Against the Grain: Trilix

When taking on your first “real” project as an intern, a lot of thoughts go through your mind, “Am I ready for this? Where do I start? I hope I don’t blow this,” but none can beat the rush you get when you realize it’s time to prove your worth. It can be scary taking on a project with such a high value to our company when you have never done anything like it before. It’s like being thrown into an ocean, not knowing how to swim, and having to fend for yourself. Well, with no arm floaties, I had to learn on my own.

I soon found out that meetings are critical to the success of a project. It’s so easy to get the right group of talented people together, each from different departments, sit down and come up with tactical options on how to complete a project in the allotted timeframe and within the budget. My one-man project quickly turned into a group effort. Unlike class up at school, I was able to delegate tasks to each department at hand that specialized in that particular work. The creative ideas went to our creative department, the press release and announcements to our PR department and the website specifications to our interactive/online team. With follow-up meetings, I was able to put together a great marketing plan for the project. What would have been a semester-long project in school was put together in a little over a week.

The implementation of the marketing plan would not have happened had the plan not been approved with oversight from the CEO, President, account executive and head of the research department. This was a little intimidating to say the least. Facing a panel of four of your superiors and pitching a marketing plan that was little more than an idea a week ago was not an easy thing to do. All in all, I thought the presentation went over fairly well. Of course, for being the first “real” project I have put together, there were a couple tweaks here and there. But the project got approved. (That’s gotta’ mean something right?) Overall, it has been a great learning experience putting together a “real” full-blown marketing plan. Now comes the execution…

A lot of people ask me why I closed Genesis Marketing and Research, Inc. and joined Trilix Research after 9 years.  The short answer is that it felt about time to do something different. Why?  The economy had gotten tougher the last couple years, clients were tightening their budgets more and I was getting ready to do something different in my life.  As many of you know, my life has changed drastically in the past two years and I wanted to make some changes to embrace and enhance my new life.  Trilix Research offers me the great opportunity to interact with bright, creative people daily and to actually see my research and strategy implemented.

Fortunately for me and my clients, Trilix was open to the idea of having me join them to start a research division.  I have known Todd Senne for almost 20 years and trusted both him and his partner, Ron Maahs.  In short, these two have grown Trilix Marketing to where it is today with nearly 30 employees by being good to their employees and their clients.  Few agencies have done so well in recent years.

What does me joining Trilix mean to customers of Trilix Research?  Your research will be completed to the same high standards as we had at Genesis Marketing and Research, Inc.  We will use the best research methodology to match your research need.  The work will be done accurately and the research projects will be competitively priced.  If you are a former client of Genesis, you will not see big price changes on similar projects done in the past.

Best of all, Trilix has more resources to help you.  Resources come in the form of talented people, the investment in new technology and creative problem solving. Our full-service research capabilities allows us to offer focus groups, online surveys, telephone surveys, advanced research techniques and fast turnaround times.  With all of the additional support backing me, Trilix Research will serve your client needs even better than before. I am excited to be working at Trilix and excited to be working with many of my former clients and many new ones as well.  

After chatting with professionals in the field of advertising, I cannot tell you how many times I heard, “If you don’t have any experience in the crazy world of advertising, chances are you won’t be considered for a position.”  I suppose this is understandable.  I mean, why would agencies want to hire a person fresh out of college with zero knowledge of agency life when they could hire someone who has completed an internship and learned the ins and outs of advertising already?

Now, we’ve all been told that internships might not be the most fun and exciting work, but once you get over the standard intern “chores” of making coffee and printing copies, it is clear to see that no class can beat in-house experience.  Walking around the agency, seeing what people do on a day-to-day basis is something that is more valuable than any classroom project.  With only five days experience under my belt so far, it seems like I’ve learned more in those days than I did all semester at school.  Classes can teach you about typical advertising pieces like what a creative brief is or what a new business pitch should look like, but nothing beats hands-on experience.  This is why internships are so valuable.  You have the opportunity to watch and interact with people who’ve been in the business for years.  I’ve been able to sit in on new ad pitches, brainstorming sessions, vendor meetings as well as new client proposal pieces.  Everything is new and exciting.

Everyday I go into work excited to see what projects I will be working on next, keeping an open mind knowing that some will be better than others, but you have to start somewhere right?  With the World Pork Expo coming up next week, I know I’ll have my work cut out for me.  I’m taking every day one step at a time but eager to see what’s in store for me in the future.  Also, just for the record, I haven’t been the “coffee boy” or “copy guy” yet, but if need be, I’ll step up to the plate; after all, I am the intern…

If you’ve never heard of Great Ape Trust, now is your chance to check out the fascinating science, research and conservation that this world-class organization has to offer.

Trilix recently partnered with Great Ape Trust on a website redevelopment project that allows users to experience Great Ape Trust in a whole new light. This latest version of the website has been nearly eight years in the making as Trilix and Great Ape Trust have partnered on various marketing communications efforts over that time – including the Trust’s original award winning website. The new site has allowed everyone involved with this project an opportunity to tell Great Ape Trust’s story in a captivating way like never before.  

Great Ape Trust is a scientific research facility in Des Moines, Iowa, dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence, and to the preservation of endangered great apes in their natural habitats. The Trust is home to a colony of six bonobos involved in noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities. The Trust is also currently home to six orangutans.

With limited visitation to their campus, the Trust relies heavily on its website to provide visitors with the scientific research, photos, videos and conservation projects that encapsulate the efforts of the scientists and staff that work with these magnificent apes.

One unique challenge set forth during initial planning stages for the new site was to give the user a first hand look into exactly how the apes and scientists at Great Ape Trust communicate. Bonobos use lexigrams made up of 128 symbols per board representing various words. Trilix worked closely with Great Ape Trust to develop an Interactive Lexigram experience for users representing a replica of the current boards that would allow users to interact with nearly 400 words used by the bonobos.

An extensive look into Great Ape Trust’s conservation initiative in Gishwati, Rwanda – the Forest of Hope – is highlighted within the site with features such as a blog, team member profiles, an interactive magazine, chimpanzee cam and various facts about Rwanda’s geography, people, government and economy.

Great Ape Trust also uses their website as the hub for their communications with social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The new site allows for easy sharing and integration among these extremely valuable communication channels.

The most important element taken into consideration during development of this new site was Great Ape Trust’s need to be able to self administer a large majority of the sites content following its initial launch. This included scientist and ape biographies, photography, video footage, various resources, news releases and site features such as banners, buttons, breaking news and more. The new content management system will allow Great Ape Trust the ability to keep their site fresh and vibrant with the latest news and information as it happens.    

Experience Great Ape Trust Like Never Before at www.GreatApeTrust.org.    

The endless nights of studying. The meetings that started at 10:00 p.m. Going on 5 hours of sleep. An intramural game tipping off at 1:00 a.m. Nothing can quite prepare you for the fun of college. But one thing’s for sure – if you let it, college can sure prepare you for the “real world.” Those infamous three little words - the real world. My first thought, “DON’T MAKE ME GO!” and my second thought, “can it really be that bad?

Well, the answer is no…and yes. College was certainly a blast and it challenged me in so many ways. I learned to multitask, prioritize and develop skills necessary for the professional world. The social aspect, of course, was a bonus. Graduation from college is just a stepping stone into the world. And that stepping stone led me to Trilix.

There’s no better place than an agency to gain so much experience in such a short amount of time. So if you like variety and a fast-paced work environment, pursue a career in the agency world. The best advice to get there? Keep your activities and internships diverse – this will give you the much needed varied experiences.

Of all the classes, projects and review sessions, I believe my biggest influences were my internships. I recommend getting as many as possible! They only help your professional development, build your skill set and expand your network.

It was actually my connections through my last internship that connected me with the Trilix opening. I checked it out and it turns out that all my experience I gained through my internships and leadership roles was exactly what they were looking for. For the first time in my life I have real responsibility and am able to apply all I’ve learned in college and internships to my work experiences and projects. And besides, everyone has to graduate.

But as for graduation day? I didn’t want to leave college. No way. But they made me… and they had to take me kicking and screaming the whole way.