Avoiding a Quick Trip to Brandcenter Hell

AVOIDING A QUICK TRIP TO BRANDCENTER HELL

No doubt you’ve received tons of “how to succeed” advice since you received your Brandcenter acceptance letter. My suggestion is that you put it aside for a while and focus instead on a more relevant question, specifically, how might I fail here? Too many get off to rocky starts by paying attention to proud friends and family who pack their heads with the silly notion that if they work hard and don’t ruffle feathers, they’ll be just fine. Wrong! There’s blood in the water here and plenty of ways to get eaten alive if you’re not ready to avoid the certain death that awaits those who fail to understand the route to failure. So, listen, innocent ones, and resolve not to repeat what is said below, because to do so is a sure sign that you’re headed for the on-ramp to Brandcenter Hell.

“Check out my pedigree. I majored in advertising from a leading university.”

Too bad. Life is a process of learning and “unlearning,” so, get prepared to unlearn the sage pronouncements you memorized from all those undergrad textbooks. Most students arrive here not knowing what they don’t know, and those who don’t think they already know it all succeed. The rest catch the first whiffs of the nether region’s sulphuric stench.

“I plan to keep my head down and not make waves.”

NUTS! This is the place to develop your voice, to test out crazy ideas, to learn to work without a net and to fail spectacularly. Remember, the ad business doesn’t reward wallflowers. And, those that fear failure are sure to fail.

“I’ll focus most of my energies on my portfolio.”

You’re in the wrong place. Our mission is not centered on portfolios but rather on training the next generation of transformative leaders—men and women who will navigate the revolutionary change that is approaching the industry like a tsunami. If you’re worth a damn, you’ll end up with a good book, but if that’s all you get, the Brandcenter is not worth the money.

“How can anyone say I’m difficult to work with?”

Or, to put it another way, you disagree with those who find you disagreeable…!? The pressures here are intense. As such, there’s little time for dealing with jerks. So, when you feel the hair on your neck stand up as your fellow students begin to “treat you differently,” pay attention. It’s likely not your peers that are the problem, and, even if it is, the only thing you can control is you. Mend fences early and move on.

“I’ll get to it later.”

Remember, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions! Time management is hopelessly complex here, and there is not time for procrastination. You’ll be constantly juggling your schedules around multiple group meetings, individual assignments, unreasonable professorial demands and sleep. So, if you have a free moment, do something with it. Otherwise, you’ll be doing it all late Sunday before Monday presentations. Not good. Resolve to set your clock to now!

“I’m a loner, and a loner has to work alone!”

Get over it. There’s plenty of room here for individual expression, but collaboration among disparate disciplines is a huge part of contemporary business culture. That’s why at the Brandcenter, it’s imperative that you learn to work in teams. And doing so successfully is hard work. Diverse personalities, loudmouthed teammates who dominate the discussion, those who don’t understand when to fight until death and when to defer to the ideas of others, and those who are just going through the motions, volunteering only to run the Keynote presentation—all intrude on the work of the team and your potential grade. So, don’t suffer fools. Confront them emphatictally but constructively. And, if they refuse to get on board, rip them a new one when peer review time rolls around.

“It’s too hard here;” “There’s too many assignments;” “There’s no time for fun;” Etc.

Stop it. No one wants to hear it, and most are secretly thinking the same thing. So, think it and move on, unless, of course, you look forward to the prospect of burning in Brandcenter Hell.

Now go slay your dragon. And, remember, there’s no whining in advertising.

by Don Just, Professor