Lawyer turned copywriter reflects on his win…
For the second year in a row, Circus hosted the 4A’s Atlanta Council & Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies Class of 2015. The Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies (IAAS) program is designed for your young professionals to step up in the areas of positioning, branding, media, digital, and creative. Nine Circus students were paired with account & strategy folks from agencies such as 22Squared, Ogilvy, Scout, Morrison, BBDO, Arke, Fitzgerald + Co., JWT, 360i, Matlock Advertising & PR, & Moxie.
The guest client this year was Moe’s Southwest Grill. The winning team included Circus people Matt Detiveaux and Jade Carter.
Guest blogger, Matt Detiveaux
As a lawyer, you’re taught to think in black and white. For as educated as I was, I had no clue there were so many different shades of black and white. Until I started at The Circus.
When I first walked in, I thought: “Wait, people get paid for doing this? For having fun?? I wanna do this too!” I met the students, who were all happy, joking, and playful in their work – a far cry from most of the lawyers I knew, including myself. The process of Circus has really helped me loosen up and enjoy life more.
For the Moe’s project, the client wanted something very specific – to talk about their great food. It was hard to find a tone and creative that fit the special Moe’s spirit and brought to light their quality, healthy food options. Luckily we worked with really talented account people from agencies all over the city. To make the creative work, we had to get weird. We thought people might like ingredients training like athletes to get into your Moe’s meal. We came up with everything from a huge knife aggressively coaching Moe’s food items, to a boxing ring where Queso and Guac would duel it out. To really sell it, we put on headbands and acted out a commercial where Cucumber ended up tossed out of the training. He just couldn’t make the cut. At the end of it, I think the judges really ate it up.
Everything I thought I lacked when I started here, Circus drew out of me. It pulled out the weirdness, the ability, and the confidence to succeed. Working with so many smart, gifted, and hard-working artistic types has been humbling to say the least. I’ve put in more hard work and long hours than I ever did in law school, but I’ve finally found a refuge for a misfit like me.
If you’re thinking about Circus, you’re not the average clown. If you’re ready to put in more sweat and tears than you ever thought possible, you might be ready. Sometimes, I still wonder if it’s all gonna work out. But what Circus has taught me is that you never know unless you try.
