112: Creativity within Digital Marketing and Ad Sales

Catalyst is a Creative Industries podcast, from Chapman University. Each episode features Chapman students who have completed a Podcasting course through the Center for Creative and Cultural Industries at the university. Students who had no podcasting experience or technical ability in the genre before taking the course were able to contribute all the segments to Catalyst this season with the goal being that they will take this ‘hands-on’ experience and carry it over to the launching of their very own series. Each episode of Season 13 will feature one to two different interviews conducted by CCI students, exploring different aspects of the Creative and Cultural Industries.
This week starts off with a real bang as Franca Strandell leads us through an interview with Ned Dane, the Digital Partnerships Marketing Coordinator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). They discuss how Ned's career took a surprising turn when, after starting in finance, he accepted an internship with Formula 1 racing that opened his eyes to the world of sports partnerships and marketing. The pair discuss the highs and lows of moving from finance to sports, the differences between the industries, and what it takes to break into the competitive sports industry.  Dane also gives the audience an idea of what his current role at the UFC is like, where he spends his days analyzing data and planning creative projects like content shoots featuring top fighters. Before signing off, Franca and Ned touch on the difficult balance of optimizing partnerships and how to keep the UFC’s brand authentic without overdoing commercial content.
Closing the episode this week is Eric Hong, a sales ad intern at NBC Universal who sits down to talk to Anna Gemmell. Hong delves into what being an ad sales intern entails and what being an intern specifically at NBC Universal is like including what is expected when collaborating with other departments of the company and the feeling of Universal’s company culture. Gemmell and Hong talk about some of the fun perks of being part of the intern program, and Hong discusses the NBC Universal application process, interview process, and tips to help other potential interns applying for this specific internship process. They finish the interview with a discussion of how ad sales can often be overlooked as a pivotal part of marketing, which dots landscape of the creative and cultural industries more than people realize.