Meet Ainsley Hall ’24 an Advertising major with a minor in Linguistics and Global Communication. In this blog, Ainsley shares her love for advertising, her experience rebranding two company campaigns, and more!
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Can you describe your journey before Ball State University?
I graduated from Northwestern High School in Kokomo, IN, then chose to attend Ball State for the amazing academic programs within the School of Journalism and Strategic Communication!
What made you decide on your major for Ball State?
I decided to major in advertising after being involved with student media for FIRST Robotics in high school. I enjoyed being able to release content that people enjoyed and would watch—so that my hard work did not go to waste—and I hope to continue that in the future.
What has been your favorite class or career opportunity during your time at Ball State?
My favorite class so far has been Journalism 348, Social Media Management and Practice, with Dr. YoungAh Lee. It’s an engaging and fun class and we also get to use a program called Mimic Social to run simulated social media campaigns.
How have your experiences at Ball State shaped your personal growth?
My experiences have shaped my personal growth by making me more confident in myself and my leadership skills. When I came to Ball State, I was a very timid freshman who would never have been able to stand in front of a crowd of people, but now I am frequently doing that same thing.
Could you share some of your favorite advertising projects you’ve worked on?
I’ve actually worked on some really fun projects, such as my American Advertising Federation campaigns and a graphic design project for my Intro to Design class. For AAF, I was able to create advertising campaign content for Wondr Health.
Through this, I was able to rebrand Naturally Slim and also Meta’s Quest 2. Working on my Wondr Health project was so exciting as I had never worked on a rebranding proposal before. I gained a lot of insight into shifting media content to match a company’s new vision for its future. The Meta presentation on the other hand was super nerve-wracking as they are a very well-established brand. So it was tough to present these new ideas when they have a lot of trusted strategies already in place.
My graphic design project was very fun to do as it was a news spread on the Harry Styles concert, so I drove to Columbus, Ohio to get the graphics and content for this assignment. Additionally, I got to create some cool designs for the pages—which was fun.
What has been the proudest moment in your academic career so far?
The proudest moment of my career so far was working on the Quest 2 Proposal for Meta as it was a huge research-backed campaign that took months to put together, so it felt like all of my team’s hard work paid off at the end when we received out feedback from the Meta representatives.
What are your plans after college?
My plans after college are to join an in-house advertising agency at a company for a few years. After gaining experience I then want to go into airline/tourism advertising.
Can you share one thing that people don’t typically know about you?
One thing that people don’t typically know about me is that I am currently learning Czech—as I planned to study abroad in Prague last year but the trip got canceled.
Who are your mentors?
My mentors are Dr. Curtis Matthews and Dr. Michelle O’Malley.
What clubs and activities are you involved in?
I am involved in CCIM’s Dean’s Collegian Advisory Council as the Event Coordinator, and I am also the Vice President of the American Advertising Federation. I was invited to join DCAC during my first semester at Ball State and I joined AAF after last year’s SuperParty.
What do you think is most important about Ball State?
The most important thing about Ball State is that the professors truly want you to learn from their classes. They care about celebrating your successes and helping you grow from your failures.