Advertising Alum Talks Shop with Students

The ADTEAM and the Advertising & Marketing Communications program at Johnson & Wales have an incredible and lengthy list of alumni who hold highly valued positions in the advertising industry. On occasion, some of these alumni reach out to current students to help them on their journey to post-college life. This past week, JWU grad Bayla Werman’15, now an account executive (AE) at Mullenlowe U.S. in Boston, Massachusetts, visited the ADTEAM and Advertising Club members to give them a little insight into the advertising industry and her position at Mullenlowe.

Mullenlowe, an advertising agency founded in 1952, has 90 offices worldwide and employs more than 6,000 people. It prides itself on holding a “challenger mentality.” Some of their clients include E*Trade, Whole Foods Market, Google, JetBlue Airways, Acura, Burger King and Chipotle Mexican Grill. Mullenlowe has many services readily available to their well-known clientele and operates as a full-service, integrated digital marketing agency, global creative boutique and media shop all in one.

Werman helped JWU students realize how important her role at the agency is and how it does not match some of the common misconceptions held about AEs. An AE holds an extremely vital role at any agency, serving as the liaison between the clients and the agency. They must make sure all relevant parts of the client’s “ask” is included in the advertising campaign while, of course, staying within budget. It is imperative to the client that AEs are always on top of everything happening with the campaign on the agency side. They also help present the creative messages to the clients. Werman’s current clients include Twisted Tea and JetBlue.

Werman has been involved with a special initiative for JetBlue related to the topic of a lack of diversity that has been surrounding the advertising industry. Agencies are working to fill the industry with a diverse group of people with creative minds from all over the globe. Mullenlowe takes this topic seriously, and through its diversity initiative, Werman works to bring the issue of a lack of diversity in the ad industry to the surface. As part of this initiative, Werman and her team speak to high school students about advertising and how it can be a very successful career path to consider.

JetBlue is one of the larger accounts that Mullenlowe holds and it happened to be Werman’s first account after joining the agency. When Mullenlowe accepted the challenge of airline advertising with JetBlue, they had to reshape the negative stereotypes surrounding air travel. All of the advertising for JetBlue ties back to its tagline, "Air on the Side of Humanity." So, with this mindset, thanks to Mullenlowe, JetBlue has been one of the few airlines that have made a point to change how people view the airline industry.

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