Strands of Genius: Trey O'Shea + The Wasted Ad Spend Report 2024 - The Global Impact of Invalid Traffic
featuring: an interview with our guest editor and a research report
Welcome to the Bonus edition of Strands of Genius! On Fridays, we’ll be publishing interviews from our guest editors, and sharing a research report. Thanks for being along for the ride. Oh and by the way, you look great today :)
:: STEAL THIS THINKING | RESEARCH REPORT ::
What is Invalid Traffic you say? Invalid traffic (IVT) refers to any website visits that don’t come from a real person with genuine interest. It can include bots (both good and bad), fake users, misattributed accidental clicks, malicious clicks from competing advertisers, and otherwise invalid visitors that have zero chance of converting to customers. Read on to find out more!
:: DIVE IN | THE INTERVIEW ::
TREY O’SHEA, PRESIDENT OF THE AD CLUB AT VCU
>> Trey O'Shea guest curated Strands on August 29th 2024. Read it here.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what keeps you busy. How did you end up doing what you’re doing today?
I'm a senior pursuing my degree in creative and strategic advertising. I found the Ad Club here on campus after I transferred to VCU after my first year of college. This club helped me make my first friends and realize that this industry was exactly what I wanted to do after school. Thanks to this club I've been given so many opportunities. Getting involved has opened so many doors for me, professionally and personally. When the time came around to nominate a new president, I was grateful to be chosen and I was eager to provide more students with the same insights and opportunities that were shared with me.
What excites you most about what you do?
The most exciting part of being involved with VCU's Ad Club is being able to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real world experience.
What beliefs define your approach to work? How would you define your leadership style?
Whenever we make decisions about the club, we ask will this fundamentally provide a better experience for students and does this make us more passionate about the direction of the club? As a leader of the club, I try to empower the my fellow talented students who serve on the executive board to create what they want to create and develop the clubs culture in ways that inspire them.
What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on and why?
Last year, we all put our brains together to rebrand and refresh the club. It took some time for the branding to find it's legs, but were finally seeing it come to life in ways we never even imagined when we first sat down to revitalize our image. We're now developing video content and our visual style gives our art direction and graphic design students real work to put in their portfolios.
We are big believers in diversity -- Not only because we believe in equality, but because we also think it’s better for business. How do you frame these kinds of conversations, both internally and with clients? Is there an emphasis on action, or are the conversations really more about communication?
DEI is a huge pilar of Ad Club's and VCU's core values. Ever member of our club has access to resources specific to the advertising industry that promote diversity and different points-of-views. Additionally, we host a yearly DEI Panel to hear from local thought leaders and industry veterans on the topic of diversity and how to foster the most inclusive enviornment possible. This years panel is slated for the end of September.
Switching gears a bit, how do you find time to balance personal interests with your career? Do you believe work/life balance is possible? Anything you’ve implemented that you recommend that others try?
One thing that we try to keep in mind is that this club is exactly that -- a club. It's an extracurricular aimed to help students in addition to the classroom experience. It's important to remember we all need breaks and time to work on personal projects, homework, or just have a good laugh with our friends. We host study halls and social events to foster creativity and let people relax. We find that these social events are just as valuable as our educational/experiential ones.
What’s your media diet? Where do you find inspiration?
Personally, while I'm on most social media platforms, my friends like to tease me that I'm always out-of-touch and late to trends when I try to suggest we do something for Ad Club. I'm lucky to have fellow students who are much cooler and up-to-date than I am running our social media. I try to find inspiration from more long-form content these days. Books, movies, even a good video game. I feel like it keeps me sharper than the TikToks or Reels, although I do love a good doom-scroll at the end of the day.
What’s the best piece of advice/knowledge you’ve stolen, and who/where’d you steal it from?
One of my professors told us that she didn't believe in "imposter syndrome" and neither should we. I feel like there's a large shared sentiment, especially with younger folks entering the industry, that we might not deserve to be where we're at or that we're not good enough to be in the position we've attained. She told us to take that self-doubt and turn it to curiosity and motivation to do the best work possible, and the rest will take care of itself.
You can keep in touch with Trey on LinkedIn.
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie | your friends over at geniussteals.co
(still want more? @faris is still “tweeting” while @rosieyakob prefers instagram stories)