The Year 1ne's

Programmatic Associate @ Initiative with Kunal Makhija

Blair Smith

In his Year 1ne, Kunal works as an Associate – Digital Activation at Initiative, a full-service global media agency, where he works on the programmatic advertising team 🎯

Some of the highlights from Kunal and Blair’s chat include the steps in the paid advertising campaign lifecycle in a full-service agency, why it’s important find your voice in your year one; and, how creating vision boards help Kunal make his goals a reality–including his vision board for the job search.

In This Episode 🗣
Kunal’s Year 1ne @ Initiative Media
1:55 | Introduction from Kunal
2:10 | Overview of Initiative Media
3:10 | Working on 35 campaigns in 1 year
5:30 | Why programmatic advertising?
7:10 | Outlining the paid advertising campaign lifecycle in a large agency
14:15 | Essential skills and technologies
18:30 | The need to “learn and unlearn”
20:05 | What’s on your mind in marketing right now?

Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search
24:20 | Moving to Canada
26:45 | The attraction of marketing
28:40 | Getting hired at Initiative Media
31:00 | Using vision boards to achieve your goals
33:15 | Hardest part of the job search
37:55 | How did previous work experience help?
39:40 | The “What’s your favourite brand?” question

Thing’s I’ve Learned in Year 1ne
41:25 | Mistake made on pushing for a promotion
45:05 | Rookie mistake on being confident vs. overconfidence
46:05 | Lesson learned on pacing yourself
47:05 | Pro tip to try everything twice

The Hottest of Links and Resources 🔥
Connect with Kunal Makhija: LinkedIn | Website | Instagram | TikTok
Brands/organizations: Initiative | RBC | George Brown College | Humber College
Marketing and media tools: Google DV360 | ChatGPT | Microsoft Excel
Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn
Check out The Year 1ne’s show website for past episodes, show notes and more goodness