5 Ways College Students Can Make Use of Their Time During Quarantine

Just a few short months ago students at Klein were eagerly searching out employers and opportunities at the Klein Career Fair Open House. Campus was busy with seniors putting final touches on their portfolios and juniors brushing up their resumes. However seemingly overnight, this unprecedented pandemic brought it all to an abrupt halt. Leaving us all on our living room couches thinking, “now what?”

While we all try to cope in this time of uncertainty, there are some things that can make us, as young advertising professionals, feel more secure about ourselves and about our work.

1. Create a Campaign.

Continue building your portfolio and grab a buddy to brainstorm and build out a fresh campaign. As online classes and the semester come to a close, use your extra time to push your creativity to new limits for a mock campaign with an endless budget. It will show initiative and serve as a great talking point in your next interview.

2. Consider a Portfolio Program

While this round of education came to a dramatic halt, there is always more to learn. Portfolio programs can help graduating seniors hone in your craft and push you further into the industry. There are the big names like Miami Ad School and even little guys like the Denver Ad School (which was founded by a Temple Alumni). These schools have portfolio programs for art direction, copywriting, strategy, and other more specific focuses.

3. Freshen up your resume

If you don’t already have a resume, now is a great time to make one! If design isn’t your strong suit, Canva has plenty of templates to work off of. Remember that important courses and class projects can always be used in replace of work experience, so don’t worry if you haven’t landed that first internship yet.

4. Try Freelancing

If your summer internship got canceled, don’t let that stop you from getting real world experience. Upwork is a service that connects business professionals to independent freelance designers.

5. Join Diamond Edge Communication

If you're not graduating just yet and sticking around to the fall, register for Diamond Edge Communication. Get real world experience with real clients in an agency setting.

Super Bowl 2025 Future Ad Creators Referee Super Bowl 2020 Spots

Students from Temple University’s Diamond Edge Communications dished out ad reviews instead of appetizers this past Super Bowl Sunday. Here is what the future of the advertising industry thinks of this year's ads.

They see that it’s not just about the flash anymore, the high-profile celebrities, the amount of money you can spend. The next generation of advertising says it's all about the strategy, the story, and the connection to the social media world.

It’s all about strategy, duh!

Bud Light Seltzers:

#PostyStore

“I feel like the strategy behind this was to make it seem “okay" for males to drink seltzers instead of beer. There was a clever play on the classic angel v. devil dynamic. In society, there is a stigma for men about drinking beverages that aren’t “heavy” enough or something a masculine man "should drink," I appreciate how they are trying to flip that on its head. It has good elements of strategy and creative.”

~Donovan Mears, senior in brand strategy and media planning

Jason Momoa Super Bowl Commercial 2020 | Rocket Mortgage

Since most Jason Momoa’s fans skew to a younger audience it was Rocket Mortgage’s opportunity to get that demographic to pay attention to ads about mortgage, bringing awareness about their brand to the crowd that in a couple of years needs to find a mortgage company. Rocket Mortgage’s internal creative team and Chicago based agency, HighDive, made a smart choice to use comedy and a celebrity to capture that demographic’s attention.

~Kelsey Wheeler, senior in account management

The Story Has Spoken.

Loretta by Google:

Loretta

“It goes to show that you don’t need something flashy or action-packed, you just need a story (especially a heartfelt one). The story steers the ad. The spot speaks directly to the product benefit and delivers an emotional message that many can relate to.”

~Daniel Wallace, senior in copywriting

“From the very beginning of the commercial having the words “how not to forget” pop up in the Google search bar, it took my mind to another place. Having had someone in my family being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, the idea of trying to not forget is something that resonates strongly. The use of pathos in an advertisement is always a strong way for a brand to influence the people they are targeting. Google’s “Loretta” ad will stick with me for quite some time.”

~Reese Keitsock, senior in art direction

Welcome to the World of Social Media.

Tom Brady by Hulu:

Tom Brady's Big Announcement

“Hulu created a buzz before even airing the ad by having Brady post a dramatic, black and white Instagram photo. The post immediately started trending. When the spot finally aired and Brady said, “They say all good things must come to an end,” sports fans' hearts stopped and everyone paid attention. In the end, it was actually about the benefits of Hulu. Advertising that transcends the actual spot and utilizes social media is the future. Hulu created a moment that piqued people’s interest and stirred anticipation and it all started on social media long before the game.”

~Julia Brumbaugh, senior in copywriting