Weeklong Portfolio BOOTCAMP starts today...

To prepare for their May 27th portfolio defense in front of a jury of professionals, the Class of 2015 -- our first graduating class -- will be "blowing off" classes this week to dedicate themselves to polishing up their digital portfolios. Each night, students will be working in the BIC lab with "over-the-shoulder" tutors giving them expert advice on how to make their portfolios more dynamic. There's a theme each night: for example, Monday welcomes two filmmakers to advise students on how to create video case studies of their projects. Wednesday is dedicated to digital design. As the  BIC students aspire to INVENT leadership portfolios, the Boot Camp is an opportunity for them to "kick butt."  

Super Bowl 50: $6 million for 30-seconds

As the debate over the value of airing a spot on the Super Bowl still rages, Les Moonves, the chief executive of CBS, announced that the price of the average 30-second Super Bowl ad slot in 2016 could soar up to 33% to $6 million.  Business Insider reports that CBS, which will air next year's big game, is bullish about its ambistions in 2016. The last time CBS aired the Super Bowl, three years ago, the average 30-second spot cost $3.8 million.

Read More: http://www.businessinsider.com/cbs-q4-earnings-2015-2#ixzz3RefhO7u1

Ivan Ramirez is BIC's latest MAIP winner

BIC adds to its list of students who will be a part of the MAIP legacy with Ivan Ramirez who will be interning this summer in the Creative Department at McCann here in New York City. This follows last year's winner, Chris Villanueva, who interned at TBWA's Creative Department as part of MAIP. Another BIC student, Jacques Epangue, made it to this year's list of finalists. Three undergraduates of CCNY's Advertising and Public Relations program will also be MAIP interns: Joanna Ventour, Jerry Louis, and Rohan Patrick -- the last two for a second year in a row.

Each year, undergraduate and graduate students are selected for a 10-week paid summer internship at an 4A's member advertising agency. Students gain practical work experience, establish key industry contacts, and perhaps most importantly, become better prepared to land a full-time job in advertising when they graduate. At the same time, the program gives advertising agencies a cost-effective way to identify and recruit talented multicultural students.

Upon completion of the program, interns become members of the MAIP Alumni Association, a close-knit family of over 2,600 MAIP graduates that fosters the development of future MAIP interns as well as the professional development of the program’s alumni. Learn more about MAIP here. 

End-of-Semester Presentations: BIC Style

How did BIC wrap up 2014? First, we worked hard (and slept barely) throughout the entire fall semester to create GREAT projects in research, strategy, idea development, relationship building, multi-media creative, employees as brand icons & evangelists, and non-profit branding & integrated communications campaigns.

 

We learned from ALL STAR guest lecturers such as Madonna Deverson, Executive Director Intelligence Group of Ogilvy & Mather, Horst Stipp, Subject Matter Director at Advertising Research Foundation, Marian Salzman, Chairman of Global Collective and CEO, North America, Havas PR, Allyson Hugley, President of Measurement, Analytics, and Insights of Weber Shandwick, Kim Ketchell, Director of Strategy of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, Alison Gluck, Brand Planner of Young & Rubicam, Marisa McMahon of Millward Brown Digital, John Zweig, Chairman of WPP Healthcare, Julie Kravetz, Group Planning Director of Grey, Lance Mald, CMO MovMobile, Rob Burton, Managing Director of PreparedEx, Cathy Cohan, Global Chief Growth Officer at Y&R, Jim Kiszka, Senior Manager Digital Strategist and Paid Digital Media at Kellogg Company, and Gustavo Stecher, Graphic Designer specializing in Cultural and Iconic Branding.

In December, we spent days doing this: Rehearse. Rehearse. Rehearse.

THEN the pressure mounted when CLIENTS show up --  such as Anne Balogna, Vice President of Brand Strategy at TripAdvisor, Jennifer Jacobs, VP Marketing of New York Water Taxi, and Dr. Lawrence Stanberry, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, and Dr. Michael Weiner, Vice Chair of External Affairs for the Department of Pediatrics at CUMC.

And THEN this: PRESENT. PRESENT. PRESENT. PRESENT. And PRESENT again.

 

  The results? APPLAUSE. APPLAUSE. APPLAUSE.

Led by Prof. Douglas Davis, Non-Profit Capstone for Columbia Children's Health a BIC success

Professor Douglas Davis rehearses the teams.

On December 18th in Shepard Hall, the inaugural BIC class pitched their 360 degree communi- cations campaigns to its client, Columbia Children's Health. Located in northern Manhattan, Columbia Children’s Health offers comprehensive health services to children, especially to those in need of special care. Its renowned Columbia network is a braintrust of the world’s best physicians, surgeons, and caregivers who are passionately dedicated and embrace collaboration with colleagues over ego. 

Representatives from CCH listening to presentations.

Founded in 1887 as The Babies Hospital, it's the oldest hospital dedicated to the care of children and babies in New York and enjoys much of its preeminence thanks to its relationship with Columbia University’s medical school, the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Today, a series of hospital mergers and an association with Morgan Stanley has led to brand confusion -- the perfect opportunity for BIC students to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

Presenting the "We Get Better Together" campaign.

Back in August, BICsters were divided into three competing communications teams to build on existing brand equity and develop meaningful and compelling communications materials that will solidify CCH’s identify as uniquely qualified to deliver complex care to children. 

Ruth Ogbeab, a member of the winning team.

After months of research, strategic mapping, and campaign development, representatives from CCH -- which included Dr. Lawrence Stanberry, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), Dr. Michael Weiner, Vice Chair of External Affairs for the Department of Pediatrics at CUMC, Dr. Steve Kernie,  Director of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at CUMC, Dr. Karen A. Kennedy, Chair of the Children’s Board at Columbia, Pam Kernie, Children’s Board member, Gail Albert Halaban, Children’s Board member, and Ellen Oppenheim, Children’s Board member -- evaluated all three campaigns and after a long deliberation declared the campaign "Champions for Our Children" the winner. 

For 2014 BIC Students, THEY'RE the brand

With a nod to Christopher Doyle's Identity Guidelines as seen at the Cooper- Hewitt's graphic design exhibit on Governor's Island, BIC students deconstructed the details of themselves to determine what constitutes their own brand identity. 

 

Ivan Ramirez

Himani Gupta

  

Castro Desroches

This semester-long project in Professor Gerardo Blumenkrantz and Nancy Tag's Idea Development course not only allowed for personal reflection and analysis, but forced students to develop some basic digital design skills some for the first time. A requirement of the project was that all students needed to use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. One evening in November, BIC students were treated to "over your shoulder" tutorials by CCNY Professor and Lynda.com superstar Ina Saltz, Professor Susan Hunt Yule, and CCNY EDM alum Yoni Weiss who wandered around the room offering design advice to everyone in the BIC labs. After the final presentations on December 3rd, Professor Tag asked the question: "Before this assignment, who had never touched Adobe's InDesign software?" 90% of the class raised their hands. And yet, the results were quite amazing. For a larger sample of student ID Guidelines, go to the Photo Gallery.

Ken Sheldon

Stephen Carnell

Celebrating BIC’s Annual Mix+Mentor at McCann

George Lois and BICster Himani Gupta

BIC’s annual Mix+Mentor event was graciously hosted by McCann Worldgroup in its NYC headquarters this past Thursday evening, December 4^th.. The celebratory event allowed incoming BIC students (class of 2016) to mingle with industry professionals from agencies such as McCann, Y&R, Gravity, Ketchum, Weber Shandwick, IPG, Ogilvy, BBDO, Commonground, jacobstahl, the ARF as well as special guest and BIC Board Member George Lois in McCann’s beautiful entertainment space featuring grandiose views of the city.

BICster Rolando Leal, Chavonne Hodges, and Sallie Mars

Sallie Mars, SVP, Chief Diversity Officer at McCann Worldgroup, provided a warm welcome, encouraging industry colleagues to give the gift of mentorship all year long. As a BIC Board Member, Sallie has been instrumental in shaping both the BIC program and planning for student success post graduation.

BIC Program Director Nancy Tag was in great spirits as she thanked colleagues for supporting the students – and the future of the industry. She noted that BIC students were already making an impact by winning prestigious awards, earning spots in industry competitions, and garnering scholarships.

Jeff Thaler and BICsters Andy Kwan and Emilio Colombrino 

Sadira Furlow and Guest

To see more pictures of this festive event, go to our photo gallery.

BICsters Win Silver in YOUNG GLORY Competition

Touted as “Advertising’s Tour de France for young creatives,” Young Glory just awarded BICsters Javier Garcia and Batikan Aslan  (Class of 2015) a student Silver for their submission to this prestigious worldwide creativity competition. Responding to its brief for Ebola management, Javier and Batikan were asked to come up with a tool or service to help better manage Ebola outbreaks—from prevention to faster notice and action.

Javier Garcia and Batikan Aslan

Their winning project, radioGO, is a free radio broadcast, distributed via mobile phones, that weaves premium content with medical and emergency information to minimize the spread of Ebola and educate listeners, empowering them with knowledge and emphasizing early detection and survival through recommendations by medical experts and interviews with survivors. radioGO is noteworthy for its emphatic approach to handling the frightening epidemic, as well as its innovative use of mobile technology. BIC is proud to have two students come up with such a compassionate and uplifting approach to handling the epidemic. 

Through its annual 8-month creativity competition, Young Glory identifies the hardest working and most creatively consistent junior and mid-level talent and introduces them to the world's best agencies. See all the winning campaigns submitted in response to the Ebola brief.

BIC Students Presenting at Re:Think 2015

BIC Class of 2015 students Edmund Balogun and Nehal Mahmoud have been invited to participate at the ARF's Re:Think 2015 Conference, March 16-18th. They'll be presenting their paper on "Enhancing the Effectiveness of Storytelling" at the Hilton in Midtown, NYC.

The Re:Think 2015, "Re:Think How Advertising Works," conference will feature leading-edge insights that are making an impact on the industry. Over 2,500 insights, analytics, and marketing leaders from brands, agencies, media and research organizations will be represented. And now, thanks to Nehal and Edmund, so will BIC!

Learn more about Re:Think 2015.

BICsters #TakeTheMic at The 3rd Annual 3% Conference in San Francisco

BIC students Nehal Mahmoud and Luz Corona shared these pictures from their trip to The 3% Conference in San Francisco, November 3-4. Thanks to the 3% Conference, female talent and leadership are being celebrated and championed this week and we couldn't be more proud to have two of our brightest students there to share in the limelight. Luz and Nehal were among the 3% Student Competition scholarship winners awarded an all expenses paid trip to the conference! Scroll down to see their photos as well as the gorgeous poster they created for the competition. 

BICsters Luz Corona and Nehal Mahmoud represent for BIC.

Nehal and Luz (bottom right corner) attend the portfolio review
lunch for Student Scholarship Winners. (photo via @AdobeStudents)

Launched in 2012, The 3% Conference has exploded into a 2-day, 400-person event in San Francisco, a multi-city road show, and a vibrant online community on multiple social platforms, a student scholarship, a creative award, and a business blog to support the crusade. The theme for the 2014 conference is "Inspiration & Activation." Follow the vibrant conversation on Twitter.  

Luz and Nehal's winning poster