The Department of Media Studies (DMS) at the Faculty of Humanities (FH), Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), organized on October 25, 2017, a seminar titled, "The Best Job in the World," presented by a J. Walter Thompson (JWT) team composed of JWT’s Beirut Managing Director Tarek Haddad and Regional Creative Director Nicolas Geahchan.
Haddad introduced the session by giving the audience a general overview about JWT and the way advertising is changing worldwide from a pure brand-centered communication approach to a consumer-centric messaging.
For his part, Geahchan covered the evolution of portraying women in ads and included old successful campaigns from the 1930s, which are today viewed as stereotypical and would break the internet if they were to be communicated on social media.
The second part of the session focused on how advertising changed from “Good Advertising” to “Doing Good Advertising.” Geahchan also presented several successful CSR campaigns that positively impacted the commercial brand’s Return on Investment (ROI) and boosted their sales and brand image.
Geahchan said, “The best job in the world is the job that gives you the opportunity to positively impact someone’s life.”
Haddad then introduced to the audience the “My First Live Brief” competition. Four groups were formed, and each group had to link a brand to a relevant cause. The winning team presented a smart idea combining touch and women empowerment. The team will be going to JWT to present their final idea and will have the chance to present to the client as well.
Haddad ended the session, saying, “It’s not about spending your client’s budget on a nice TVC and using media to spread it, sometimes all it takes is a smart idea that is linked to a relevant cause to generate a huge buzz.”