On Tuesday 19th January, Miss Middleton’s Media Studies class went to J. Walter Thompson, an international, integrated creative agency of international imagination. The company works with many clients such as HSBC, Nokia/Microsoft mobile, Johnson & Johnson and many more!

After being given the opportunity to visit the headquarters located in Knightsbridge, we met a variety of people who all worked in different sectors of the company and had offered us advice on how to get into many careers such as a ‘creative’ and various executive/director roles.  They had shown us a collection of adverts including ones developed by companies they work with and have even made themselves. We also got the opportunity to put our media skills to test and impress the people we were with as we were put in groups of three and given two sets of print adverts which we had to deconstruct and annotate.

As a result of this, the group who had kindly devoted their time into planning the day for us were impressed as we presented our work not just like students, but adults. The trip had not only benefited us educationally but also contributed towards our knowledge of the way advertising works and how they’re created. We were told by one of the ‘creatives’ that they are given a brief by a company and come together to create drafts as to how the advertisement will eventually look with the specific details they have been given.

After the process of creating the advertisement, they check to see if it had done well in terms of views and responses, or if it hadn’t, which they then take the chance to learn from any mistakes made. As the day came to an end, the company had given us an amazing opportunity which made all of the students very hopeful. As we had started the second half of our practical work, to create a trainer and complete a portfolio, which contributed towards a percentage of our GCSE, JWT had told us that the two best trainers get to have two days work experience at their company! This not only is an amazing experience to get more insight on the world of advertising but also gives us the chance to come back at an older age and possibly have a career at JWT.

Overall, the trip was an enjoyable and memorable experience which all of Miss Middleton’s media students will always treasure.

Paloma Mohsen, 10T.