Sandy Matta MA Global Advertising & Branding, 2020

Junior Creative at RD Content

I come from a graphic design background, with the idea that I had always wanted to shift to branding and advertising. But I knew nothing about the industry at all and had nothing to prove for it in my portfolio or experience. So I thought that studying a course like MA Global Advertising & Branding would set me up with the knowledge, connections, and resources to properly pursue a career in this field. Looking back, I think it was definitely the right move! I chose WSA specifically for their focus on employability, and the fact that it considered advertising and branding in a global lens, which was really important to me. 

Being at WSA gave me the time to really figure out what direction I wanted to go in. Outside of my studies, I took part in the D&AD New Blood competition, which I won, and this really boosted my chances of getting a creative role after graduation. Ever since I started studying in the creative field during my undergraduate degree, I was told how D&AD was such a big deal, so to win the award myself has absolutely blown my mind.

Winchester is a beautiful place to study. I loved living there, even despite peculiar circumstances later in the course (Covid-19) I’d be able to take beautiful walks around. I lived only 10 minutes away from campus so the walk to the library, lecture theatres etc was so convenient.

I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of the advertising and branding industry, and overall the course gave me a good grounding of how the industry works. I really enjoyed my option module, ‘Creative Thinking and Problem Solving’, as it was one I knew would really help me in my career as a creative. It was just fun to work on a new lesson each week and put it into practice, and was a definite change from the usual lecture/seminar format.

My favourite project was the Markstrat simulation; as a group, we were given our own company to oversee by making all of the marketing and production decisions. It’s interesting to see how some of your decisions can impact your profits or market share. It was definitely hard to wrap my head around it at first, but the competitive vibe really enabled me to pick it up quicker, plus I got to know my course mates a bit better!

I currently work as a Junior Creative at RD Content. The agency is primarily focused on video production, but I work on a variety of different campaigns. Studying at WSA gave me a leg up in my interview, as I was able to talk about my knowledge of branding and advertising theory. I think all of the lecturers had a lot to offer in their own way; it was really comforting to know that they came from industry and had lots of experience. I also found it nice to be able to discuss different aspects of the industry with different tutors. For example, a lot of my guidance in pursuing a creative career in advertising came from talking to my Personal Academic Tutor.