Alexia Johnson

Senior Account Manager, BMF
Bachelor of Communication Studies in Advertising Creativity

She loved that her degree resembled a real advertising agency, says Alexia Johnson who studied a Bachelor of Communication Studies in Advertising Creativity.

“The main highlight for me was that the advertising major was structured like a real agency, which is unique to AUT. For example, we had an advertising strategy course where we got given a client brief and had to turn it into a creative brief – our lecturers taught us the art of simplifying the job into a single sentence, a single-minded proposition. We also had a creative course where we partnered up with someone, and one of us was the art director and the other was the copywriter. It was practice, practice, practice, so by the time we graduated and got jobs, the routine and structure of an agency felt like second nature.

“I loved all my lecturers and tutors, but the ones that impacted me the most were Dan Fastnedge and Paul White. I thought I wanted to be an art director, but Dan started noticing that all I did was write long-copy ads. I remember once he was sitting with me at my desk and he went, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to be a copywriter?’. I did in fact realise I wanted to be a copywriter, but ultimately chose the life of a suit. Paul always pushed me to get to the best work and was always keeping an eye out for open roles I could apply for when I graduated.”

Her hard work throughout her studies certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

“I was a semi-finalist for the Student ORCA Award and the Google/YouTube Student AXIS Award, which meant that we attended the AXIS Awards in 2020. When my creative partner and I were shortlisted for the AXIS Award, we couldn’t believe it. The idea was so simple that we thought there was no way it would compete with some of the other ones. We lost to another creative team, but the experience was unreal.”

Choosing AUT
She always knew that she wanted to do a creative degree, says Alexia who graduated from AUT in 2019.

“I was originally going to do a graphic design degree with a major in visual communication. After some consideration, I wanted to broaden my learning and chose the comms degree to give me a taste of everything – digital media, radio, TV, advertising and PR. I chose AUT because the style of teaching aligned with my learning style. I was moving from Sydney at the time and AUT seemed the most similar to UTS, which is where I would have gone if I had stayed in Australia. The campus and curriculum felt modern compared to some of the other universities, which was a big deciding factor.”

She has some great advice for other students who are only at the start of their own university journey.

“You don’t have to have all the answers. Let go and see where you end up. I went into this degree thinking I’d be the next Grace Coddington – the fashion editor at Vogue – and left it with a love for creativity and advertising. You just have to trust yourself and trust that you’ll end up where you need to be, regardless of whether it all goes according to plan or not.”

Making ads for a living
Now working as a senior account manager for creative marketing agency BMF, Alexia enjoys managing a variety of jobs for her clients.

“My main responsibility is building and maintaining client relationships. I manage all facets of a job, including the finances, timelines, creative presentations and feedback. I work with all departments in the agency and make sure that the job runs smoothly, problem-solving and pivoting when needed. Not everyone can say that they make ads for a living. It’s fun and fast-paced, but it’s mostly rewarding to see the product of your hard work go live at the end. I also love my clients. I’m a massive people person, so I thrive off building relationships and making sure everyone is happy.”

She says her studies prepared her well for her career now.

“AUT taught me a lot about the creative process, so I have a respect for the time it takes creatives to do their jobs and do it well. It’s easy as a suit to judge the work, but I know first-hand how hard it is to crack a good idea.”