• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, April 30, 2014

Oh how old school. DDB California has come up with an "innovative" and "quirky" summer intern application process -- the Launchpad. This dial-in application system -- as in actually picking up the phone and calling -- aims to allow potential summer interns to be more proactive in order to get hired. The idea is to get applicants to think on their feet and present knowledge at a moment’s notice. The agency says they wanted to eliminate any outside influence (like Instagram or YouTube trickery) that comes with applying for the majority of jobs in the digital era. Those interested in the internship program should call 1-844-DDB-CALI. You will be met with a phone tree choice to indicate what sort of internship you are interested in, and then you will be asked a series of not so job-related questions.

Attention creatives. If you're planning to leave your agency for another gig simply to get paid money, you might want to consider this recent finding. Twenty percent of advertising and marketing executives surveyed by The Creative Group said the number of counteroffers extended by their company has increased in the last six months. You should also know that 39% of executives said the main reason to issue a counteroffer is to avoid losing an employee with hard-to-find skills. Check out this infographic with all the specifics on counteroffer considerations.

John King has an interesting way for agencies to up their revenue with "mailbox money" -- bonus income beyond what clients pay. He explains, writing in Ad Age: "Let's assume YouTube is going to take its standard 45% off the top. And YouTube ad rate ranges from 30 cents to as high as $10. But even if we're being super conservative by using a range of 30 cents to $3.00 for the cost of a thousand impressions, it means that a dedicated agency YouTube channel could generate between $300 and $3,000 on 1 million views and between $30,000 and $300,000 on 100 million views. That's real money. And most importantly, it's money that's not tied to the ebbs and flows of your fickle client roster and clients' annual purchase of hours."

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