The school of advertising & marketing

For me, the course started at the same time with my new role as a Product Manager. This allowed me to put what I learned during the course into practice. The structure was well thought out, with an introduction and then delving into different areas. The teachers were experts in their respective fields, highly skilled and capable of adressing any queries, all the while making the 2-hour session seem like just 30 minutes. I also appreciated that the whole course was in English and all the course members made a great effort to maintain English communication throughout the course. Since everyone is eager to step into product management, the course is a great opportunity to connect with like-minded people and expand your professional network. The course provided a strong foundation for my future role. Now it’s on me to check back on the slides sometimes and remember all the strategies, dos and don’ts. In case you’re still hesitating, sign up now.

I would like to say that I discovered this school unexpectedly, however, it would be more accurate to say that it was the school that discovered me. The Atomic Garden is an entirely unique phase in my life, which has thrown me onto the merry-go-round of the advertising market.

During my studies, I met my teacher Arnas Aukštikalnis, who invited me to become the art director at DDB Vilnius, and just a few months after graduation, having gained the knowledge from The Atomic Garden, I won Lithuania’s Young Cannes Lions competition and went to Cannes to compete among the world’s best young talents. I came back ranked in Top 9 and very eager to catch my own lion in advertising.

My experience in Lithuania helped me to enrol in the Master’s programme at the Miami Ad School, where I am gaining international experience and striving for new achievements.

I hesitated long and hard about joining The Atomic Garden, and had a lot of doubts about whether the school would meet my expectations. Now I can safely say that it was more than worth it. I met many professionals of this market and learned more in six months than others do in four years of university. And, of course, I got the job I wanted and loved. What more could you ask for?

When I started this course, I already knew that I wouldn’t take a vacation, I would have to spend time trying myself in different areas. But this course still exceeded the limits of my knowledge. However, the challenge was much greater than I expected. The whole course was like a fun roller coaster with sudden creative ups and downs, but all the course teachers were very supportive and helped me not to stop with their professional advice. Clare, the head of course, always found time to advise on a strategic issue, participate in product name brainstorming, copy review and corrections before presentations. As animator, I broadened my horizons about brands quite a bit, and that alone was worth it.

The brand management course was like a springboard to my dream job. From the beginning of the course, I had the goal of finding a job, so I tried to gain as much knowledge and experience as possible. And it just so happened that on the day of the presentation of diplomas I could also celebrate the first day of my dream job! I chose this course knowing exactly what I wanted to learn and gain, but it exceeded my expectations, opened up pathways and gave me confidence in both myself and my knowledge. The teachers of the course – extremely diverse and exceptional personalities, true specialists in their field – after systematizing and selecting all the necessary information, perfectly involved both in distance learning and in discussions and workshops. I feel that I have gone through brand building and repeated the entire marketing course from A to Z. I am very happy that I chose this particular course. It’s experience and knowledge that you won’t get from reading books.

… when you see an elderly supermarket cleaner who seems to be typing something on her phone, but when you get closer you see that she’s just putting on a pair of rubber gloves, you stop for a moment and you realise the differences between generations, the influence of social networks, changing habits, addictions that can easily be transformed into a new advertisement, and then you remember what your teacher said: life comes first, so you stop, you put an idea somewhere in your head for the future, but what can you do when after this course your perception completely changes, so you work every moment, and your thoughts are just one long sentence, full of ideas and insights that never end…

During the course, we got a broad overview of the product manager role from a variety of experiences. The enthusiasm of the course leaders to share both their experience and to talk about their product and the problem it solves was particularly noticeable. What I liked most were the teachers who shared their personal, very specific experiences and product (failure) stories. All the presented theoretical material is well summarized and arranged in slides, which will be used and opened when I want to delve into one or another topic when a similar situation occurs in practice. Overall, the course was a good set, where the lessons flowed from each other. In summary, I would rate it as suitable for both those completely new to the product journey and a great refresher for those already experienced. The main takeaway I took away from the course is that the purpose of the product manager role is to identify the most important problems to be solved for your audience and to put together a winning strategy.

It was a real school of contemporary life. As I hadn’t been involved in advertising before, this gave me a basic understanding of the threads that go into one or another type of advertising and the kind of material that can be produced from a single sentence of a task. Our brain is an unstoppable machine if you just let it work. I have seen it hundreds of times. You can generate lots of innovative ideas that change people’s perceptions of what has been normal for them. And this, strange as it may sound, can be achieved even through the most concise, one-word advertisement. All you need is the creativity to find it.

In short, the course gave me the courage and the understanding that I can try and make mistakes over and over again, but that it only makes me more creative and productive. Not just at work, but also in my life.

Inspiring and engaging – that is what this course was for me. Interesting, high-quality and relevant theory was combined with a hands-on practical part, during which excellent professionals in their respective fields shared their experience. It was a great opportunity not only to create, but also to get answers to questions that arise when working with real clients. Special compliments to the course leader Clare McNally, who not only teaches the theory brilliantly, but is also fantastically inspiring! Even if you come up with 50 ideas and you feel that it’s all you can do, she will inspire you to come up with at least 10 more. These were intense months that strengthened the knowledge I already had and inspired me to create more and with more courage.

To be interesting and influential in the world of advertising, you have to learn that you’re not here for the sake of self-expression. During my time at The Atomic Garden Vilnius, I developed a sense of versatility and it was the best thing that could have happened.