René Eugster: What can you tell us about the history of the Miami Ad School?
Pippa Seichrist: Talking about the future of the school is more fun than digging into the past. But perhaps more interesting is our motivation that led to the founding of the school in 1993. My husband Ron and I were both creative directors and we had the idea: let's start the school that we would have liked to have attended ourselves before we entered the industry. We then searched all over America for a suitable location and finally found what we were looking for in South Beach. We wanted to realize our dream here. In earlier times, our school building was a Masonic lodge, a Jewish temple, a theater and a Hispanic Protestant church. The place had great karma.
What concept did you use to build your new school?
The school is very practically oriented. We offer on-the-job training from the very first day. All tasks are projects that a young student at our school would also have to supervise in an agency. The teachers are also experts in the industry. We have a very close relationship with agencies all over the world. They support us by offering internships to our students and also regularly have their specialized employees work as guest lecturers at our school. We even work on real projects with these agencies and their clients. We have worked for Wendy's, Yahoo, The New York Times, Saturn, Dunkin Donats, Apple, Mini and most recently Starbucks. For our students, the school is the bridge between their education and their desired job. For agencies, our graduates are profitable right from the start. Our graduates don't need much additional practical training later on. They can be immediately assigned to a project. It's a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Which students make up your target group?
We want outsiders. Interesting people with interesting prospects. Most of our students have already been to college or had a job. Former lawyers, cab drivers and teachers come to us. One was even previously a porn producer. What they all have in common is that they were not entirely happy on their previous path. They wanted to live out their creativity more. With us, they can learn the necessary skills and build the network they need to be successful in this industry.
How do these people find your school?
Most of them come via word of mouth. Many professionals have positive things to say about Miami Ad School. Then they do some research and soon find out which prizes our students regularly win and which jobs the graduates have ended up in. In this way, students from all over the world find their way to us.
Do you take anyone who brings the necessary change, or is there an entry test?
We have a rigorous selection process and candidates have to show us their creative work. They have to write an essay from which we want to see how they think. A video must be produced. We also ask for letters of recommendation and we interview everyone. We want to make sure that a candidate is suitable for both our school and the industry. We find that most people really enjoy this selection process. Advertising is fun and anyone who doesn't enjoy pitching has probably chosen the wrong profession.
There are now many branches of the school. Why and where did this expansion begin?
Right at the beginning, we regularly invited guest lecturers to Miami. They taught for a few days and enjoyed our sunshine. We were able to present our students with extraordinary personalities from all over the world: a Japanese art director, a planner from England, an entire creative team from New York, a game developer from San Francisco ... This experience gave us the idea: instead of just bringing thought leaders to Miami, we could also send our students out into the world to learn from these experts. This is how our "quarter-away program" came about. This enables our graduates to study in Miami and, coupled with this, to do internships in up to five other cities in which we now have offices. At each location, our students are confronted with new processes and techniques and can also build up a valuable network of contacts in the agency scene. The first branch was in Minneapolis, then came Chicago with a year-long internship at Leo Burnett. This was followed by San Francisco, New York and London. Later, we supplemented the internship opportunities with further full-time schools in the respective locations. This meant that we no longer had to start our studies in Miami. Today, we have eight full-time schools and also offer internships in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Hamburg, Madrid, Moscow, Miami, New York and Sydney. I'm sure I've forgotten a few more.
When did you start in Germany?
That was in 2004, when Oliver Voss, then the top CD at Jung von Matt and the most decorated creative in Germany, came to us as a guest lecturer - just like you now from Switzerland. It was his second guest appearance with us and we wondered why he officially asked for an appointment with Ron and me before arriving. We have very close and frequent contact with all our lecturers during their time here. It all became clear at dinner. Oliver Voss asked us if he could open a Miami Ad School in Hamburg. He said that teaching had been one of the most rewarding things in his life. And he was convinced that Germany needed a school like the Miami Ad School. He introduced us to Niklas Frings-Rupp, who was an account manager at Springer & Jacoby at the time. Together we decided to found the school. In our lobby in Miami, we have clocks with the times of all the places where there is an ad school. Now we also have a cuckoo clock showing the time in Germany.
What are your plans for the future?
Oh goodness, there is so much! We are launching Miami Ad School Istanbul in the summer. This will be the first school for advertising in this region. Schools in Mexico City and Mumbai are also in the pipeline. We are also experimenting with how we could offer an online study program. All our locations are very well connected with video conferencing capabilities and we often have classes from different schools connected in class. We are developing platforms where students and lecturers can exchange ideas worldwide. Our curriculum is available online and teachers can make their own suggestions. We are also planning a global student award show with work from all our students. They can log in worldwide and follow the development of the best cases of their fellow students in Moscow, Sydney, Madrid or San Francisco. Jury members can comment on why they chose certain ideas and what could be improved. We are also developing an online partner program with universities. This will allow students to join us online while still physically attending classes at a university. After graduating from university, these participants can then attend a Miami Ad School of their choice anywhere in the world for a year. We call this program "Jump Start" because it offers students a good starting point for their job search. We also offer short online courses for professionals in a variety of specialties. These courses can be followed online, partly via video and chat. Of course, there are also several blogs about our school.
How many students do you teach worldwide?
We have over 700 students around the world. There are 200 at our largest location in Miami, and Hamburg already has around 100. In total, over 2000 have passed through our institution and now have jobs in companies around the globe. I know of 22 visitors from Switzerland, 13 from Austria and 126 from Germany.
Am I the only teacher from Switzerland?
Of course you are.
Last question: How rigorous do you think the studies at Miami Ad School are?
Our students spend over 12 hours a week in class. However, they also spend at least twice as much time on their projects. That's why they say here: You can recognize Miami Ad School students on the beach by the fact that they usually have no tan at all.
A Swiss in Miami
This spring, René Eugster from Agentur am Flughafen spent a week as a guest lecturer in Miami. The Miami Ad School's program announces such industry experts as "Industry Heroes". "That makes you feel a bit strange as a Swiss person. That's not our word," says Eugster modestly. But he knows that the job in Miami is highly coveted by many colleagues. The agency boss from Altenrhein came to the job after getting to know principal Pippa Seichrist on the jury of the Caples Award last November. She was a delegate on the board for the USA and "a much sought-after discussion partner" among the 80 judges from all over the world. However, Eugster did not actively seek an invitation to Miami. He only found an email from Pippa Seichrist when he returned home. She was impressed that René Eugster has not only been running an agency with ten people for 18 years, but has also founded his own school, IQ Management Center, where he and his team train 60 marketing planners and sales managers every year. He also used to teach at the management school. This made the Swiss national the ideal candidate for Seichrist. Eugster had to submit a task. "Because we don't have any big brands in Switzerland like Coca-Cola or Nike, which other lecturers like to use as cases, I decided to use the Swiss brand." Together with Rafael Enzler from Switzerland Tourism, he opted for the "word of mouth" task. This was to be increased by ten percent among foreign tourists. In Miami, Eugster first gave an introductory lecture to 130 students. Then, for the rest of the week, "entire campaigns were created out of thin air" in group work. pan
