Employer: McGarrah Jessee

Client: Whataburger

Description: Shadows worked on an integrated campaign for the beloved Texas burger chain, a long-time agency partner, and presented to the brand’s VP.

“We tasked them from the start to come up with a brief. They worked with the planning team to get the brief perfected, then worked with our Whataburger creative directors to craft their concepts and final presentation.” – Avery Graham, McGarrah Jessee

“We had the pleasure of watching this team present to one of our clients and they did an incredible job. They got a lot of great compliments, not only for the way they told their stories throughout their presentation but also their confidence as a team and the fact that they really immersed themselves in the brand. All of the work they presented could have come from Whataburger, and that’s a testament to how much research these guys did. Overall, our client was really impressed.“ Jillian Gamboa, McGarrah Jessee

Because this team was under non-disclosure agreements, they were unable to show their work. Instead, they created a video podcast reflecting on how the summer went and sharing their advice for future Shadow The Pros participants.

Some of their favorite reflections came from realizing their progress together — from utter failure in an early team-building project to creating work they could all be proud of and presenting it to a Whataburger exec.

“I really liked how straightforward the McGarrah Jessee people were with their critiques. They weren’t just patting us on the back saying ‘good job.’ They genuinely cared about us and our progress and wanted to see us learn.” – Savannah Garza

“I learned a lot, especially about working in a team. We had to have really good communication going on in the group.” – Truc

“I learned about the importance of details, like making sure the tone and wording is right for your ad. As an art director, it’s important that I get my ideas across really clearly. Working with the strategy team and everybody at McGarrah Jessee helped me learn how to present an idea to make it really look good.” – Bryson

Team Members
Savannah Garza, St. Edward’s University (recent graduate)
Bryson Williams, Texas State University
Truc Doan – Manor High School
Behrnis Zepeda – Connally High School