Can't Stop. Won't Stop. BICsters on the Rise

11/20/2020 Unknown 0 Comments


BIC alum are taking over! From landing new jobs to being promoted, André, Marta, and Alexandra are killing it in their new roles and proving the value of a BIC degree. 

A native of France and a graduate of our inaugural class, André Ory BIC ’15 recently joined his firm's leadership after being promoted to Vice President at Fenton, a social change agency. In his role, André will manage media and integrated communications campaigns for non-profits, foundations, and social impact clients in the progressive space. André just keeps rising: Back in 2019, he went from Account Director to Associate Vice President at Fenton. Prior to joining Fenton, André served as an Account Supervisor at BerlinRosen, where he helped organizations working across LGBT rights, racial justice, public health, and immigrant rights achieve their mission using compelling communications. 

Marta Mugica Telleria BIC ' 17 recently rose to Art Supervisor at McCann Health New York. Prior to this, Marta had been working at Patients and Purpose, an agency that is part of Omnicom Health Group, as an Art Director where she worked for clients such as Vertex, AstraZeneca and Fintepla. In September, she joined McCann Health NY, as an Art Supervisor working on Teams Xcelerate for the GSK oncology business. She works closely with copy and the account department to ensure that strategic goals and creative needs are met. Her responsibilities include continuously developing concepts and supporting materials for healthcare advertising campaigns and executing the ideas across multiple channels. 

Alexandra Suazo BIC ’15, another BICster from our inaugural class, recently joined Finn Partners as Vice President, Digital/Social in its Midwest region. Finn Partners is one of the world’s fastest-growing, independent global marketing and communications firms. In this role, Alex will be working mainly in B2B for both current and new clients under an umbrella for all Midwest clients and New Business Development. Alex is an integrated marketer with 10+ years of digital expertise in strategizing, developing and launching consumer and B2B campaigns. She most recently served as Senior Manager, Digital Marketing & Strategy for Mattel’s American Girl Brands. After so many years in-house, she is excited to go back to the agency world. 

It's wonderful to see our BIC alum rising and making a difference. Keep on rising, BICsters!

BICsters Rising: A Pandemic Can't Stop Them...

11/20/2020 Unknown 0 Comments


It's one thing to graduate during a global pandemic. But these BICsters from the Class of 2020 are now crushing it professionally, too. From landing new roles to being promoted, Sanjana, Lorenzo and Vanessa are taking their BIC skills to the next level! 

Sanjana Chowdhury BIC ’20 is Brand Strategist at Kontaktsource, a NYC based networking firm, specializing in Investment Banking, Hedge Funds, M&A and other financial services. Sanjana started working at Kontaktsource shortly after graduating from BIC and is now working remotely as their brand strategist, focusing on their upcoming project Rising Ztars. Rising Zstars is a new brand under KontaktSource umbrella, focusing on a 360 degree mentorship program for final year students or recent finance graduates who want to enter investment banking, private equity or other finance sectors. Sanjana is developing the blue print of the project, on the brand elements, and project structure development. Prior to this move, Sanjana worked as a compliance assistant at AHRC NYC where she was tasked with ensuring the work being done met legal, ethical, and quality standards.

Hailing from Italy, Lorenzo Lasagna BIC '20 recently made the leap from intern to Marketing Associate at frog Design, a global design and innovation consulting firm. In his role, Lorenzo helps coordinate marketing initiatives across various regions and sectors. His current responsibilities include producing live events, online panels and webinars, as well as promoting the frog brand and fostering its positioning for product, service, and organization design to prospect clients. He also contributes to public-facing brand aspects such as social media and editorial content.

Vanessa Caro BIC ’20 recently earned a promotion from Branding and Communications Coordinator to Brand Strategist at Smart Choice Communications (SCC), a leading technology company based in the heart of New York City. Working with some of the most prestigious brands globally, Vanessa supports the development of new products, solutions, and SCC’s creative direction - expanding its brand awareness and allegiance to potential clients, propelling them to make the Smartest Choice.  Vanessa started at Smart Choice Communications in March 2018 as a finance intern before making her way up the ladder. 

BIC bravi to our BIC alum! Watch this space for more alums on the rise.... 

GIRL POWER: BICsters Rising

11/11/2020 Unknown 0 Comments



Who runs the world? The women of BIC! Our female BIC alum are on the rise. From landing new post-graduation jobs to navigating employment during a pandemic, Natasha, Liana, and Kam are killing it at top companies here in New York City as they put their BIC skills to use:

After crushing it at an internship at TBWA\Chiat\Day this summer, Natasha Khemraj BIC ’20 landed an Assistant Account Executive spot at Mercedes Benz-USA at Merkley+Partners, a full-service integrated marketing agency based in New York City. Natasha is on one of several account teams for MBUSA, the RDA or Regional Dealers Association team. Currently, the RDA team is working on putting everything together for the Winter Event which kicks off on 11/03 and runs throughout December; it's one of the two biggest events for MB aside from the Summer event. Natasha is involved in helping to assemble the creative toolkit for this event, including TV, radio, print, OOH, and digital support in addition to her other responsibilities.

Since graduating from BIC, Liana Pantzari BIC ’17 has worked at Women's Wear Daily (WWD) and Sky IT Group. This summer, she joined the Wall Street Journal as Product Marketing Manager. Liana's core responsibility is to provide product-specific expertise for the Tech, Media, and Telco vertical. She'll also be supporting the Dow Jones AdTech team. On the TMT side, she is responsible for developing the go-to-market strategy and marketing collateral surrounding existing and new offerings. In her day-to-day role, she works very closely with the product managers and engineers, and her job is to translate that jargon and educate the sales team with marketing material so they can then sell the solutions to clients.

With positions at Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB Health under her belt, Kam Singh BIC ’20 recently made the transition to health creative agency The Bloc as a Senior Account Executive working on Vacepa, a drug for Cardiovascular health. Kam will specifically be managing CRM email execution, website maintenance, as well as search strategy/text ads. She will be 100% HCP focused which will rely on her her background in both Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) & Healthcare Professionals (HCP) marketing. 


Congratulations, Ladies. You make BIC proud and we can’t wait to see what you do next! Watch this space for more BICsters rising soon....

Activating Your Brand's Purpose with StrawberryFrog's Scott Goodson

11/10/2020 Unknown 0 Comments



The @BIC Fall 2020 LEAD IN Lecture Series kicked off on Wednesday, October 26th with StrawberryFrog Founder and CEO Scott Goodson's insightful @BIC Lecture on "Brand Purpose." During the jam-packed hour, Scott talked to an engaged audience of nearly 100 attendees about the work he and StrawberryFrog do to help brands measure and activate brand purpose. Scott also expanded upon his recent Inc. Magazine article, "How does your brand purpose stand up?" which introduced the Purpose Power Index, the world's first empirical study of purpose-based brands with over 17,500 responses. 

Partnering with well-regarded research firm the RepTrak Company, Scott's team at StrawberryFrog has cracked the code on how to measure brand purpose -- finding that purpose does indeed matter to the public, clearly driving behavioral intent. Fast Company has recognized this as one of the biggest ideas in the world for 2020. During the lecture, Scott spoke about the Purpose Power Index and provided examples from brands he'd worked with, including Northwell Health and SunTrust bank.



Highlighting the philosophy of StrawberryFrog -- and echoed in his book Uprising -- Scott emphasized that "movements are more powerful than advertising." With StrawberryFrog's laser focus on activating purpose through movement, Scott remarked that "we built a company that started as a creative agency, but then became a movement company -- which has now evolved into a movement thinking company." People and companies often come to StrawberryFrog with a purpose, but without a strategy for activation. Movement thinking helps drive that activation and is StrawberryFrog's key differentiator. 




The lecture wrapped up with a lively Q&A where students and attendees got to ask Scott a number of questions on everything from navigating employment to how brands should act during a climate of social unrest and change.

When asked his career advice for young people, Scott suggested that when interviewing, "don't just ask for a job; instead, go in and tell people what you believe in.” He also encouraged the audience to think about being an entrepreneur: "If I were you, I'd start my own company. You know so much more about your generation than Madison Avenue." This was refreshing advice for both current BICsters as well as prospective students who joined the @BIC following our Fall Open House. 


A big BIC thanks to Scott for his brilliant and thoughtful lecture on purpose-driven marketing. Now more than ever, society needs business leaders who put purpose front and center. As BIC Program Director Nancy R. Tag said during her introduction "Scott truly lives his philosophy. He knows that leading without intentionality and purpose isn't really leadership at all." We're grateful that Scott, who's both a visionary and in the trenches, brought this valuable conversation to BIC this semester.  

Don't forget to register for next month's @BICs "Leaders. Mentors. And Vice Versa," featuring Paul Kim,  Founder of Capital vs Humans and Senior Fellow at The City College of New York, and Sarah Irby, Brand Director of New Brands at Unilever, on Monday, November 16 at 6:00PM-7:00PM. RSVP here.

Missed the lecture? Watch the full recording here. 

The Proof Is In the Portfolio: Pandemic Edition

11/04/2020 Unknown 0 Comments



Each Fall, BICsters spend two Saturdays on campus for donuts, pizza and portfolio reviews. But instead of hanging in Shepard Hall this year, students in the Class of 2021 met virtually to showcase their portfolio progress remotely in the Zoom grid. The Fall Portfolio Reviews mark a major turning point in the development of second year portfolios as BICsters drill down on both substance and style.

As a degree requirement, all BIC students must present their BIC portfolio to a panel of high-level professionals during graduation week in late May. Presentations are 25 minutes long: 18 minutes to present with 7 minutes to defend. Final BIC portfolios must demonstrate discipline depth in an integrated framework. Over the Summer, BICsters worked on developing their portfolios building on feedback they received back in the Spring. 


Management + PR Portfolio Reviews were overseen by BIC Program Director and Professor Nancy R. Tag and Professor Katina Scott The Creative Portfolio Review was overseen by Associate Professor Gerardo Blumenkrantz. While the Saturday events focused on the Class of 2021, BICsters from the Class of 2022 were also invited to get a glimpse into the portfolio process and get a head start on what is expected of them later in the program. 

BIC portfolios go beyond conventional definitions of a portfolio. They are pushed to be more than just a repository of work but vehicles of innovation + exploration. In addition, BIC portfolios must successfully demonstrate expertise in the 4PS: Product. Process. Personality. Professionalism. 

While the pandemic may have transformed how the Portfolio Reviews were conducted, Katina remarked that BICsters now have a “unique opportunity to chart new ground in this space.” The broad use of remote technology is altering the landscape of the industry and providing new opportunities for the communications world to expand, explore and innovate. 

Check out some of our BIC portfolios in progress: 







Finally, Nancy remarked that “portfolios are never done; they're something you work on throughout your entire career.” The Saturday sessions in September are considered a significant foundational event to kick off a highly productive semester before students enroll in their Portfolio Thesis courses in the Spring which will include the BIC PiP Recruiting Event and the Portfolio Bootcamp. It was incredible to see their portfolios at this point -- we can't wait to see what they do next!

Advertising Week Goes Virtual!

11/04/2020 Unknown 0 Comments



Advertising Week is a one-of-a-kind experience and this year was no exception with the hit 2 week conference going virtual. While our BICsters couldn't attend in person, they were still able to join from the comfort of their home and witness 25+ Masterclasses, 750+ World Class speakers and over 100+ Hours of programming. 

Advertising Week is a worldwide gathering of marketing, advertising, technology and brand professionals which takes place across the globe with events in New York, London, Tokyo, Mexico City, Sydney and Johannesburg. 

From daytime seminars and workshops featuring some of the industry’s brightest minds to organized networking and world-class entertainment, Advertising Week is a one-of-a-kind experience.

One stand out session from our BICsters included "A Guide to Cultural Strategy: How to Avoid being 'Cancelled'" which explored how brands can refine their approach to creating frameworks that are in tune with consumers targeted and, more importantly, resonate with communities. 

First year BICster Shadiq Williams attended the session and cited how "it was a slightly different take than what I originally thought it would be based off of the title. The presenter discussed how there are different sub-cultures on the internet and how it's important to understand the members of those communities in order to genuinely communicate with them. What the session ultimately concluded on is that you have to know what the people interacting with your brand stand for so that you aren't constantly reacting to current events and looking inauthentic."

You can find more highlights and learn more about Advertising Week here. 
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