‘New Blood’ creative Jenny Green talks about begining a new Chapter
Earlier this summer, creative advertising agency Chapter appointed Jenny Green to the role of graduate creative on the same day she found out she’d earned a first class degree from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (part of Birmingham City University).
Chapter's Jenny Green
Winner of a coveted D&AD ‘New Blood’ award for her response to a National Trust brief, Jenny recently spoke to The Drum and shared her perspective as a young, female creative, joining the industry for the first time.
What attracted you to this line of work and do you think more could be done to make the industry more attractive to more women?
I’ve always been interested and excited by design and the creative industries, but it wasn’t until I went to university and found out more about advertising that I realised it’s what I really wanted to do. Despite being told that the industry was very male dominated, the majority of students on my university course were female.
When I started doing placements and working in agencies, I never really noticed how few women there were - I just focused on creating work. You soon realise that it really doesn’t matter what gender you are, people are more focused on the work you produce.
Having worked part-time with Chapter during the final year of your studies, do you think your university education provided you with a good grounding in the skills require in the real world of agency work?
Throughout my three years at university I was fortunate to work on a wide range of briefs and was regularly given the opportunity to present my ideas to my class and tutors as well as industry professionals. This gave me the confidence to present my response to live briefs back to creatives and account teams while on placement.
At university, we were encouraged to collaborate with different people, sometimes working in large groups or small teams. It was very much focused on helping us create close working relationships with people with different skills. I believe this experience is crucial when making the transition into the advertising industry - you soon learn exactly how much of the day-to-day is centred around teamwork.
Why did you enter the D&AD New Blood awards and how do you come up with the winning concept for The National Trust brief?
The D&AD annual is always somewhere I look for inspiration, so when I heard about D&AD New Blood, I took the opportunity to enter.
The National Trust brief stood out for me as I’m not currently a member, so I just focused on what would attract people of my generation to go and sign up. While coming up with ideas, I knew it was important to keep their values and the reason why they exist at the heart of the campaign.
When the results were released and I found out I was awarded In Book, it came as a total shock. It’s amazing to know that the judges saw something in my idea and it means my name will now be in the D&AD annual alongside industry professionals.
Why did you choose to join Chapter and what are your hopes for the future?
Working at Chapter part-time for the past year has given me the opportunity to work with some really talented people, who have taught me a lot and have supported me throughout my final year of university. I have loved working here, so I was over the moon when I was offered the job. I wanted to start my career in a company where I knew I could have an impact from day one. The Chapter structure means we get really close to clients and the variety of briefs we receive offers exciting challenges every day.
As ‘new blood’ coming into the industry, are there any current trends that you think will become more important in the future?
As clients move more and more of their budgets into digital and mobile, I think there will be a big shift in the standard of digital creativity and the way in which we interact with consumers. Not only that, but more and more agencies are now using their experience to develop and release their very own products, brands and apps.
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