Week 7: UPBrand

For week seven of our internship, we went to UPBrand, a creative agency in Downtown STL. UPBrand is also part of the Nitrous Effect collective – a group of seven diverse, specialized agencies that work together to solve problems. By collaborating, the Nitrous Effect can provide a robust set of services for clients. These include corporate events/speakers (CPG/Evntiv/Geniecast), software development (RevUnit), video (Vidzu), experiential marketing (RedPeg), and of course, creative services (UPBrand). During the week, we got to meet people from (most) of the Nitrous Effect agencies, which was a nice bonus!

Our client this week was Exotico Tequila, a mid-priced tequila brand made out of 100% blue agave. The task – concept three, Instagram-focused social media campaigns for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Día de los Muertos is central to the Exotico brand, as the logo contains a sugar skull. This was a big ask from our client, but we’re always up for a challenge. Coincidentally, National Tequila Day (July 24th) happened during our week – so the agency decided to celebrate with Exotico margaritas!

During our week, UPBrand team members were especially welcoming and excited to teach us more about their work. The team was smaller than most of the others on our Hop (15-20), giving us the chance to see how smaller agencies operate. UPBrand walked us through their client pitch process, from ‘stand-ups’ to client meetings to creative director concept checks. Following this process taught us a lot about how they’re able to produce great work in an efficient way. Panel discussions with the creative and account teams also gave us a closer look at peoples’ day-to-day responsibilities. Though, as we’ve learned, no two days are alike in advertising!

In addition, we had the opportunity to go to Ad Club’s ‘Beyond the Addys’ event on Thursday afternoon. At the event, we heard presentations from ADDY winners HLK, Rogers Townsend and New Honor Society. The event really sparked our creativity and encouraged us to think bigger. We’re grateful that the Nitrous Effect allowed us to attend.

Overall, we learned a ton at UPBrand, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the many people that helped us. Special thanks to Jeff Insco for hosting us, Christian Lindsey and Erin Barner for acting as our client, Lance Lemen, Nate Shryock, and Rommel Medrano for teaching us more about your roles, and (Internship Hop alumni!) Peyton Mogley for guiding through the week!