Wintersession Trek to Hill Holliday
It’s one kind of experience to read about a company’s mission and culture, but there’s nothing like touring an office yourself to discover what the environment is really like. On Friday, January 25, a group of bundled up Harvard students trekked into Boston to visit the State Street office of Hill Holliday, one of the top advertising firms in the country.
After riding up to the thirty-fifth floor, we sat in a sun-drenched conference room boasting huge windows and an incredible view of the Boston skyline while our Hill Holliday ambassadors presented an overview of the agency. The company’s new mantra, “OK Isn’t,” resonated with the group as we engaged with a slideshow of the agency’s best advertisements of the past year—from clients like Dunkin’ Donuts, Liberty Mutual, Bank of America, Verizon Wireless, and Chili’s. Later, we learned more about individual departments and responsibilities from a few other enthusiastic employees.
With over 850 people across their offices, Hill Holliday is a full service media company with a breadth of departments—from strategy and analysis, creative, technology, media, account management, and more. Despite their wide range of focus, there are some qualities that they seek in all areas: creative thinkers, risk-takers, and motivated extroverts. Their popular internship program is renowned for giving college students real-world experience in the advertising industry; although interns are assigned to work in one of the agency’s many departments, they have the opportunity to attend weekly seminars that offer exposure to other areas of the agency beyond their assigned departments.
Touring the floor after the presentation, we got to see first-hand the creative energy that pulsed through the office: the energetic members of various teams bouncing ideas off of each other, and the inspirational designs and quotations that filled the walls of the historic office. From what we gathered of Hill Holliday’s vibrant and fast-paced work environment, many of us walked out with a new perspective on the advertising world and an added company on our to-do list of summer internship applications.
Julia Eger, ’14
