Where Creativity Is Encouraged: Alejandra Hernández, Circus

Tell us about your internship, what are your main responsibilities?

I am interning at the LA office of CIRCUS Marketing, an independent, multicultural digital advertising firm that connects eight global locations through a single-office model, assisting the global accounts management team. The group optimises performance through an unusually lean business model and as such, I have been privileged with greater, both in scope and depth, responsibility that the typical intern. I have been tasked with the management and execution of events for one of our luxury brands, assisting in copy edits for English, Spanish, and Portuguese digital and OOH campaigns, participating in new account pitches by supporting methodology development through primary research and social listening, and lending a hand in television and radio productions.

Do you have a dream account or brand you’d like to work with? Which one?

I’d love to work with a luxury hospitality or lifestyle brand, like the Four Seasons hotels and resorts. As a collective group, they devote themselves to curating beautifully exceptional experiences for an inspirational clientele; I think it would be exciting to help them translate their work and quality into resonant, digital story-telling and advertising.

Talk to us about the culture in your office, how has it impacted your internship?

The office is mainly concerned with high-quality work being produced, so personal working styles and hours are flexible as long as the goals and client expectations are successfully met. Initiative is appreciated and rewarded, creativity is encouraged, and I find myself relating to my supervisors as even older siblings that I can learn from and feel comfortable being challenged by, or even challenging myself. This close working relationship has made the internship a lot of fun and has allowed me more opportunities to grow through our trust in each other.
Every morning I genuinely look forward to going in to work. I’m well aware that’s a blessing for my personal and professional growth.

What have you learned about the advertising industry that surprised you?

I study Political Economy in college, and my professional experience has been in finance and PR in Europe, so everything in this industry and at this agency has been a learning process: from creative review, to legalities, to campaign activation. My background has created within me a large appreciation for data and analytics, and it’s been really interesting understanding the metrics used here to track performance. I had not realised even billboard campaigns could produce such measurable insights.

Choose a current popular advertising trend and tell us what’s interesting about it.

The advent of the Internet has generated a massive shift towards e-commerce and social media usage, increasing product accessibility across all commercial enterprises. This has become a massive challenge to the traditional luxury market, whose constitutional pillars exist in exclusivity through scarcity, unique craftsmanship, and product sophistication. As a result, marketers are using scarcity marketing techniques more creatively and aggressively than ever before, generating “hype”.

Louis Vuitton recently very successfully captivated consumers by partnering with the popular and artistic streetwear brand, Supreme. The collaboration campaign underwent a selling process that limited supply but produced high engagement and excitement amongst potential consumers: they first announced a “drop date” on all social media channels, then elevated the products through social media promotion by influencers and celebrities, and finally sold them out at a London store.

Imagine your dream job, where are you, what does a day-to-day look like?

My dream job would expose me to interesting, highly ambitious, and highly accomplished people from whom I could learn. I’m happiest when challenged and taking initiative, so despite being junior, I would love for a company to trust and allow me to take on greater responsibilities. The luxury market is particularly exciting and interesting to me, so I’d like to work within it.

Are you considering another internship, or looking for jobs now? What are your next steps?

I graduate from Berkeley in December, so I’m currently looking for full-time employment!

What is your favorite ad of all time?

I thought Lacoste’s “Save Our Species” campaign was brilliant: simple but bold and beautiful. They replaced their signature crocodile logo on a certain amount of polos, and shop signs and windows, with figures of other endangered animals, including the Cebu Damselfly and the addax, corresponding with how many remained in the wild. They understood their consumers incredibly well, and in-line with scarcity marketing techniques, with a relatively low budget, sold out all of their products on the “drop date” and generated brand love and recognition.