Ogilvy Youth

Ogilvy is passionate about Gen Y, which we think is the Startup Generation. For Startup University, Ogilvy will be hosting and conducting marketing workshops where select young student entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to work with the top marketers at Ogilvy on their startup’s brand, marketing, and business strategies. We match our Ogilvy experts based on their background and expertise to the student entrepreneur’s individual idea or venture (a truly customized workshop). There will also be the option to have a lasting working relationship with an Ogilvy marketing expert for each entrepreneur or team.

This is a free workshop with no strings attached, but there is an application process (see above). Students in undergraduate and graduate programs are eligible. For those who applied to our last session in December and are still interested, please send us your updated information.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: 5 pm, Feb 22, 2012

In what might have been the best night of my life, Bridgette Howard and I got to attend Night 1 of the historic and epic Jay-Z concert at Carnegie Hall, benefiting the United Way of NYC and the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.  Back in October, Ogilvy CMO Lauren Crampsie asked Ogilvy Youth to help out with the PR/social media aspects of the concert, and we were excited to work on the project - using social and digital media to help United Way spread the word about its programs and opportunities to a new generation of donors, volunteers, and advocates.  When we got invited to attend the concert, I’m pretty sure I had a seizure.  The concert was amazing through and through - a perfect blend of all that is New York. Filled with old school Carnegie Hall patrons, lucky recipients of corporate gifts, members of the media, Jay-Z fans young and old, and a smattering of stars (including Ms Liza Minnelli who caused a ruckus when she came in), everyone was united in their awe at being at this very special event.

Jay-Z came out in an impeccable Tom Ford white tuxedo jacket and some serious bling in a diamond lapel pin.  Everyone rose to their feet immediately, including the 70-year-old sitting a few rows ahead of me.  Jay-Z later changed into a black tux and, then, for the encore, into his familiar baseball hat and black tee.  He was in charge from the get-go; he took command of Carnegie Hall from his first steps onto the stage.  If he looked out into the theater and saw an unusual audience (there were tuxes and evening gowns, tight jeans and fur, and Giants jersey and caps), he reveled in it.  He went all out - he toned down nothing for Carnegie Hall. I once took a class in college titled Transcending Race - I’m pretty sure when you have 70-year-old men standing for your entire performance, 50-year-old women throwing up the Roc sign, and parents bring their 5-year-olds to see you in the SAME CONCERT, you’ve transcended beyond race, gender, age, and mere superstardom.

It was an amazing night, and thank you to United Way for being beyond gracious to invite us and to mention us in the program.  Without a doubt one of the best nights of my life.

- Felicia Zhang, Ogilvy Youth

More press coverage:

Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, MTV, USA Today, NY Times, ABC, CBS, Uptown, Billboard, WSJ (and a lot more)

Working in advertising, we get to take part in a lot of different industries - media, technology, art, music, design, writing, etc.  These fields are all reflected in the work we do and they find their ways into our personal styles.  In the vein of Ogilvy Oufitters, for the Ogilvy Youth x Fashion event on Feb 2nd, we are taking you through a brief but stylish tour within Ogilvy NY.  Each day from now until the event, we will ambush - I mean, feature - different teams and take pictures of their personal styles.  With no advanced warning, you’re getting the good/bad/crazy as is.

Without further ado, we feature today a few smart, sassy, and always stylish members of the PR and New Business teams.

Grace Musat and Sophia Aladenoye sharing a laugh in the extensive PR magazine library.

Seat mates Erin Byrnes and Siobhan Murphy stomp through the halls on the 4th floor in OPR.

Mauricio Godoy never stops thinking about his latest campaign strategy.

Katie Weinberger brightening up our day with her sunny skirt on the 9th floor.

Carin Pinto keeps it sleek and simple in New Business.

Daniel Korn getting warmed up for a mean game of ping-pong.

And Katie in action, returning his shot.

Hope you enjoyed this, let us know if there are any teams you want to see tomorrow!

- Felicia Zhang, Ogilvy Youth

(I took the PR pictures on my iPhone and Kenan Ali took the New Biz pictures on his actual camera. My apologies to the PR team - you guys look great!)

If you came to our first Ogilvy Youth x event, you know we bring you nothing but the best.  From Grammy-award winning producers to Deer Tick, we rocked our Ogilvy Youth x Music event.  This time we’re bringing you even more hotness.  In honor New York Fashion Week, we’re bringing together a few of the top influencers in the world of fashion to have a fun, candid conversation specifically on the topic of Gen Y and Evolving Influence in Fashion.

We’d love to see you there.  Space is limited and the event starts promptly at 5pm.  Please RSVP: http://ogilvyyouthxfashion.eventbrite.com/

What does that mean?

Due to the amount of fun we had making the Startup University vlog - as well as overall regret over not having done a hair or makeup check - we’re going to try more of this vlogging thing.  We bring in different Ogilvy-ites to answer 3 questions each time -topic can be anything related to Gen Y.  Hence: 3 Questions For Ogilvy 3Q4O.  If  you have a question, leave in comments or let us know via twitter @OgilvyYouth with #3Q4O.  We can only hope it gets as crazy as this pivotal moment in Tom Cruise and Oprah’s careers.

- Felicia Zhang, Ogilvy Youth

L to R: Scott Hess from TRU, Lauren Ross from Terrorbird Media, Ben Dietz from VICE, DeVon Harris from GOOD Music, Lauren Crampsie & Tim Maleeny from Ogilvy.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to help out with the Ogilvy Youth x Ogilvy Music event held in our theatre. After lots of scheduling, double-checking, organizing, and a last minute beer run (normal Monday) it was time to start! Moderated by Tim Maleeny, head of Strategic Planning at Ogilvy, the panel was a great discussion on how brand and music partnerships influence youth.  I was happy to hear Scott Hess, VP Insights of research firm TRU, bring up Hyundai’s collaboration with Pompaloose, a hipster band that became a quirky YouTube sensation. I thought - and the panel agreed - that it was a great way to make Hyundai more relevant to younger consumers, besides touting the attractive price point.

Because the AMAs were only the night before, the crowd was interested in hearing the panel’s perspective on the unabashed brand integration into the annual award ceremony, particularly with J.Lo touting Fiat heavily throughout the night. It seemed the panelists were split as to how effective it was, especially since J.Lo is a bit older than the Gen Y demographic. When Ogilvy CMO Lauren Crampsie noted that J.Lo ripped off Britney’s outfit from the 1999 VMAs, Scott countered that most young people don’t remember what Britney wore and the point was that J. Lo got people talking about Fiat. As a 22 year-old who definitely remembers that performance, it made me think: Am I getting old? With time and trends passing so quickly, it becomes harder to truly understand youth culture and their expectations.

According to Scott, these expectations make partnerships difficult because the consumer isn’t looking for a brand to be working with an artist they like. Instead, it’s an aspirational attraction. Consumers don’t want to be themselves, they want to be the cooler version of themselves - and listen to the artist their cooler self would listen to. Marketers are then given a difficult task to decide who will be popular when creating a brand partnership.

After the panel where I laughed, learned, and more than once thought “did they just really say that?”, came the performance.  Ogilvy Music had no trouble finding a band the crowd would like and the event ended with a great concert by Deer Tick, a band that many try to define as “indie folk” but has a sound all their own.  After a great discussion, Deer Tick’s performance, and a few beers, it was evident that everyone had a great time, even from other side of the bar! I’m looking forward to helping with all the Ogilvy Youth events to come.

- Nicole Cardoza, Ogilvy Associate

Thank you to everyone who came out to our kick off event, Ogilvy Youth x Ogilvy Music.  I wish I could have talked to every one of you.  Thank you for taking the time out of your days to come to Ogilvy with open minds.  I hope you enjoyed your time here.

Thank you to everyone outside of Ogilvy who helped make this event happen - the panelists who agreed to come on this adventure and for being amazing sports, Nick Zeckets from TRU Insights who inspired me to make this into the event it turned out to be (this started as a small internal-only event).  I hope to have you all back in the near future.

Finally, thank you to the people at Ogilvy who made this event happen.  From the top executives willing to let me run with this to the associates who rolled up their sleeves and got to work, this couldn’t have happened without you.  Special thanks to Tim Maleeny, seemingly the busiest man in the building, for stepping in to moderate when our (amazing) moderator lost his voice.  The alternative would have been me, and Tim blows me away with his wit and wisdom, so we were all lucky it was him.

And (really this is the last), a special shout out to Michael Freeman of Ogilvy Music for being my partner in crime and being such a good one.

Felicia Zhang, Ogilvy Youth

P.S. Photos and videos will be up soon!

We are super excited to kick off Ogilvy Youth with a rockin first event.

On Nov 21st, in honor of World Youth Day, we’re bringing together the best minds in music and youth culture for Ogilvy Youth x Music.  Expert panelists will be addressing our burning questions about music in branding. Mass media vs. niche media? Indie vs. top 40? Smart brand management?  We got you covered, and wait there’s more - special performance by Deer Tick (!!!)

We’d love to see you there.  Space is limited and the event starts promptly at 4pm.  Sign up here http://ogilvyyouthxmusic.eventbrite.com/

- Felicia Zhang, Ogilvy Youth