AdPR Alumni Spotlight: Ben Means

Ben Means, ABJ '14

Ben Means works at Infinity Marketing in Greenville, SC, and he graduated with a degree in advertising in July '14.

Where do you currently work and what is your title?

I work as a Media Assistant at Infinity Marketing in Greenville, South Carolina.

What was your major and when did you graduate?  

I graduated as an advertising major is July 2014.

What activities were you involved while in Grady/UGA?  

I was the Executive Co-Director of Camp Kesem UGA and the Greek Recruitment Chair for Relay For Life.

What are you doing now and how did you get there?  

I am doing market research, media planning, and media buying at Infinity marketing. I owe all of my experience and learned leadership skills to Camp Kesem UGA, and Grady helped build my team work skills and presentation skills.

What is your day-to-day like at your job? (Any interesting projects that you can share with us?)

I use market research databases daily, to plan and execute my clients’ needs within my budget. A lot of my day-to-day work is building relationships with clients and vendors. I have learned everything in advertising and marketing revolves around building sustainable relationships and never burning any bridges. I have also learned to double-check anything I do and to back up my work at any given moment.

What part of your Grady experience (classes, professors, etc.) has been helpful in your career today?

All of the group projects really did help me with presentation skills and gave me the confidence to give a great presentation. The media planning class prepared me for the responsibilities at my current job. I think that Grady should consider giving an Excel class, because everything in business is created and presented in Excel.  After a long day at work, I sometimes have dreams in Excel.

What is your favorite Grady memory?  

My campaigns class this past summer.

What advice do you have for current AdPR students?

Be prepared to work very long hours in whatever field you choose. This is not a 9a-5p job. It is a job whenever your client wants it to be a job. Get ahead in your work and prepare in advance before the client ask for something. Learn how to make graphs in Excel and familiarize yourself with Nielsen, Prizm, and other market research websites. Learn the different market trends and different demographic trends, especially if you want to go into media planning or media buying.