Christopher Ross-Kellam is an innovative second year student currently on the FD/BA (Hons) Creative Advertising course, who in November setup an online live stream to promote himself as an advertiser by answering an incredible 24 briefs in 24 hours.
During the 24hours Christopher constantly communicated with the outside world by updating his website, twitter account throughout the 24 hours, and took suggestions from viewers and clients about his work.
Christopher has found since completing the project that it generated a lot of interest in the advertising and creative community, and has led him to win a month’s placement at M&C Saatchi advertising agency http://www.mcsaatchi.com in London, as well as making other contacts with many professionals in the industry.
We caught up with Christopher to find out more about the project, his thoughts about the FD/BA (Hons) Creative Advertising course, and the advertising industry in general.
What first got you interested in Advertising?
By accident at first, I wanted and still do want to go into screenwriting, but with the courses I had studied prior to University it wasn’t possible to study it. I thought of Advertising as powerful headlines and endlines and saw that if I was able to write something great with just a few words that would then reflect in writing a feature film script of tens of thousands of words. Plus it is a great course to be creative.
How did ‘One day in November’ come about?
The catalyst for the event was a brief from college to ‘advertise yourself in an inventive way’, and to get agencies to send you live briefs to work on. At the time I did not have a book (portfolio) so I decided that this was a great way to create my book, promote myself, and to get myself noticed by agencies and creative’s. I basically wanted to show how willing I am to work hard and show what I am capable of doing in just 24 hours.
How did you set up/promote the event?
Through the internet mainly. The event had to take place on the internet, so it made sense to tell people about it in the same way. I think people were fascinated by the idea, so they shared it with friends and interest in it built up that way. I managed to get briefs from Advertising agencies, which is an outcome I really wanted.
Did you have time to think about and plan them before-hand?
No, that’s cheating! Every brief was emailed over to me and I opened the emails blind. Some of the briefs were sent on the day, through twitter. I created the ideas one day, and drew up the scamps and uploaded them the day after.
Do you know how many people watched the livestream?
At one point there were 68 people watching the livestream. I had 6,500 views in a month on my website, which is incredible.
How did you find interacting with people during the event?
I found it so encouraging. People helped me to stay motivated and reminded me that they were watching and I think that it was successful because of that interactive element. The live feed proves that it actually happened, and I think the viewers felt a connection with me, seeing the light change in the background as it became morning, and seeing me get more tired throughout the day!
Which brief was your favourite and why?
Probably the GHD brief, I liked trying to make a product that is traditionally seen as feminine into a desirable item for a young man.
I also had a lot of fun doing the brief to advertise my own course, as I think the course is really ahead of its game with ideas, and it’s starting to get noticed more nationally so it was not difficult for me to show its benefits.
How has the course influenced your ideas?
I think I might have been capable of producing the work before, but I would not have understood why I was doing it. This course has helped develop my strategic thinking. In each hour I probably spent 40 minutes building up a strong strategy, and 20 on actual idea generation.
The course has reiterated that ideas are the most important thing, not necessarily computer skills, or design skills. It’s a strange thing to say, but this course re-teaches you how to think.
You look surprisingly fresh in the photos that documented the 24 hour stint, how did you stay awake?
My housemate’s who are lifesavers for bringing me lots of cups of coffee and Lucozade, Especially Jack who brought me fresh pads of paper. I ended up going through 4 ½ pads, and 22 pens!
What have you achieved off the back of this brief?
People seem to know who I am! I was in London the other day and I overheard a girl saying ‘That’s the guy that did 1dayinNovember project’. I’ve heard a story of an A level teacher in Brighton, and a teacher in LA using my project as an example to students in their classrooms. I’ve been approached by headhunting agencies and excitingly, been offered a 1 month placement with M&C Saatchi- purely from a recommendation through my work on this project.
What have you got planned in the future?
I have lots of plans! I’ve already done one day in January with Tom Bird, from my course. The premise of this project was to create a new brand to a household name in 24 hours. It’s exhausting but it’s something I’ll definitely do again. I am planning to do a 24 hour event every 2 months.
I’m going to set up a competition on twitter, for people to guess how many tweets I can make without repeating any word. I’m writing a novel, based on the same premise, but it’s getting very difficult, as I am already up to 6,000 words!
I hope I don’t sound like I am full of myself, but I’d like my ideas to be remembered in the future, and for other people to reference them. I think what 1dayinNovember has done is utilise social media but it’s not gimmicky, because of the personal, interactive element. There’s an incredible amount of work involved and I think people see that, because they can watch me working ‘live’ and feel like they are a part of it.
