Category Archives: Digital skills

Bringing Scotland to Dallas

It’s Monday again… but it’s my last Monday with Tracy Locke! I seriously cannot believe I only have a matter of days left here.

Today I did a presentation about my life in Scotland which it seemed like everyone really enjoyed! It was so good to be able to tell them about my life in Scotland and at university and teach them about a variety of things such as education, politics and Scottish culture. I also answered questions that they had. It was so funny seeing their reactions to the fact that we have free health care and university tuition in Scotland as that has never been a thing here and something that they are very envious of!

I really enjoyed doing this and it has helped me professionally. I have been involved in public speaking opportunities since I was quite young throughout high school and a number of opportunities with church but it is something I haven’t done for while. This is something I will have to when I am a teacher at things such as CPD events and staff meetings so this was a very good learning opportunity for me.

From making the presentation I have enhanced my computing skills and from delivering it I have improved my self confidence which I had put at a 2 on my self audit. I have always enjoyed public speaking so I’m glad I was given this opportunity.

I then sat in on a group meeting with the PH team called “status” where the group find out how the work of the previous week has come along and what needs more development. This allowed me to see how many different areas of marketing and advertising there is for just one team in the company and how much work gets done in one week.

This afternoon I am going to be doing a bit of research for some healthcare brands that the company has and then some more work with the Pizza Hut team.

Weekly Reflection 5

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One week to go! I’m so gutted I’ve got such a little amount of time left here.

I have spent the past couple of days helping out with some research for a couple of members of the Samsung team. The sales of tablets, not just with Samsung, have been decreasing over the years. Additionally, the amount of people watching television on an actual television has decreased more and more each year. In particular with young people- aka: people my age. They asked me to do some research and find out why this could be the case.

So to do this, I spent some time googling articles and gaining professionals views. But, I felt that asking people my age was something that would be more beneficial. I asked a couple of groups of friends on group chats if they had a tablet, if so what do they use it for, if they have a television and if they watch live tv and if they watch Netflix what device would this be done on?

In addition to this I put up a couple of twitter polls which each got over 100
votes which I believe is a good number to gain a good insight of how young people watch on-demand tv and if they actually watch TV live on a television or do so in a different way.

I sent this to the two members and the response I got made me feel happy that I’d managed to help them. I met with Aaron who told me the work and research I’d done was utterly fantastic. He’d said that in the past they had hired interns who wouldn’t have produced the standard of work I had so this was a complete confidence boost for myself! I am so glad that the work I had done for them is something that would benefit them for their future work, too.

As stated in my previous post I also did some research for the Pizza Hut team about loyalty schemes which has been able to help other members of the team with their work on developing a loyalty/reward scheme for Pizza Hut customers.

This week I’ve learnt a lot about why we should have loyalty schemes are in marketing and advertising and how this is potentially why PH is falling behind other fast food brands and other pizza companies. I’ve also been able to develop my computer skills. I’ve learn how to research in a fast and effective manner while looking for the correct information.

With regards to the standards I’ve continued to meet the SPRs. In particular professional commitment. I have continued to allow myself to develop my collaborative working techniques as I have been working with a variety of people from the team I’m working on and other teams in order to reach specific research outcomes.

Additionally, I am continuing to meet the standard of integrity by being honest in my work and demonstrating courage through working in this environment that I previously had no knowledge on.

I really cannot believe next week is my last week here. I am going to be presenting to the team and potentially more members of the company about Scotland which I am very much looking forward to. Here’s to next week!

I want to be part of it. New York, New York.

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Of course after I’d done my work for the day in the office I had to do some sightseeing. This is me in Times Square.

Today I have been lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to go to New York City and visit the Tracy Locke office there on Madison Avenue (as previously stated this is known as TLNY).

This have given me a good opportunity to, yet again, to meet more new people and tell them a bit about me and why I am here. A lot of people have been really intrigued that I am actually training to be a primary school teacher and they believe that this placement is a fantastic idea.

I did some work in Wilton this morning where I listened to some conference calls with Mary regarding one of their Chicago clients and arrived in New York at about 2pm.

This afternoon I attended meetings with Stephen regarding finance and accounting, and in particular, for Sony about a few projects that they want TL to do over the next year. Again, this was a good learning experience for myself as it meant I saw the “more boring” side of advertising (according to Stephen!) but also one of the most important parts as without money advertising just wouldn’t exist.

Something I’ve noticed while being in the three offices is the different lay outs. The Dallas office has a huge variety of cubed off areas for teams of people to sit in and also has two floors. When I went into the Wilton office yesterday the different lay out was the first thing I noticed. The office is just one floor but it is like a maze. It is huge. The desks here are in longer, more open areas with a lot more open space. Finally, the New York office also has the long tables but the separate offices and conference rooms all have glass walls meaning that anyone can see in them. I like this as it allows the office to feel more open and have an “open door” kind of vibe.

Madison Avenue is the home of advertising in America and where the TLNY office is based

I think this is an important aspect to have in the classroom too. I truly believe that the layout
of my classroom is going to have a huge influence on how the pupils learn and how they enjoy their learning. And the way it is laid out should be inclusive for each pupil. This is the same with Tracy Locke. As this is a sociable company all the layouts allow people to talk and ask questions (asking questions is something I have been doing a lot since I got here!)

Samsung’s advert in Grand Central Station advertising their new galaxy phone.

Tracy Locke has a variety of clients and their work is everywhere. When walking around New York I saw work for Samsung and T-Mobile. It was really good to be able to see these advertisements and know that it was actually done by people I know and have met over the past few weeks.

T-Mobile’s spot in Times Square.

I am, again, so thankful for all the opportunities this placement is giving me and I am continuing to learn more than I ever thought I could.

It’s Monday Again…

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This morning I sat in on a phone call with Mary in her office who was in a conference call regarding a specific client and their design strategy which is very close to being finished and put out into stores across the country. Their aim is to make shopping more “emotional” rather than just functional which will allow this type of shopping to be fun and desirable.

Mary’s office. There’s always a nice atmosphere and a nice view if you stand at the window

While on the call each person was connected to a PowerPoint from the client who would control when the slides would move in order to prompt discussion about a specific topic. This was good to have as it meant everyone in the call was able to see the same thing even though they were not together and then talk about exactly what was on the screen without the discussion trailing off and changing.

In order to see what the products and shelf designs would look like in reality a “Virtual store fly-through video” was shown. This would, therefore, allow the client to see how the products would look and what improvements could be made before the products and shelves were put together and out to stores across the country.

After this call we connected to people in the Wilton office where Mary and I will be visiting tomorrow. The phone call discussed what had been talked about on the conference call and what work would be done to finish the deck and products.

A photo of the DART train I took while I was going to buy my lunch today

This was another good learning opportunity for me as it allowed me to see how a set of products have developed and the way that they will be advertised. It also allowed me to see how each colleague showed their professionalism. At the beginning of the call a few people had conversations asking about weekends etc before moving on to the task in hand.

A lot of us have also been proofing menus this afternoon. A lot of menus need to be checked before going out to PH so we have been kept busy.

I am traveling to Wilton in Connecticut tomorrow which I am very excited about and will write about tomorrow.

Being a Shopping Activator

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I’ve been doing some work for Mary Kotyuk for the past couple of days. Her role in Tracy Locke is the Group Strategy Director who looks into “Shopper Activation”.

This area of the company looks into a variety of different things from “behind the scenes” such for company’s and actually going into the store and reviewing how products are advertised when people are walking around the shop. This is called a Store Walk where someone will take photos of specific displays and aisles and report back to the team they’re working on and talk about what is good and what can be improved. This work also requires travel to the clients and other TL offices to allow each person to communicate their findings.

Part of the work I have done for her over the past couple of days is look at a variety of companys’ strategic priorities and initiatives from the past year and what they have planned for this year. Additionally, I’ve looked at what type of competition they have with other stores looked at each individual SWOT analysis to help see where improvements can be made and what their strengths are. This required a lot of research about what the company sells/intends to sell and what their aims for the year are. It also meant deciding what information I found was the most relevant and necessary. Each page of the deck is for a specific company so it must be kept short and snappy in order for people here at Tracy Locke to know what they are looking for for each client. This sounds quite a simple task but it has taken a lot of time to ensure all the correct information is collated.

I sat in on a meeting this morning with a variety of other people in the company, including Stephen Miller who is one of the managing partners in the company, who were speaking about how much money that should be spent on each client and their advertisements. While discussing this the “Golden Circle” was mentioned. It contains 3 sections:

What we do

How we do it

Why we do it

This is the motive followed by TL when making advertisements for the company when designing for clients and allows the process involved to be simple and allow a good outcome. If you’d like to read more about the Golden Circle here is a good link. It has been written by Simon Sinek who has also taken part in TED talks on the subject.

http://enviableworkplace.com/executive-summary-golden-circle-simon-sinek/

Although it may not sound like much, I have been pretty busy these past couple of days which has been good! From working with Mary I have been able to see how another role in the advertising world is done and this type of advertising requires a lot of work to be published.

Back to Work!

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This weekend I went down to Austin, TX with my Uncle Hugh and Auntie Mary to celebrate their friends’ son’s first birthday. Austin is 217 miles away and it took us 3 and a half hours to get there and a little longer to get back. I’d heard the saying “100 years is not long in Scotland and 100 miles is not far in America, but the other way round for the other country”. To Americans, this journey would be small. So, I am feeling pretty tired today after driving 434 miles in one day! However, the birthday party was lovely and it was great to see more of Texas (even if I am a bit sun burnt!)

But it’s back to the normal Monday here and I’m back at placement. Today I looked at menus with Ashley (Account Supervisor) and helped make her work a little easier by finding all the fonts used for each different type of menu that will be published in the coming weeks and putting them into an email for her future use. I hadn’t worked with Ashley before so this was a good opportunity to develop my own communication skills and allow me to see what her job entails. One of the SPRs that comes under professional commitment states that we should be “engaging with all aspects of professional practice and all members of our educational communities with enthusiasm, adaptability andconstructive criticality.” I feel that this is an SPR which relates closely to the work I have done today. Although it is not an educational community, I undertook the work in a professional manner with good enthusiasm that allowed me to complete the task in a productive way while working with someone new.

I have also done quite a bit of reading about advertising and more on how this affects children and young people which I will reflect on in a later post.

While I was in an Uber recently the driver noticed my accent and complimented it (Being in Dallas with this accent is great. So many people love it!) We were just talking about Scotland and he asked me the question, which I think is quite funny: “Was William Wallace real?” He then

went on to tell me that his favourite film is “Braveheart”. I told him that this film was actually quite historically inaccurate, but a good film nonetheless. This question then prompted me to ask if I could do a presentation about Scotland for the company which I have been working on a lot today. A lot of people are looking forward to this. I am extremely passionate and proud of where I’m from so this is a presentation I am very much looking forward to showing.

I’ve looked back at my audit of skills in section 1 of my folio and I’ve rated my self confidence at a 2. I do have confidence in myself but it is something that I want to build up on this placement. I believe by doing this presentation it will definitely improve my self confidence and allow people from other teams to get to know me a bit better. And most importantly, it will educate the people at Tracy Locke about a fantastic country and hopefully encourage them to come over and visit.

Advertising is a Competition

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Yesterday I was shown how competitors affect how we (Tracy Locke) decide how to advertise products and goods. I spent my day looking at emails from two competitors from the year so far. This meant I looked at 51 emails in total. After this, I screenshot each email and put each offer onto a Keynote presentation. This then allows people who work for the company to see how other pizza chains advertise their products in a quick and easy way.

There were a variety of differences between the two companies emails. One competitor’s emails had more than one offer in an individual email which meant that the consumer had a choice when choosing that company’s pizza. Additionally, this company included a different way of ordering in each email such as phoning, downloading the company’s app or even just adding a link to browse the menu. This would, therefore, encourage consumers to download app or by browsing the menu it would hopefully encourage them to order from that company.

In comparison, the other competitor’s emails were very minimal. It contained only one offer, and very rarely included a side offer. However, over the three months this company sent more emails than the other competitor I looked at (this company sent 31 emails while the other only sent 27). So, there was a lack of offers but more emails which means that consumers would see these emails more often and it may, therefore, encourage them to order from this company more frequently.

This was an interesting task to undertake as it allowed me to see that emails I would normally just disregard have a huge impact on the companies, their advertising and their sales. It also allowed me to use my skills in ICT to make a presentation that will allow people here to see how competitors set out their emails, how frequently they’re sent and what offers are used frequently which will allow them to improve the emails for our clients.

Day Two: 28 Floors Up

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This morning I sat in on a a phone conference with members of the Franchisor/Equity team: Michael (account director), Pam (account supervisor) and Kim (account coordinator). The conference was with Cleveland Menus who print Pizza Hut’s counter menus and handheld menus. All staff members maintained a professional manner during the phone call. Afterwards, it was discussed what would be done during the day today to help meet the needs of Pizza Hut.

I was then shown a Campaign Request Form (CRF) for HutLovers (those who are signed up to PH’s mailing and SMS list). This really showed me the power of advertising. I found out that an email is sent at 8AM with two seperate subject lines. An email with subject line A is sent to 600,000 members and an email with subject line B is sent to another 600,000 members. At 12 o’clock it is reviewed which subject line had the most opened emails then the one with the most is sent to the remaining 5 million members to ensure the most sales are made that day.

Before this, all emails are checked by Quality Assurance (QA) at both Tracy Locke and Pizza Hut. This is done to be able to see how the email will appear on a variety of devices such as mobile phones, iPads, laptops and how different email providers (such as apple and office) will display the message.

I also helped Kayla with some of her work for

HutLovers. I looked through all the email promotions from the year so far and put each banner onto a KeyNote presentation which she will use for her future work.

I was given a tour of the 29th floor in the office from Mark Van Dinuen (director of studio services). This floor includes clients such as Samsung and Audi and have a variety of products which remain top secret between the client and Tracy Locke until the release day. I was shown how the pictures that are taken re edited in great depth and nothing will be published until it is perfect for the client to use to advertise their product(s). This highlighted the importance of staying professional both in and out of the office as the information about new products is almost “confidential”. I feel that being trustworthy is a key aspect in professionalism which is obviously something I must consider when I am in the classroom when it comes to things such as child protection.

I feel that so far I have gone into this placement with a positive attitude and mindset which has helped me enjoy my time here so much.

I am only 3 days into my placement and I can already see that I am learning more than I possibly thought I could at such a fast pace. I am looking forward to be able to apply all these new skills to my studies and work in the near future.

So Much Jargon!

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(Written on 13/3/17)

Placement officially started today, but because I arrived in Texas on Wednesday I was able to have a soft start kind of day on Friday. (Thursday was a recovery day but I still don’t think I’m over the jet lag yet!)

On Friday I got to meet everyone on the team I will be working with over the next six weeks. Everyone is so nice and made me feel very welcome. I have been given my own desk with my own laptop, phone and computer to be able to assist with current projects that the team are undertaking.

The team I am working with are advertising for Pizza Hut. On Friday I got to sit in on an “internal”. This is when the digital and creative team meet to discuss final designs before sending them to the client for them to use and distribute to the public.

I was shown the “assignment deck”. This booklet showed me a huge variety of ways that Pizza Hut choose to adervtise their products and specific briefs that Tracy Locke are to follow for the client’s needs.

Today I read over the Pizza Hut account team overview. This allowed me to gain an understanding in what the team are working towards. This morning everyone form the team met to go over what people would be doing throughout the week.

Also today I went to an IR (internal review), one of the many commonly used acronyms, with Kayla (assistant account executive) and the creative team who deals with emails and SMS messages on behalf of Pizza Hut for “Hut Lovers”. An IR happens a week after the email briefing where it is decided what will be included in the email to send out to Pizza Hut customers.

The one big thing I have noticed since coming here is the use of jargon. Because this is an industry I don’t know much about the language they use is all Greek to me. There are many words which are used daily and repeatedly when talking to colleagues and clients which I wouldn’t normally use. However, I am learning and it is definitely not as daunting as it previously was.

In addition to this, there are so many acronyms used between colleagues and Pizza Hut to make communication quicker and easier. However, I know that I will be able to learn the common ones quickly. I’m beginning to feel sorry for those who don’t work in education because we talk to them using our acronyms and just expect them to understand!

So far I am able to see how this placement will help me in my own professional development. I am having to maintain my professionalism as I am working with a number of important people each day. Additionally, I am already reflecting on what I have learnt and I am thinking of ways I can apply this knowledge to my own classroom and teach a variety of lessons for my future classes.

I have had a very good start here at Tracy Locke and I am very much looking forward to see what the next few weeks will teach me.

Section 1

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Audit of skills, knowledge and personal attributes

Rate yourself (1=Not very well developed; 3=very well developed)

Skills and Abilities	1	2	3
Self Confidence		x
Contributing to Discussions			x
Generate New Ideas			x
Computing Skills		x
Build Social Networks			x
Set Personal Goals			x
Take Notes			x
Team Work			x
Take Risks		x

Recognition	Reflection	Action
Skills already developed	How will I use these	How do I know (evidence)**
Contributing to Discussions	When having team meetings where advertising ideas will be discussed	When you feel confident enough about an idea and can put it forward within in the group.
Generate New Ideas	For this placement new ideas are generated everyday in ways to draw in customers for the client we’re working for (e/g/ Pizza Hut or T Mobile)	When I think of a unique idea
Set Personal Goals	When I am working towards my presentation.	When I achieve the goal.
Build Social Networks	When working with the team in and out of the office to ensure I am not working alone and contributing well to the team’s effort.	When I have the confidence knowing who is the best person to get in contact with.
Team Work	I will use the skills I gained on placement. I worked with those in my class (both pupils and teachers) and other members of staff. This will also be the case with Tracy Locke where each team will need to collaborate.

Knowledge:

As stated in my first post, marketing and advertising is not an industry I know a lot about, hence why I have chosen Tracy Locke so I can learn about the work and the professionalism in the workplace.

Personal Attributes:

I would describe myself as someone who is approachable, patient and friendly. I am extremely (maybe too) organised and punctual. I believe these are attributes that are key when becoming a teacher. However, these characteristics are things that can be transferred to any workplace. These will put be in good stead when arriving at Tracy Locke and prove myself as someone who will be a good asset to the team.

Integrity:

It is important to make a good connection between personal and professional attitudes to bring about change in practice. I believe that a positive personal attitude is vital in developing a positive professional attitude. When going into my own class I believe that a positive outlook on the day will have a good impact on my professional attitudes and ensure everyday in the classroom is exciting for all of my pupils. For this placement I feel I must go in each day with a positive outlook on what the outcome of the day will be as everyday is a new day. The team I will be working with are going to be very busy with deadlines and this will allow me to ensure that a positive personal and professional attitude should be maintained at all times to ensure that the task I am working on will be completed to the best standard it can be.

Professional Commitment

I am undertaking this placement as this is an industry I would really like to know more about. I believe this contributes to my lifelong learning I will be taught new things everyday. I believe my choice of advertising will be a good choice as this is something that really does influence our children and the decisions they make on a daily basis. It appears in the HWB section of the Es and Os (HWB 1-37a and HWB 2-37a) so is something that I will have to teach to a number of pupils over the years. I also think it demonstrates my professionalism as I am going out of my comfort zone which is something I will have to do as a teacher when teaching subjects I am not as confident in, such as science.

During this placement I will demonstrate my professional responsibility for the development of the placement through the use of blog posts which will demonstrate what I’ve been learning while I am here and how my own professional attitudes have developed.

Reflection on experiences to date

Since starting university in September 2015 I have been given a variety of experiences that will help me in both my future career as a teacher and life outside of the classroom. These experiences are all going to come in handy for my Learning from Life placement.

My MA1 placement taught me so much more than I possibly thought it could have. it showed me how a classroom should be organised, how to manage behaviour and the importance of planning everything in a lesson.

My MA1 placement has also given me skills which I am able to use in more contexts than just the classroom. For example, this placement allowed me to enhance my skills in professionalism. I was working with a variety of different people everyday including teachers in the school, visiting professionals, pupils and parents. From this I had to develop a more professional language and be approachable at all times. This is a skill I will be able to apply to Learning from Life as I will be working with a variety of different people each day in a professional context.

In addition to this, my MA1 placement allowed me to have very good time keeping. I was always in school early and allowed myself to run lessons on time. This will benefit me in this placement as I will be able to work to time slots that I’m given and be able to complete the work in a professional manner.

Although not academic, since first year at university I have been in the Dundee University Scottish Nationalist Society and I am now a committee member. The experiences I’ve had within the society have allowed me to develop my social skills and from this I have been able to meet new people, help organise events and meet local MSPs and MPs. This has also improved my self confidence in speaking to new people.

During my time in high school I undertook a variety of work experience placements in primary schools from 4th to 6h year which proved to me that teaching was the career path I wanted to follow.

Identification of skills and knowledge to be developed

Self confidence: Self confidence is something that I do have, however, I would like it to be developed just a little bit more. I think that during this placement I will be able to develop this due to meeting a variety of new people everyday and travelling to different places. This will make me more comfortable and more willing to speak to more people in a confident and professional manner.

Computing Skills: I never chose to study any computing subject throughout my time at high school so feel as though I am not very skilled in this subject area. From undertaking this placement I will be using Microsoft Office and email every day and this will allow me to learn and develop skills in ICT.

Taking Risks: As one of my risk taking abilities I have chosen to do my placement abroad. This shows my eagerness for independence and my interest in new culture and a new way of living. This placement will help me with taking risks as I do not know a lot about marketing and advertising.

Identification of learning opportunities

Tracy Locke:

While with Tracy Locke this will teach me about the marketing and advertising industry. Throughout my time here I will be working with Lauren Cohen (Group Account Director at Tracy Locke). The main client she works with is Pizza Hut. Through working with Lauren this will give me the opportunity to travel and experience a client meeting where I will see why certain companies want their products advertised and marketed a certain way.
I will also get to see how marketing and advertising affects everyday life and how it influences people in wider society.
Additionally, I will be able to see professionalism in a different work place other than education. This will allow me to learn about how working in this kind of industry affects workers lives in comparison to teaching. (SPR regarding professional commitment states that as student teachers must:
Engaging with all aspects of professional practice and working collegiately with all members of our educational communities with enthusiasm, adaptability and constructive criticality.
Committing to lifelong enquiry, learning, professional development and leadership as core aspects of professionalism and collaborative practice.

Huron Valley Roman Catholic Elementary School:

This will be a fantastic opportunity to learn about and compare education systems and curriculums in America, Michigan, to CfE in Scotland.
This will give me the chance to continue my teaching practice where I will undertake lessons on marketing and advertising using the knowledge and skills I have gained on my previous part of the placement.

Marcus Graham Project:

This is going to be the most eye opening part of my Learning from Life placement. Through communication with Tracy Locke CEO this may seem a “culture shock”. This will give me to opportunity to learn about life in an American High School. I will also be able to compare the education there to my own secondary education.

The marketing and advertising industry is quite mono cultural so the aim of the project is to get teenagers from all background interested and involved in the industry.

Record of planning and organisation

For this placement I was lucky enough to know the CEO of Tracy Locke which allowed me to plan and organise this placement. The planning and organisation included Skype calls where we would discuss what I would be doing on placement and when I arrive in Dallas I will meet the team I will be working with who will direct me on what projects and tasks I will be taking part in.