I recently completed a course provided by the 4A’s about the foundational elements of working in media. Thanks to the Media Works team, my level of being a “fairly recent college graduate” does not make me feel excluded from insights into the media industry. However, I also found a lot of comfort in returning to the most beginner-level of basics with the rest of my class. Each week I was encouraged to ask questions about things I assumed I understood because I was working around them every day. It wasn’t until I was presented the actual concepts that I realized I had a lot of questions.
Going back to basics seems to be the new practice to bring back the spark in your company’s work. It removes the darkness of tunnel vision that comes with constantly moving forward through one’s responsibilities. It illuminates areas where a team can communicate better and improve. Going back to basics, as a team – offers opportunities to return to your business’ purpose and reevaluate how current strategies contribute to the overall “why”.
The seminar I attended covered a lot that I was familiar with, things like the strategic processes, impressions and media currency. And, in honesty, it touched on a lot of things I was certainly unfamiliar with. However, I think the most important takeaway of my experience were the discussions about topics and ideas that I’ve been hearing around me in meetings and in emails and conversations with my peers – that I had no idea what to do with. In depth discussions of Nielsen ratings, digital principles & currency, third party data sources – these are all things that I’ve been managing to work with while not completely understanding why it mattered.
A stronger team starts at the ground level. Complete understandings of practices, processes, and concepts not only allow for new team members to get acclimated to the new work environment, but also allows more experienced colleagues to remember what it was like when they first started their careers in media. It allows everyone to start on the same field. It’s been a few weeks out from my experience with the 4A’s Media Foundations seminar and I feel more confident speaking with my peers and taking on responsibilities that they trust me with. I feel like I have a stronger foundation from which I can make suggestions about campaigns. In a lot of ways, it feels like the trip I took back to media basics brought me much closer to being a media pro.
Written by Media Associate, Maya Hettleman
