind of weak. You’re thinking about grad school, and that means doing the standardized test thing all over again. Luckily, things have changed since you took the SAT or ACT. The one size fits all approach of classroom instruction is out, and “adaptive learning” delivered through an online platform is in. Knewton is a New York City based startup that is one of the leading innovators in the test prep market. They seem to be mostly focused on the graduate school test prep market, although they do offer an SAT prep course too (PrepMe is a similar company that focuses only on pre-undergraduate test prep). Knewton is not only focused on improving the quality of test prep results, but they’re also working hard to make test prep more affordable and more interactive.

Get a Knew Job

Knewton’s key point of differentiation from other test prep companies that provide online courses is its adaptive learning technology. While “traditional classrooms and textbooks provide the same material to every student, Knewton dynamically matches lessons, videos, and practice problems to each student’s ideal learning arc.” Along with the technology, they’re matching their students up with top notch teacher who provide both live and on-demand video instruction. The test prep market is huge, and Knewton is primed to take a big bite out of it. They’re well funded and have a leadership team with a ton of industry experience. They appear to be a growing company, and growing companies usually have jobs. Knewton is no exception. Their Jobs page shows 10 openings, and a number of them seem suitable for new grads. These positions include Interactive Visual Designer, Content Developer, Jr. Machine Learning Specialist, XHTML/CSS/JS Front-end Developer, Online Marketing Analyst, and maybe even Teacher. You can apply online for any of these positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you plan on ever taking a standardized test again?

Advertising Research Foundation

Willy Franzen — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:43:27 +0000

I’m always amazed with the diversity of the non-profits that I come across. Yes, there is a lot of redundancy in the non-profit world, but I swear that you can find an organization for every idea, interest group, and cause. Take Advertising Research Foundation for example. They are a New York City based organization that aims “to improve the practice of advertising, marketing and media research in pursuit of more effective marketing and advertising communications.” They bring together people from all areas of marketing to promote collaboration and the open exchange of ideas. The ARF (as they’re often called) spends significant resources on developing new research and publishing it in the Journal of Advertising Research. They also put on all kinds of events and run councils on a variety of different advertising niches.

ARF! ARF!

Advertising Research Foundation may not be out to save the world, but that doesn’t mean that their work isn’t important. They drive industry standards and work to push forward the quality of the art of advertising. The ARF’s members “include more than 400 advertisers, advertising agencies, associations, research firms and media companies,” so they really are representing the greater advertising community—not just a small subset of it. If you’re intrigued by what The ARF does, you should head over to their Jobs page. Right now there’s only one position posted that might be suitable for new or recent grads (and it’s a bit more advanced than entry level). They’re looking for a Membership Marketing & Research Project Manager. You can apply online, and you should also note that The ARF offers quite a few paid internships, so they do seem to put a high value on young talent.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Advertising Research Foundation’s FAQ

What have you heard about Advertising Research Foundation?

AD:60

Willy Franzen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:55:44 +0000

I’m not sure if it’s a trend yet, but it seems that more and more creative/interactive agencies are moving away from client work and spending more time developing products. 37signals used to be a web design agency, and now they develop web-based applications that help people get things done. Brooklyn, NY based AD:60 appears to be taking a similar path. They’re still putting a strong emphasis on their client work, but they also seem to have a lot of interest in developing their own products. The agency’s offerings include Web Design, Website Development, Mobile Technology, Marketing & Advertising, and Consulting, while their current internal projects include MyBankTracker.com and BankTwitter.com.

You:60

AD:60’s name comes from the philosophy that you often only have 60 seconds of opportunity and that “the best ideas and concepts can be communicated through the rapid visual medium without compromising quality.” Although they don’t have a portfolio to show how they’ve expressed this philosophy for clients, you can see it in MyBankTracker and BankTwitter. I like BankTwitter because it’s such a simple concept: it pulls in tweets about the customer service at different banks. You can easily browse these tweets to see which bank will best fit your needs or how you can fix a problem that other people are having with your bank. MyBankTracker is a bit more complex, but it still shows how strong visuals make all the difference. The goal of the site is to provide an “interactive financial information hub featuring bank reviews, financial news feeds and consumer-driven financial help,” and it does just that. If you like what you see on both sites, you should take a look at this PDF that gives the full scoop on AD:60 (the PDF has already been updated to include an iPad in it!) and then
head over to their Jobs page. They’re mostly focused on recruiting Software Engineers and Designers, although I bet a new grad with a Marketing/Advertising/Communications background could sneak in with the right pitch. To apply for a position, reach out to them at jobs@ad60.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of MyBankTracker and BankTwitter?

Grafik

Willy Franzen — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:51:19 +0000

Design matters. It’s the reason that Apple can sell devices that essentially do the same thing as those of their competitors for a significant premium. It’s the reason that you choose to trust one website over another. It’s the reason that you buy brands. Yes, functionality matters too, but that’s a given. Grafik gets it. They’re an Alexandria, VA based integrated marketing agency that appears to put a heavy focus on visual design. Their main service offerings are brand strategy, integrated communications, and interactive marketing, but it’s very obvious from looking at their website (and their name) that graphic design is a key part of what makes Grafik successful. Browsing through a gallery of their work only confirms this.

Are You Grafikly Inclined?

My one beef with Grafik is that their website puts design way ahead of function. They may impress with design, but their use of Flash makes it impossible for me to link to specific pages. Additionally, their Clients page has some sort of flaw that makes the content disappear almost immediately. Still, the experience on Grafik’s website is impressive—it explains why they have clients like the AARP and Accenture (I was able to spot those before the list disappeared). You’ll have to browse around their site to get a feel for what they’re all about. After you do that, you can navigate to their Careers section by clicking the About link. They don’t provide job descriptions, but I’d imagine that the Junior Designer and possibly the Interactive Designer positions are most suitable for new grads. You can apply by sending a cover letter, résumé, and link to your portfolio to careers@grafik.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Grafik’s website?

Datran Media

Willy Franzen — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:51:25 +0000

Happy MLK Day! For last year’s holiday we featured jobs at The King Center, so check those out. Today’s company has nothing to do with MLK, so instead of trying to make a tenuous connection, I’m going to jump right in. Datran Media is a New York City based digital marketing technology company. They help “advertisers, publishers and agencies manage their branding, acquisition, retention and monetization campaigns across multiple channels.” They started as an e-mail marketing company back in 2001, and since then they’ve expanded into a number of different business areas. Datran Media has worked with huge names like NASCAR, eHarmony, The Ad Council, and Microsoft. To get a better feel for what Datran Media does, you may want to check out these case studies of award winning campaigns that they’ve done for the PGA Tour and Sony.

Acquire. Retain. Monetize. Measure.

Although you will see the word “branding” pop up occasionally on Datran Media’s website, it seems that their main focus is on performance based marketing. Their motto of “Acquire. Retain. Monetize. Measure.” really says it all. In fact, they may have been a little too results focused in the past. In 2006, Datran Media reached a $1.1 million settlement for sending out unsolicited e-mails. Obviously, that’s not good, but hopefully they’ve learned their lesson. Sometimes a small error can result in a major screw up in the world of digital marketing—the same attributes that cause that also make it exciting though. Considering that huge brands are still more than willing to work with Datran Media, you shouldn’t hesitate about considering a job with them (but do your research!). Unfortunately I can’t link to specific job postings because of their crappy applicant tracking system, but if you head here, you’ll be able to see what they have available. Positions like Application Support Analyst, Online Media Business Analyst, Quality Control Specialist – List Management, and Software Engineer are worth looking at. You can apply online once you find the job postings.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Heard anything about Datran Media?

Oxfam America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:56:53 +0000

Yesterday we took a look at one of the most familiar names associated with the Haiti Relief effort—the American Red Cross. This morning I came across a couple lists that shine a light on other organizations that are also putting a focus on Haiti. One is from U.S. News & World Report that discusses 10 Ways You Can Donate to Haitian Earthquake Victims, and the other is Haiti Earthquake—Best Ways to Assist in Providing Emergency Relief from the American Institute of Philanthropy, which rates charities involved with Haiti Relief. One of the organizations on both of those lists is Oxfam America, a Boston, MA based “international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice.” They already have teams delivering aid in Haiti, and you can find out all about what they’re doing their on their Haiti Earthquake page.

Relief for Your Job Search

Oxfam America’s work includes a good mix of ongoing projects and response to disasters and conflicts. The issues that they work on range from climate change to aid reform and from US public policy to indigenous & minority rights. Their recent emergency response work has focused on disasters like a flood in El Salvador and a cyclone in Bangladesh and India. The truth is that most disasters don’t get the media attention that the Haiti earthquake has, but that doesn’t stop Oxfam America from getting on the ground and providing aid. If Oxfam America sounds like the kind of organization that you’d like to join, then check out their Job postings. Current openings include Deployable Humanitarian Logistics Coordinator (Port-au-Prince, Haiti), Constituent Data Associate (Boston, MA), Administrative Assistant – Learning, Evaluation and Accountability (Boston, MA), Canvassing Organizer (Boston, MA), New Media Specialist (Boston, MA), and a number of other positions. You can apply by sending your cover letter and résumé to jobs@oxfamamerica.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you donated to Haiti relief?

WeTheCitizens

Willy Franzen — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:00:47 +0000

As someone who has just tweeted his 5,000th tweet, I have to say that I’m getting a little sick of all the buzz about social media. It’s not that I don’t think tools like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are valuable—if that was the case I wouldn’t be writing this right now—it’s just that too many people are forgetting that results, not tools, are most important. That’s why it’s cool to see a company like WeTheCitizens that is putting social media to work in a results-driven way. They’ve developed a platform to help “you recruit, mobilize, and track the effectiveness of your supporters.” Ok, YOU may not need something like that, but politicians, non-profit founders, and movie producers do. WeTheCitizens is an Atlanta based startup (with an office in DC) , and they’re going through a bit of an identity crisis right now (it’s not all that uncommon for startups). They’re very confident in their product—Wildfire Platform—but they’re apparently in the process of changing their name from WeTheCitizens to Mobilization Labs. To make it more confusing, a lot of the branding that they’re doing is for Wildfire Platform. If you can look past all of that, you’ll see a really cool company in its formative stages.

YouTheEmployee

I could try to explain to you what Wildfire Platform does, but luckily I don’t have to. WeTheCitizens has a YouTube video on their home page that does just that, and I’ve embedded it below for you (e-mail and RSS readers should click through to view):

Apparently Wildfire Platform “has been tested and proven across non-profits, movies, and political campaigns, including gubernatorial, senatorial, and even U.S. Presidential.” I’d love to see a full-blown case study of a success story, but it doesn’t look like WeTheCitizens/Mobilization Labs has one up yet. For now, that video will have to sate your appetite for information on Wildfire Platform—at least until you reach out to the team at WeTheCitizens. Although they don’t have a Jobs page yet, they recently posted on their blog about Paid Post-College Internships.

I don’t usually cover internships here, but I’m covering these since they’re paid and the post says: “We have multiple full-time positions we’re looking to fill that will open up at the end of the internship period. We’re pretty confident that the interns will get first dibs on those opportunities.” I basically see it as a temp or intern to hire arrangement. They’re looking for people to help in areas like Sales, Social Media, Social Networking, Marketing, but they’re not tied down to any specific positions. They just want “smart, web-savvy college graduates looking to jump in and start making a difference in a small, fast-growing internet startup.” If that’s you, then e-mail your cover letter, résumé, and references to Esther Weathers at esther@wethecitizens.com by January 20th.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which name do you like better WeTheCitizens, Wildfire, or Mobilization Labs?

Experience Project

Willy Franzen — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:56:40 +0000

Check out this week’s sponsor, New York City Teaching Fellows. They’re seeking new grads with no prior teaching experience or background in education to help make a difference in NYC’s public schools.

Do you have a secret? An embarrassing story? Maybe you have a real problem (like not having a job) or a health issue. It could just be something that you’re passionate about. If you have experiences that you want to share or you want to read about the experiences of other people, then Experience Project is the site for you. It’s a free web site that allows people across the world to share their experiences. It all started when Armen Berjikly, Experience Project’s founder, was inspired by a friend to build a support community for multiple sclerosis patients. It was so successful that Armen decided to expand the project so that it could serve everyone—it’s now “the first social network based upon who you are and not who you know.” The company is based in San Francisco, and according to their data and the data on Compete.com, they’re doing some pretty serious traffic.

Gain Some Experience at Experience Project

When I first discovered Experience Project, I instantly wondered what the business model was. After doing a little investigating, I realized how powerful targeted advertising to specific verticals can be. Even though users are able to maintain their anonymity on Experience Project, contextual advertising that matches up with a given Experience Project group should be extremely effective. I can’t say whether it is, but Experience Project’s Advertising page provides some more insight into what kind of advertising opportunities the site offers. If you’re intrigued by Experience Project’s different take on social networking, then you’ll want to check out their Jobs page. They have opportunities available in Business Development & Sales, Product Marketing (SEO and Analytics), Engineering & Product / Web Development, and Marketing & Community Management. They don’t go into too much depth about what kind of experience they’re looking for (despite their name), so I’d imagine it’s wide open for new grads to apply for these positions. To do that you should send “a cover letter specific to your arena of interest, your current résumé and up to three relevant work samples and / or links to portfolio work” to team@experienceproject.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you shared anything on Experience Project?

Cobalt

Willy Franzen — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:09:06 +0000

When I last bought a car in 2001, the best way to go about it was to stop by dealerships to see what they had in their inventory. I remember using the Internet to some extent, but it wasn’t all that helpful. Although I haven’t purchased a car since, I’m pretty sure that the web is playing a much larger role in the car buying decision process these days. That’s why Cobalt, a Seattle based company, is doing so well. They’re in the business of automotive marketing, and they made the Inc. 5000 last year with 134.0% three-year revenue growth to $168.4 million. Cobalt works with both dealers and manufacturers to “increase their retailing effectiveness and profits.” The company has been around since 1995, and it consists of three key subsidiaries: Dealix, UsedCars.com, and IntegraLink.

Drive Your Career in the Right Direction

The big reason that Cobalt has been so successful is that they were ready for the transition to digital marketing from the start. A lot of people in the automotive industry weren’t ready for a change in their business model, but luckily they have Cobalt to rely on for marketing. More than two thirds of auto manufacturers and one half of dealers in the US use Cobalt’s services in some capacity. Cobalt is a lot like a fully-integrated marketing agency in terms of the areas in which they work, but their business doesn’t appear to be quite as client focused (for instance they run a UsedCars.com—a destination site). If you’re intrigued by what Cobalt does, then you’ll want to take a look at their Careers page. It goes into a lot of detail about what it’s like to work at Cobalt, and then it will direct you to take a look at their job postings. There are lots of opportunities for new or recent grads including: Data Normalization Clerk (Columbus, OH), Technical Customer Support (Columbus, OH), Website Technical Support (Lynnwood, WA), Online Marketing Specialist (Lynnwood, WA), Technical Inside Sales (Redwood City, CA), Operations Analyst – Inventory (Seattle, WA), UI Web Developer (Seattle, WA), Build and Release Engineer (Seattle, WA), and Sales Operations Specialist (Seattle, WA).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

When is the last time that you bought a car?

Lunchbox

Willy Franzen — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:46:14 +0000

If you haven’t already checked out this week’s sponsor, New York City Teaching Fellows, take a look now. They’re recruiting new grads with no prior experience or education in teaching to teach in NYC public schools.

Although Twitter’s search results are getting filled with more and more junk, I’m still finding that Twitter is a pretty easy way to find jobs and internships that wouldn’t typically be on your radar. That’s how I came across Lunchbox, a Culver City, CA based “full-service agency that specializes in creating complete-branded content packages.” Since I have no idea what that actually means, I took a look at Lunchbox’s portfolio to get a better idea of what their work entails. Basically Lunchbox helps build brands by developing new ways for their clients to introduce their brands to customers. It may be creating stuffed animals for Discovery Channel or designing a magazine for CMT. Whatever the challenge is, Lunchbox brings an amazing creative team that has worked in the past with some of the world’s biggest brands.

What’s in Your Lunchbox?

My take on interactive agencies like Lunchbox is that the best way to judge whether you want to work for them is to look at their portfolio. Not only should you consider the names that they work with—Lunchbox has worked with Pepsi, Nick at Nite, Walmart, Warner Bros., and plenty more—but you should also look closely at what kind of work they put out. I’m impressed with what I see from Lunchbox, but it’s up to you to determine if you’d fit in with them. If you think you will, you should check out Lunchbox’s Jobs page. They have 7 positions open right now, and the most likely fits for new grads are Back-End Software Engineer, Front-End Software Engineer, Interactive Developer, QA Analyst, and Video Production Assistant. Lunchbox seems much more focused on talent than experience, so get ready to impress if you’re going to apply.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Lunchbox’s portfolio?

Jazz at Lincoln Center

Willy Franzen — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:56:13 +0000

I may not be into jazz, but I will readily admit that people who like jazz have better taste in music than I do. I don’t know why I feel that way, but jazz gives off an aura of being ultimately cool. You just can’t tell a jazz lover that he has bad taste in music. If you’re one of those people who is cooler than me, then I hope that you know about Jazz at Lincoln Center. It’s a New York City based non-profit arts organization that aims “to enrich the artistic substance and perpetuate the democratic spirit of America’s music.” Their mission is accomplished through four key strategies: Curatorial, Educational, Archival, and Ceremonial. Whether it’s producing and presenting performances or maintaining “a comprehensive library of original scores, transcriptions, arrangements, books and artifacts important to jazz,” Jazz at Lincoln Center is doing its best to promote the art.

Jazzy Jobs

Jazz at Lincoln Center is everything jazz. While most other genres of music are driven by commercial interests, it seems that jazz—along with classical music—is more tied to the arts scene than popular music. That’s why non-profits like Jazz at Lincoln Center play such a big role in promoting and preserving the art. If you’re a jazz lover and looking to work in the non-profit world, then you need to head over to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Jobs page. They have a number of seemingly entry level job openings that include Concert Marketing Assistant, Human Resources Assistant, and Production Assistant. There are also Usher positions available. The application instructions vary from job to job, so check out the individual job listings for all of the details.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a jazz lover?

VEE Corporation

Willy Franzen — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:09:01 +0000

One of my earliest memories is from Detroit’s Thanksgiving parade. I think that I was about 2 years old at the time, and I saw Oscar the Grouch on some sort of float. I don’t remember much more about the parade, but I remember that. I guess that I’m an experiential marketers dream since I managed to remember that over all of the other cool things that happened when I was two years old (another early memory was getting my head stuck between the bars on a McDonald’s playground—another branded memory). I think that the people at VEE Corporation would be especially happy to hear about my early memory since they’re the company behind Sesame Street Live. They’re a Minneapolis based firm that provides “live entertainment, promotion and event marketing services for America’s most respected brands, properties and agencies.” They’re big on full-body costumes and mascots as well as merging marketing and entertainment.

Experience VEE Corporation

Running the Sesame Street Live show seems like a big enough deal, but plenty of other huge brands have entrusted their identifying characters to VEE Corporation. These include Mr. Potato Head, Shrek and Donkey, Sponge Bob Squarepants, Mariah Carey’s legs, the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, and plenty more. VEE’s service offerings include Planning & Consultation, Logistics, Design & Ingenuity, Costumes/Creatures/Mascots, Fabrication & Construction, and Ship & Store. It’s a completely different kind of marketing company, which means that their job offerings are especially unique. If you check out Vee Corporation’s Jobs page, you’ll see what I’m talking about. They don’t have a lot of specific postings right now, but they split their offerings into a few categories of application pages—Theatrical, Corporate, Production Services, Shop and Craftsperson, and Operations and Road Crew. It’s interesting to see that VEE Corporation is using a Ning site to manage their application processes, but it doesn’t seem as though they’re tapping into all of the site’s social functionality. That might be a cool addition. They actually have so many different application forms that things get a little confusing, but it shouldn’t be too hard for you to figure out which form is the right one for telling VEE Corporation why you’ll be a great addition to their team.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you seen any events put on by VEE Corporation?

Kate Spade

Willy Franzen — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:49:41 +0000

I can’t remember whether it was late in my middle school years or early in my high school years, but there were certainly a couple of years in the late 90s when Kate Spade was as hot as could be. Whether it was a wallet, calendar, or other accessories from the New York based fashion designer, the girls in my classes went crazy for them. At that point in my life, I wasn’t the most fashion conscious kid, so I probably thought Five Star binders were still cool. Despite my ignorance of fashion back then, even I knew what Kate Spade was. Since Kate Brosnahan started her line in 1993, her company has grown exceptionally. Hallmarked by “utility, wit and playful sophistication,” Kate Spade’s offering includes handbags, shoes, accesories, clothing, jewelry, baby items, fragrance, glasses, and even paper. The company now runs 46 retail shops and continues to be a huge name in the fashion industry.

Are You Playfully Sophisticated?

Despite my use of capitalization in this post, Kate Spade is a brand that seems allergic to capital letters. It’s a big part of their branding, and it’s widely recognizable. Since fashion is all about branding, it’s no surprise that most people wouldn’t notice that Kate Spade was purchased by Liz Claiborne in 2009. It appears that Kate Spade continues to run itself separately, and that becomes even more evident when you look at Kate Spade’s Jobs page. They have quite a few opportunities available, and a number of them seem perfectly suited to new grads. There are a ton of retail positions, but we’re just going to focus on the corporate positions like E-commerce Coordinator, Assistant Buyer, and International Marketing Assistant. You can apply for these positions directly from the job postings, so give them look and see if they fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you own any Kate Spade?