School of Journalism

Trent Walters (’97 B.A.) started his advertising career working at The North Texas Daily. Now the UNT graduate is a brand manager at The Richards Group, the nation’s largest independent branding agency based in Dallas.

Walters, who majored in journalism, started working at the agency the weekend after he graduated from UNT.

“I had the job when I was walking across the stage, which was my goal,” he said.

In his position, Walters serves as the liaison between the client and the agency. His role is unique because he works with every department ranging from creative to media.

His responsibilities include making sure the client understands the marketing strategy, communicating objectives to his colleagues, developing materials and administering other facets of account service.

One of the aspects he appreciates about his job is researching his clients and their respective industries. Some of the accounts he has worked on include Nokia Mobile Phones, Motel 6, AT&T Broadband, and the Encore Media Group.

“From the business side to the consumer side, from all sorts of different angles on the business, you have to be an expert,” he said.

He also enjoys managing and mentoring employees to help them with their professional growth.

“I kind of look at it as the opportunity to really kind of mold people into the brand managers that I think they should be,” he said.

He attributes his success at The Richards Group to his experience at The North Texas Daily, where he first worked as a sales person before being promoted to ad manager.

“To me, that was almost exactly like brand management in terms of going out and like servicing the client and making sure the ads are done well, the ads are done exactly like they want them, and the billing side of it,” he said. “And making sure they want do more.”

In 1997, the American Advertising Federation selected Walters for its Most Promising Minority Student program. He was featured in Ad Age and took a trip to Chicago, where he networked and interviewed with advertising professionals.

His professor, Dr. Roy Busby, had encouraged him to apply to the program.

“If it hadn’t been for him, I probably wouldn’t have signed up for the most promising minority student thing and then I probably wouldn’t be here,” Walters said.

See Trent featured in a video from the American Advertising Federation.