Account Strategist @ Aber Group with Laurel Astridge

04/13/23 • 52 min

In her Year 1ne, Laurel works as an Account Strategist at Aber Group, an independent online advertising agency, where she plans and manages advertising campaigns for her client and trains new interns.👩‍🏫
Some of the highlights from Laurel and Blair’s chat include why it’s important to ask the question as an intern, how everybody is a math person; and, how Sephora sparkles while Bubly “Bublé’s” as brands that do good marketing.
In This Episode 🗣️
Laurel’s Year 1ne @ Aber Group
2:20 | Introduction from Laurel
3:25 | Overview of Aber Group
5:55 | Working as an Account Strategist in advertising
9:20 | “The beauty of advertising”
11:35 | Talking about the Laurel Musical blog
14:50 | Becoming a “math person”
18:20 | How to stand out as an intern
20:05 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
27:55 | Getting hired at Aber Group
30:55 | Networking with one specific question
33:50 | Advertising agency vs. brand/client-side marketing?
38:00 | Hardest part of the job search
41:15 | Reflecting for self-awareness
42:25 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
45:55 | Rookie mistake made by deleting a campaign
48:40 | Lesson learned on being more analytic than imagined
50:25 | Pro tip that a presentation is a performance
The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Laurel Astridge: LinkedIn | Website | YouTube | Pinterest
Brands/organizations: Aber Group | George Brown College | Khan Academy | Sephora | Bubly
Marketing and media tools: Google Ad Grants | Meta Business Suite | Google Ads | Yahoo DSP | StackAdapt | Google Analytics | Microsoft Excel | ChatGPT
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness

Previous Episode

Programmatic Associate @ Initiative with Kunal Makhija

In his Year 1ne, Kunal works as an Associate – Digital Activation at Initiative, a full-service global media agency, where he works on the programmatic advertising team 🎯
Some of the highlights from Kunal and Blair’s chat include the steps in the paid advertising campaign lifecycle in a full-service agency, why it’s important find your voice in your year one; and, how creating vision boards help Kunal make his goals a reality–including his vision board for the job search.
In This Episode 🗣️
Kunal’s Year 1ne @ Initiative Media
1:55 | Introduction from Kunal
2:10 | Overview of Initiative Media
3:10 | Working on 35 campaigns in 1 year
5:30 | Why programmatic advertising?
7:10 | Outlining the paid advertising campaign lifecycle in a large agency
14:15 | Essential skills and technologies
18:30 | The need to “learn and unlearn”
20:05 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
24:20 | Moving to Canada
26:45 | The attraction of marketing
28:40 | Getting hired at Initiative Media
31:00 | Using vision boards to achieve your goals
33:15 | Hardest part of the job search
37:55 | How did previous work experience help?
39:40 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
41:25 | Mistake made on pushing for a promotion
45:05 | Rookie mistake on being confident vs. overconfidence
46:05 | Lesson learned on pacing yourself
47:05 | Pro tip to try everything twice
The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Kunal Makhija: LinkedIn | Website | Instagram | TikTok
Brands/organizations: Initiative | RBC | George Brown College | Humber College
Marketing and media tools: Google DV360 | ChatGPT | Microsoft Excel
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness

Next Episode

Social Media Assistant @ Ontario Parks with Sonia Dharni

In her Year 1ne, Sonia works as a Social Media Assistant at Ontario Parks, in the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for the Government of Ontario, where she’s your friendly neighbourhood squirrel...I’ll let her explain.🐿️
(yes, I know that's a chipmunk, there’s no squirrel emoji. 🤷)
Some of the highlights from Sonia and Blair’s chat include the process for doing social media marketing in a government organization, how to answer the “tell us why we should hire you for this job?” question; and, how the National Parks Service is hilarious...who knew!
In This Episode 🗣️
Sonia’s Year 1ne @ Ontario Parks
1:45 | Introduction from Sonia
2:15 | Overview of Ontario Parks
3:20 | Working in social media marketing for a government organization
4:55 | The planning process for social content
7:40 | Doing community management
9:50 | Collaborating central-to-local with each provincial park team
12:00 | Being “your friendly neighbourhood squirrel”
14:25 | How marketing helps with conservation efforts
16:25 | How did previous work in conservation help with this job?
20:00 | Asking the question
21:25 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?
23:00 | Attention...and long-form vs. short form content
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
27:25 | Finding the “spark” in what you do
29:00 | Getting hired at Ontario Parks
30:00 | The “Tell us why we should hire you for this job?” question
32:50 | Hardest part of the job search
35:00 | Not playing the job application numbers game
37:00 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question
Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
39:00 | Mistake made on not speaking up when things get overwhelming
42:25 | Lesson learned on keeping the message “clear, concise and compelling”
The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Sonia Dharni: LinkedIn | Website | Instagram | TikTok
Brands/organizations: George Brown College | Canadian Wildlife Federation | Ontario Parks (Website) | Ontario Parks (Instagram) | Ontario Parks (Twitter) | National Park Service (Website) | National Park Service (Instagram)
Marketing and media tools: Sprout Social | Microsoft Excel
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness