It’s been almost a year since we announced Marissa Lewis-Peart as the winner of the 2019 Ben Martin Apprentice Award (BMAA). Marissa’s had an enviable experience of Bristol’s creative sector since being selected. 12 months later and with applications open for the BMAA 2020, we wanted to find out more about the opportunities she’s received since last year’s victory. 

“Hi, I’m Marissa, a Graphic Communication graduate, and I won the 2019 Ben Martin Apprentice Award!

As part of my award I attended SXSW in Austin, Texas – The world’s largest interactive media festival, where I had the opportunity to immerse myself into the latest technology and attend talks by industry leaders. Read the article about my festival experience here. Since finishing my final year at university, I’ve been making my way around 15 different Advertising, Marketing, Branding, Design and Digital agencies, taking part in 1-2 week internships.

As a student wrapping up my final year at university, I felt nervous about what would lie ahead of me in terms of finding a graduate job and not wanting to lose my creative freedom. Winning the Ben Martin Apprentice Award came at the perfect time and it took a lot of that stress away for me. It provided me with connections to people within the industry and paid internships straight out of university, providing a rare opportunity to experience the biggest creative agencies in Bristol and learn about the various roles within these agencies, all in one go! Some of these agencies include Armadillo, McCann Bristol, Bray Leino, Wonderland Communications, Halo, Tällt, Saintnicks, Mr B & Friends, Taxi Studio, True Digital, Great State and more to come.

I’ve met so many great and supportive people who have taken time out of their schedules to explain to me how exactly the Internet works, or why my website has disappeared from Google, how Pantone colours are used, or have written me a reading list of creative strategy and design books to get stuck into! I’ve had the chance to work on projects for Disney Cruises, McDonalds, The Royal Navy and many more companies, as well as attend a commercial photo shoot for a campaign and facilitate my own user testing sessions for an app that’s being developed, all within my first 4 months out of university!

It’s a crazy feeling when I reflect on notes that I took during my first few internships and how I’m beginning to apply my knowledge now, and I realise how much I’ve learnt in such a short space of time. Nothing compares to gaining real industry experience and I’m so glad to have been given this opportunity.

I’m now beginning to wrap up my last few internships and I’m weighing up my options in terms of whether to go back to a few agencies to do longer internships and gain more, varied experience, or whether to settle into a permanent job role. Whatever I choose to do, I’m grateful to have options and be in the position to choose my next steps thanks to the Ben Martin Apprentice Award.

If you’re reading this and considering applying for the 2020 Ben Martin Apprentice Award I definitely recommend you do! I was unsure about applying when I first came across the award. I doubted whether I stood a chance at winning, but you miss 100% of the opportunities that you don’t put yourself forward for! What’s the worst that can happen?”

We’re now looking for sponsors to come forward and support the BMAA in 2020. If you’re committed to making a difference, get in touch for details. 

For candidates, more information about the 2020 Ben Martin Apprentice Award and how to apply can be found here. 

The award was set up in memory of the late Ben Martin, a local, entrepreneurial agency MD who was committed to an inclusive culture and actively encouraged diversity.

Marissa Lewis-Peart won last year’s award, travelling to Austin with Chris Thurling, Bristol Media Chair, to attend the world’s largest digital festival, SxSW. This was followed by a 5-month paid internship programme with a range of the top agencies in the South West – McCann Bristol, Bray Leino CX, Armadillo, True, Mentor Digital, Ragdoll, Tallt, Wonderland Communications, Mr B & Friends, saintnicks, Taxi Studio, Great State, Six and Halo. Read about Marissa’s experience here.

This year Bristol Media and ADLIB, together with a growing list of agency sponsors, are extending the award to 4 candidates. A candidate briefing session in mid-October, hosted by ADLIB, Bristol Media and Babbasa, will allow candidates to fully explore the opportunities available to them, according to their preferred area of interest in either the creative, technology, data or tech sector.

Applicants should submit a video (no more than a min) or short written piece (around 500 words), explaining why they stand out and should be selected. Successful applicants will be interviewed by a panel of experts and the winner and 3 runners up will be awarded paid internships. The winner will, once again, attend SxSW with Bristol Media and a group of industry professionals.

To enter the award, please send your submission to [email protected] by Friday 22nd November 2019. Winners will be announced in early December.

Terms and Conditions

Applicants must be over 18.

Applicants must be willing to create and supply content of their journey for media usage.

Applicants must be able to travel to Texas in March 2020.

Applicants must be living in the South West of England.

*DEADLINE EXTENDED – We’ve had some fantastic applications, and are now looking for freelancers who specialise in Copywriting, Animation or Video production*

We’ve had several requests from our membership community to bring back our famous Portfolio Review Nights. Well, there’s good news! We’ve secured the date and the venue, and the next Portfolio Review night will be held on Wednesday 13th November at Origin Workspace, Berkeley Square.

If you’re a Bristol Media Freelance Member working in the creative sector, this is a fantastic opportunity to have your portfolio work reviewed by top creative directors from several of the most successful agencies in the region. We’ve got 15 creative directors signed up from agencies including Mr B & Friends, Oakwood, Epoch, Armadillo, Proctor + Stevenson, Zone, saintnicks, Great State, Bray Leino CX, The Way, Halo, Home , Six and Prophecy who are all eager to meet local talent.

Freelancers will have up to 8 minutes with each director who will offer their advice and constructive feedback in a speed networking environment. In the past, Freelancers have often secured a project or been invited for a further interview with the agency team, and we hear that the creative directors have a great time, too!

We’re now looking for freelancers working in the fields of digital, graphic design, branding, web development, video production, animation/motion graphics, VFX, photography, illustration and copywriting.

This is a very popular event which is for Bristol Media members only. We only have 15 places available.

TO APPLY:

Please email [email protected] saying why this is the perfect opportunity for you right now, along with a link to your portfolio or website. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 25th October.  

Did you know that the creative industries in the UK are now responsible for 8% of GDP? But what is it, this thing called creativity? And what does it mean to be a creative person? Why is it that agencies exist? What is it that (most) marketers cannot do themselves? 

BOOK NOW

Course overview

Hosted by Patrick Collister, ‘Getting the Big Idea’ is a one-day ‘how-to’ workshop for Creatives, Planners and Account Managers, designed to provide the necessary tools to generate ideas. What it is NOT is a session involving finger-paints, plasticine and connecting with the inner self. It will, however, provide the answers that teams need to understand exactly what it is they’re doing and how to do it faster, with more confidence and with greater expectation of success.

Structure

Hi Pete, what do you do at Prophecy Unlimited?

Prophecy Unlimited is a customer journey agency, launched in May 2017. We brought together two great South West agencies, EMO Unlimited, renowned for customer acquisition, and The Real Adventure Unlimited, experts in customer relationship management. We realised that we could combine the complementary skill sets and people together, the result being Prophecy Unlimited. That ultimately means we work across every channel in the mix, and for some clients we work end-to-end across the whole journey.

Customer journeys are rapidly changing in terms of technology and consumer behaviours, so we work with our clients to create a successful and impactful customer experience.

More specifically, my role as CEO involves two key jobs: one is making sure the Prophecy team are happy, and then making sure that clients are happy, too. The two are incredibly interrelated, happy team, happy clients, and vice versa!

Who’s in the team?

Everyone from client services, project management, creative content, data and insight, tech, HR… the list goes on. I’m responsible for making sure we have key team leads ensuring we all work to the best of our abilities. No one department is more important than another, it’s a real team effort.

What are you most proud of as a business?

The client list that we have for a South West agency – I’m so proud of it. We have several clients who have been with us for over 30 years, some large blue-chip brands and global players.

I’m ex London, and we tend to have this chip on our shoulders about London, thinking it’s the big be all and end all. But I actually think the work coming out of Bristol is as good, if not better, than the London players. Bristol has such an energy and creativity.

What’s your favourite office gadget?

Big Red – our coffee machine! It’s got to be at least 10 years old. Probably as long as we’ve been Bristol Media members it’s been trucking along, supplying us with coffee. As part of our induction for new starters we have a stint with the coffee machine. Not quite barista training, but it’s a proper machine so not just a press and go.

Whose work do you admire and why?

This is a tricky question, because I think about the campaigns I like at the moment and actually, I wouldn’t pin it on one particular agency or brand. I’ve never known a time for the agency world to be quite as challenging, in terms of the changes and the dreaded B-word. Any agency that’s making their client feel confident enough in them to buy work is absolutely doing great. Hats off to all!

What’s the biggest challenge your industry/organisation is facing at the moment?

I can think of two, clearly economic uncertainty is one of those, but also data. The scandal around Cambridge Analytica made consumers wary about their information and what’s being used and where. Not only that, but with more data available, we need to make sure we don’t just disappear into big systems like Adobe or Salesforce. It’s something we’ve been focussing on at Prophecy recently; transparency in the customer journey, not just getting the system to tell us the answers but making sure we’re sensitive to human emotion and using old school planning skills.

If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting out, what would it be?

Get involved, put your hand up, get stuck in and remember that your voice matters. Great ideas can come from anywhere, any team and any person. Don’t be afraid to speak up! And seek out a mentor if you can.

What’s your favourite place in Bristol/this area?

On Friday mornings I religiously make a breakfast run to Hart’s Bakery. The guys know to leave a small window in the diary so I can get my sourdough, or sausage rolls, or cheese toasties… There’s too much to choose from!

If you could sum up Bristol/this area in 3 words, what would they be?

First up, real. As a city, we don’t pretend to be anything different. We’re proud of our differences. Then vibrant and innovative.

What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?

That’s a really good question, because we’ve always got new things in the pipeline, and those vary by client. Probably the most exciting thing is our new customer journey methodology, it’s a model for getting to the heart of what’s working in a customer journey and what’s not.

We’re working it through now and we’ve got some clients using it. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up a bit thinking of the difference it’s going to make. We’ll be sharing it soon so watch this space!

To see latest examples of Prophecy’s work, visit the website.

Fancy joining the Prophecy Unlimited team? They’re on the lookout for new hires, find out more about the roles available here.

If you’d like to be part of our Featured Member series and profile your business, get in touch.

Our Content Apprentice Izzy headed over to Bath for this month’s Featured Member to talk with Sue Bush, Creative Director at Touchpoint Design, and find out more about what they’re up to. Here’s what we learned…

Hi Sue, tell us what you do?

We are a brand design agency, we design brand identities, primarily for arts and culture and not for profit clients. We work across all touchpoints, which is where we got our name. The touchpoints are: digital, printed materials and large-format visuals. Ensuring a consistent brand identity across all applications.

Who are your team?

There are 3 of us in the production team, myself (creative director), Georgia (designer) and Ian (technical director). We are a small team, but we collaborate with lots of talented associates that we bring in on a project by project basis.

How long have you been a Bristol Media member?

We’ve been a Bristol Media member for 4 years I believe. We became members because I moved to the South West from London, so it was a good way to get to know everyone and join the creative community.

What’s your favourite place in Bath and Bristol?

In Bath, Solsbury Hill, it’s really invigorating up there. It’s a steep hill but a great place to clear your mind. In Bristol, probably the harbourside, a great place for people watching.

What are you most proud of as a business?

I love that we punch above our weight. We’re only small but we take on some really big briefs, size is not an issue. Our rebrand of the American Museum & Gardens was a great example of where we demonstrated what we can achieve with a complex and demanding brief.

Our favourite projects to work on are those where we get involved right from the brand discovery stage, researching, unpacking client vision and values, positioning etc. Going in deep from the start gives us insight and helps us to maximise impact and spark really effective creative solutions.

What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?

We are working on a website with Taxi Studio for the West of England Design Forum to help women in design. There’s a big disparity between women reaching roles of seniority so it’s great to work for something we’re passionate about.

We’re also a part of a ‘mastermind’ group of 8 agency owners. We’re small giants, like the concept developed in the book Small Giants by Bo Burlingham. Based around the idea of sustainable agency growth, rather than expand for the sake of it, to make a wider positive impact beyond simply our own financial gain. So we’re excited to see where this takes us in the future!

Whose work do you admire and why?

Marina Willer from Pentagram. We love her, she’s very humble considering how successful she is, and she works in sectors we work in (charities and creative arts). Her work with Amnesty International and the Serpentine Gallery in particular. She creates clear solutions that are bold and impactful. She is a stand out influence for us.

If there’s one thing we need more of in this region, what is it?

In Bath, it would be great to see a big contemporary art centre. Bristol has Spike Island and the Arnolfini, and while Bath has great spaces, like The Edge and 44AD, it would be nice to have a permanent space that can pull in some of the bigger high-profile artists and act as a creative hub across disciplines.

If you could sum up Bristol in 3 words, what would they be?

Vibrant, refreshingly diverse and fiercely-independent.

What’s the best tip/trick you’ve learnt as a business?

For designers, use a notebook! Don’t go straight for the computer, sketch ideas before you start pushing pixels around, it’s so much easier and quicker. Leuchtturm notebooks are our favourite! Our greatest tip is to really listen. Ask questions, then actively listening to the answers. Prompt and facilitate those conversations to get insight.

Keen to feature your business? If you’d like to be part of our Featured Member series, email Kirsty or Izzy for more information. See you in September!