Meet Eve, future creative copywriter.

Two things we don’t often hear; “I love language and want to be a creative writer” and “I spend my time in media studies critiquing ads”. How could we say no to offering Eve a work placement? Smart, curious and destined for a bright creative future – we’re looking forward to seeing what’s next for our first ever Creative Futures alumni. Over to you Eve….

Spending four days at Thrive taught me what textbooks can’t – the reality of the creative industry.

When I started searching for a work experience placement, I knew I wanted to explore the creative industry, to delve into the reality of it, learn what really goes on within an agency and gain valuable insight that would set me apart from others. I wanted a place that would be supportive and genuinely passionate about their work to show me the ropes, to learn from people who loved their jobs and luckily, I found Thrive – a local advertising and marketing agency whose friendly and welcoming approach stood out to me. Initially, what drew me in was the locality of their work and it was really interesting to see the people behind the campaigns that I knew from my day-to-day life. I knew I wouldn’t be without opportunity to learn and thanks to the hospitality and kindness of Dave, I was not disappointed.

On my first day, I got stuck in straight away with competitor research for an outside education company. Guided by the amazing Hannah, I spent some time scouring the internet for what other brands were doing – what they did, why did it work and how could that impact be replicated? From research to later writing a brief, I put my ideas into action, and it was amazing to feel as trusted and as valuable as I did by the team – despite just being a student! Throughout the week, I kept up with work into the brand’s messaging, eventually coming up with my own lines to use on the website. Rather than working on small tasks each day, the continuity of work really allowed me to get invested into the brand and gain an in-depth look into what it takes to fulfil a brief.

Throughout my time at Thrive, I got the opportunity to chat to different members of the team about their work and gained a real-life understanding of the routes into this industry, something University prospectuses alone couldn’t show me. I got the chance to look into what they were currently working on, such as the amazing college prospectus designed by Lucy, allowing me to investigate so many different aspects of the industry and get a comprehensive understanding of the variety of work you could get within an agency.

Through lots of chats with people in all departments of the team, I got a real sense of messaging, the importance of branding and how that translates into real work. On my last day I was treated to the famous ‘What is a brand?’ chat by Richard Barnes. What is it, well, I can’t possibly share company secrets but I can tell you that during my short time at Thrive I learnt the value of insight, creativity and passion.

Thank you, Thrive team, for an amazing experience that won’t be forgotten!