Jameson Lee, Integrated Marketing Coordinator, MTV
Jameson started at MTV’s Integrated Marketing department as an intern, and upon graduation he began working as an assistant for the team. Currently he is the Integrated Marketing Coordinator for the MTV brand and helps clients bring their products and services to life through his company’s extensive content platforms.
Jameson graduated from New York University in 2013 with a degree in Media, Culture, and Communication. He now lives with his adorable dog in New York City and enjoys the opportunity to wear a variety of hats and learn a wide breadth of skills. Follow Jameson on Twitter @jamesonpaul and read more about his start in marketing:
On school:
I had a bit of an unconventional path to where I have landed today. Initially, for the first half of my college career, I studied Childhood/Special Education, as I had always had a burning desire to be a teacher. But halfway through my sophomore year, I had a revelation that what I loved about Education was the marketing aspect of teaching - knowing an audience, selling through a concept, meeting objectives, public speaking, building relationships, uniting parties. From this revelation came my decision to part with Education and switch my major to Media, Culture, and Communication, minoring in Producing.
In retrospect, this was one of the best decisions I ever made; however, having been in the work force for almost 2 years, it is pretty amazing to see how much the skills and lessons I learned in my Education courses apply to what I do now. Patience, organization, storytelling, creativity, problem-solving - these are skills that I use on a daily basis and can fairly attribute to my Education classes versus my Media, Culture, and Communication classes. Within my media, marketing, and producing studies, though, I would say the class that stood out to me the most (and has been most useful in the field of entertainment marketing) was Producing for Television. Learning the production process from ideation, to pitch, to execution and all of the business processes and transactions in between has been incredibly beneficial, as production is a huge aspect of my job in creating co-branded content.
On internships:
I was fortunate enough to intern in the department in which I currently work today. It all really happened by chance - I applied to Viacom broadly for a marketing internship. I initially thought I wanted to pursue more traditional consumer marketing. However, the College Relations recruiter placed me in an interview with MTV Integrated Marketing (which, frankly, I did not know quite what that meant or what actually happened there), yet I ended up being offered the intern position. Being in the Integrated Marketing department as an intern was not only so educational from the hands-on experience I received, but it was also so beneficial in helping me to build relationships that would ultimately allow me to work in the department full time.
Timing seems to be one of the biggest factors in the job search process, and timing was really on my side. As I was searching for a job, MTV's Integrated Marketing department was looking for an Assistant, so it all kind of fell into place. Needless to say, I was incredibly lucky. But the lesson learned here is that you should never underestimate the power of relationships - your next job can come from anyone, at any time, from anywhere, so always value all of the connections you make throughout your professional journey.
On his current job:
As a Coordinator, my main responsibilities are more execution-based; that is, I will create the pitch and wrap decks for client programs, liaise internally across departments (to vet content, seek approvals, secure talent, craft production calendars, etc.), and attend shoots to ensure we are hitting our marketing beats and best representing our partner(s) in our sponsored content. I really enjoy being the engine to move things along and execute accurately and efficiently; however, often times the vetting and approval process can be quite taxing.
On tools and resources:
We wear many hats in Integrated Marketing, as we have to work across all internal departments to carve out channel properties that help us build the most effective and robust programs for our partners. But certainly being a Millennial who understands social media (consumer habits, trends, functions, etc.) has been a skill that I never really thought would be as helpful as it is for me every day. My team also spends many hours a day in PowerPoint, so all of those presentations I had to make from 2nd grade through senior year of college were absolutely worth it!
Advice:
Honestly, the biggest advice I would give to my college self would be to relax and enjoy the process a bit more. I firmly believe that if you put out the good vibes and work hard, you'll end up where you're meant to be. Build and maintain relationships, and have a mentor who can be your compass and confidant, and you will land where you need to be. Never take any of your connections for granted!
On tools and resources:
Integrated Marketing (also known at some companies as Ad Sales Marketing or Partnership Marketing) is a rapidly growing area of marketing. More and more, brands are looking to go beyond traditional media spends and find ways to be brought closer to content to speak to fans and consumers in a more organic and relatable manner.
I think what has been the biggest development in this field and what I have found fascinating is the use of social influencers to achieve brands' objectives and engage consumers in a seemingly unbranded and natural fashion. These influencers are everyday Millennial men and women who are being paid big bucks to do some of the heavy lifting in terms of messaging for brands, and we are seeing more and more partners requesting an influencer component for their programs. In terms of good industry reads, I love AdAge for my marketing updates and Cynopsis for my entertainment updates. Great reads during your morning commute!
Jameson graduated from New York University in 2013 with a degree in Media, Culture, and Communication. He now lives with his adorable dog in New York City and enjoys the opportunity to wear a variety of hats and learn a wide breadth of skills. Follow Jameson on Twitter @jamesonpaul and read more about his start in marketing:
On school:
I had a bit of an unconventional path to where I have landed today. Initially, for the first half of my college career, I studied Childhood/Special Education, as I had always had a burning desire to be a teacher. But halfway through my sophomore year, I had a revelation that what I loved about Education was the marketing aspect of teaching - knowing an audience, selling through a concept, meeting objectives, public speaking, building relationships, uniting parties. From this revelation came my decision to part with Education and switch my major to Media, Culture, and Communication, minoring in Producing.
In retrospect, this was one of the best decisions I ever made; however, having been in the work force for almost 2 years, it is pretty amazing to see how much the skills and lessons I learned in my Education courses apply to what I do now. Patience, organization, storytelling, creativity, problem-solving - these are skills that I use on a daily basis and can fairly attribute to my Education classes versus my Media, Culture, and Communication classes. Within my media, marketing, and producing studies, though, I would say the class that stood out to me the most (and has been most useful in the field of entertainment marketing) was Producing for Television. Learning the production process from ideation, to pitch, to execution and all of the business processes and transactions in between has been incredibly beneficial, as production is a huge aspect of my job in creating co-branded content.
On internships:
I was fortunate enough to intern in the department in which I currently work today. It all really happened by chance - I applied to Viacom broadly for a marketing internship. I initially thought I wanted to pursue more traditional consumer marketing. However, the College Relations recruiter placed me in an interview with MTV Integrated Marketing (which, frankly, I did not know quite what that meant or what actually happened there), yet I ended up being offered the intern position. Being in the Integrated Marketing department as an intern was not only so educational from the hands-on experience I received, but it was also so beneficial in helping me to build relationships that would ultimately allow me to work in the department full time.
Timing seems to be one of the biggest factors in the job search process, and timing was really on my side. As I was searching for a job, MTV's Integrated Marketing department was looking for an Assistant, so it all kind of fell into place. Needless to say, I was incredibly lucky. But the lesson learned here is that you should never underestimate the power of relationships - your next job can come from anyone, at any time, from anywhere, so always value all of the connections you make throughout your professional journey.
On his current job:
As a Coordinator, my main responsibilities are more execution-based; that is, I will create the pitch and wrap decks for client programs, liaise internally across departments (to vet content, seek approvals, secure talent, craft production calendars, etc.), and attend shoots to ensure we are hitting our marketing beats and best representing our partner(s) in our sponsored content. I really enjoy being the engine to move things along and execute accurately and efficiently; however, often times the vetting and approval process can be quite taxing.
On tools and resources:
We wear many hats in Integrated Marketing, as we have to work across all internal departments to carve out channel properties that help us build the most effective and robust programs for our partners. But certainly being a Millennial who understands social media (consumer habits, trends, functions, etc.) has been a skill that I never really thought would be as helpful as it is for me every day. My team also spends many hours a day in PowerPoint, so all of those presentations I had to make from 2nd grade through senior year of college were absolutely worth it!
Advice:
Honestly, the biggest advice I would give to my college self would be to relax and enjoy the process a bit more. I firmly believe that if you put out the good vibes and work hard, you'll end up where you're meant to be. Build and maintain relationships, and have a mentor who can be your compass and confidant, and you will land where you need to be. Never take any of your connections for granted!
On tools and resources:
Integrated Marketing (also known at some companies as Ad Sales Marketing or Partnership Marketing) is a rapidly growing area of marketing. More and more, brands are looking to go beyond traditional media spends and find ways to be brought closer to content to speak to fans and consumers in a more organic and relatable manner.
I think what has been the biggest development in this field and what I have found fascinating is the use of social influencers to achieve brands' objectives and engage consumers in a seemingly unbranded and natural fashion. These influencers are everyday Millennial men and women who are being paid big bucks to do some of the heavy lifting in terms of messaging for brands, and we are seeing more and more partners requesting an influencer component for their programs. In terms of good industry reads, I love AdAge for my marketing updates and Cynopsis for my entertainment updates. Great reads during your morning commute!