Jay Matsueda, the account supervisor for The Miller Group ad agency, used to work as an auditor for Coopers & Lybrand, LLP (what is now Price Waterhouse Coopers), but he felt the career lacked a certain something — excitement.

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	"Creative awards are always nice … but I value increasing clients' bottom lines more than impressing industry colleagues," Matsueda says.

"Those early days as a business assurance associate were mainly spent doing spot checks and recalculations of others' clerical work to gain confidence that their bookkeeping was correct during an entire year."

And that's why he switched to marketing and advertising in 1996.

Matsueda who graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics and an emphasis in Accounting, changed gears when he began working at ad agencies such as The Cimarron Group and Donat/Wald (a Direct Response agency). In 2007, he joined The Miller Group.

"It's my name, not a megalithic corporation," writes the president and creative director of The Miller Group, Renee Miller. "As an entrepreneur, I have grown the company on a few simple tenets: listening and learning, finding solutions that generate the highest return on investment, working hard, and maintaining integrity."

Today, as the account supervisor, Matsueda's responsibilities include "overseeing all client relationships, contributing to strategy, and developing new business pitches."

"Our main accounts right now are made up of clients like First Federal Bank of California, North American Scientific, The California Endowment, and RE/MAX International," continues Matsueda. "We are actively seeking clients in the environmental / 'green' space and also in the online and offline dating categories. The integrated campaigns we develop for clients literally run the gamut from video, collateral, signage, and direct mail, to outdoor billboards, TV, radio, tradeshow graphics, and magazine ads."

And Matsueda is not unfamiliar with high profile clientele. In the past, he has worked for clients such as eHarmony, Universal Studios, and the Discovery Health channel.

The Miller Group, with offices in both Dallas and Los Angeles, caters to a plethora of other well-known clients too, including (but not limited to) 7 Eleven, Blue Cross of California, Kirkland Signature (Costco's in-store brand), Wild Rivers Waterpark (in Orange County, California), DirecTV, Rembrandt toothpaste, and Kenwood appliances.

In 2006, the ad agency was named agency of record "for Sporteve, a newly launched retailer specializing in athletic apparel, accessories, and gear exclusively for women. The Miller Group's office in Los Angeles has already developed Sporteve's corporate branding and website, and is set to implement a national and local PR and marketing effort including media relations and online and events-oriented consumer outreach," says its website.

"These guys [The Miller Group] are true marketing partners," says Brett Gross, President of Alegacy Foodservice Products Group, Inc. "Not only have they helped us brand our company and have developed our advertising message, but they continue to provide us with outstanding marketing support as we grow our business and increase our market share."

The company has also appeared in well over a dozen magazines, including PRWeek, ADWEEK, Daily News, and Los Angeles Business Journal.

With numerous services, ranging from advertising to design, from direct response to public relations and media planning, it's no wonder Matsueda was enticed by the creativity in advertising as well as, ultimately, the creativity in The Miller Group.

"Both the creativity that enters into advertising and the creative process itself attracted me to this field as an alternative to accounting/auditing, but I also have a strong appreciation for the analytical side of advertising," he said.

Favorite types of ads? Matsueda said his favorite "tend to not only to be clever, but also to be measurably effective."

"I like campaigns with tracking methods to measure precise lift based on specific executions, whether that means unique URLs, phone numbers, or email addresses. Creative awards are always nice, too, of course," adds Matsueda, "but I value increasing clients' bottom lines more than impressing industry colleagues."

And tactics, such as guerilla and viral advertising, also impress Matsueda besides Miller's own, specifically the Hollywood & Highland shopping mall's "Live Large" campaign.

"[The campaign] uses local visual artists to interpret their elephant icon in creative ways — the conscious and voluntary price that consumers pay exposing themselves to commercial messages is offset by the enjoyment of the art, he said. "It seems very equitable and two-sided."

Understanding consumers seems natural to Matsueda. How then does this account supervisor view the advent of TiVo, which provides a viable way for consumers to skip the commercials? With practicality.

Q. What do you do for fun? A. People think I'm nuts because I do for fun what a lot of other people still consider work. After a full day as an Account Supervisor by day, [for the last 12 years], I have shot professional photojournalism for newspapers, magazines, CD covers, DVDs, and websites. Mainly for rock and jazz musicians. My portfolio is at www.radical3over2.com. I am also a singer/songwriter; I compose acoustic rock music and perform it locally with a lot of the musicians who I have shot pictures of. In gratitude for my photos, they often help me out doing recording sessions and playing shows. Some music samples are online at www.myspace.com/jaymatsueda. Q. Throughout your lifetime, what movie have you watched the most? A. That would be a 3-way tie between Beverly Hills Cop (the very first and only VHS tape we had in the house for years growing up), Superman: The Movie (that we rented once when I was sick and watched ad nauseum until I could recite the whole movie line for line), and Back to the Future. Q. What was the last book you read? A. The most recent [read] has been a true awakening, … a book called Worldchanging: A Users Guide For The 21st Century. The book, organized as a compilation of related essays, acts as a reference for additional reading and is forworded by Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore (Congratulations, Al!). It's chock full of helpful suggestions about both being an 'everyday hero' living an environmentally responsible lifestyle, and also about being open to the kinds of new innovations humanity will need to embrace as we face energy challenges in the foreseeable future. Q. What music is on your iPod / in your CD player right now? A. I listen to popular artists like the late Jeff Buckley, The Police, The Smiths, the Cure, U2, R.E.M. and lots and lots of jazz … and I actually enjoy listening to my own recorded music a lot. Is that weird? Q. If you had an extra hour in the day, what would you spend it doing? A. Three times a week, I'd spend the hour to workout. The other four, I'd read.

"Consumers now more than ever before have the ability to dictate when, where, and how they will be spoken to. This requires more of the advertising agency, but it also creates opportunities. And as more and more technologies develop to take advantage, I believe advertising will become much more targeted and accountable."

Matsueda offered some career advice tips to those interested in pursuing advertising.

"I'd offer the same advice to people looking into any future career," concludes Matsueda. "Make sure you understand not only the academic requirements of the industry that you believe you are interested in, but also the real-world nature of the business. Try to get a sense for what other kinds of [jobs] people gravitate toward … in the field. Determine what your ideal work-life balance is — in other words, the quality of life you desire for the things that matter to you most, so that you can balance your need for free time against your desire for materialistic success."

On the net:

The Miller Group
www.millergroup.net/index.php

PRWeek
www.prweek.com

eHarmony
www.eharmony.com

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