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Buckle up, this is a fun one. For my final project in my Business of Branding class at the Brandcenter, we were grouped into miniature agencies and I was fortunate enough to lead one of four teams competing to win the Jonesin’ for a Treat account. Jonesin’ for a Treat is a small business in Richmond, VA that makes and sells low-ingredient dog treats. While they had broken into 17 local retailers, they were still establishing themselves and needed to establish a brand. As the team lead, I was the only member of the group that was supposed to interact with the client and I worked closely with my strategist and creatives to bridge the gap of understanding the client’s needs. Not only did I provide leadership in full-team meetings, but I was also able to gain enough respect from my peers to be involved in individual meetings as well. For example, I met numerous times with just my copywriters, just the art directors, and my strategist. Through my involvement I was able to provide a vision to my team and helped guide the execution of that vision every step of the way. In this case, we found that the category largely conveys two messages to consumers. Either their dog was a wolf, or it is human food for their dog. My team and I felt that there was room for the client to stand alone by showcasing the real owner to dog relationship of loving them for their endearing quirks. As a result, we ultimately won the pitch and our work was utilized by the client in a branding initiative.