Get to know some of our College of Media students! Ryan Hanson is a Class of 2026 advertising major.
Why did you decide to major in advertising?
I was already interested in advertising due to a research paper I did during my senior year of high school, where I had the opportunity to interview OKRP (now BarkleyOKRP), the agency behind the 2022 Burger King Whopper campaign. I spoke to the account director and the two creatives behind the ad, and after meeting with OKRP, I was able to see and learn about the creative process. I saw how free they were to be creative and realized I wanted that experience in my future career.
Tell me about your time at The Daily Illini as a creative developer.
I started working at The Daily Illini in February 2024 and worked on video production during my first year. The Daily Illini gave me another outlet to hone my skills in video editing and content planning. I then moved on to socials management, which involved sending out newsletters and posting on different platforms. During my time at The Daily Illini, I was able to interview Michael DeCoste, known on campus for his karaoke performances. For assignments, we’re usually in groups of two to three, but in this case, I was working by myself—filming on a tripod using my phone, coming up with questions, editing, and putting it all together with graphics and B-roll. This experience taught me that you have to be flexible when you are working on a story.
What advice would you give to an undergraduate student within the College of Media majoring in advertising?
Students should think about what they’re interested in within media and try everything. There are so many classes in the College of Media and with advertising. Advertising is a larger field than you realize, and there are a lot of opportunities. I had no idea there was a social media certificate. I recommend trying to get certificates. They offer so many in the College of Media. See College of Media certificates.
What are your future career goals, and how is your experience at the College of Media helping you with your goals?
I am interested in working on a creative team at an agency. I want to focus more on the digital side, whether that be social media or digital advertising, as I feel that is where advertising is shifting towards. The College of Media has prepared me for how technology is evolving and how advertising is evolving with it. In ADV 360: Innovations in Advertising, we talked a lot about AI along with search engine optimization. I’d say a lot of professors are making a point of AI right now and how best to use it for the creative process, such as storyboarding, drafting, and generating some ideas.
—Interview by Larimar Rivera, New Voices Intern
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