Brands-On Experience

A Brands-On Experience internship is about learning the ad business. Not part of the ad business; every aspect of it.

The philosophy is simple: No matter where your talent lies or what you specialize in, your success starts with obtaining a start-to-finish understanding the branding/advertising business and the processes that go into making brands hum.

Since Darby O’Brien is a full-service ad agency and a small shop, we are able to ensure that every intern in our Brands-On program is involved in:

• Concept meetings — Not as an observer but as a contributor, jumping in as part of the concept development team, participating as we create brands and the strategies we use to build and promote them.
• Client presentations/strategies sessions — Working with the team to create presentations and taking part in the presentation process, including back-and-forth with clients to sell creatives and shape strategies.
• Gut trend spotting — Helping to ID emerging business and cultural trends that inform the agency’s work and, with writing-focused interns, working to create entries for our ongoing Gut trends blog.
• Concept/design
• TV/web video production
• Media planning
• Photo shoots
• Press runs
• Budget planning and estimating
• Web design/new media creatives
• Grass roots, guerilla marketing

A Brands-On Experience internship provides more than a few lines to add to a resume: It offers an opportunity to develop a portfolio of actual, often fully executed branding/marketing work, to gain real-world experience; and to make connections that facilitate successful job prospecting.

The cost of taking part in our full intensive eight-week brand camp program is $5,000. Four-week wintersession brand camp enrollment is available for $3,000.

To learn more about Brands-On Experience internships, call or email Gainer O’Brien.