Oriel Davis-Lyons, head of creative for podcast and talk at Spotify, never envisioned becoming a teacher. But in 2020, after addressing the cost of US portfolio schools and offering to help Black creatives on LinkedIn, things changed.

Looking back: Davis-Lyons partnered with The One Club to create One School, a free 16-week, virtual portfolio school that meets twice a week after work. He promised that the school would be “unapologetically Black from start to finish,” hoping to open doors for Black creatives to enter what is a primarily white industry.

• He told Marketing Brew that one of the most rewarding parts of the experience has been “realizing that [he gets] to be kind of a fly on the wall for the rest of [students’] careers and feel some sense of pride every time they do something good.”

Looking ahead: To date, One School has helped about 75% of its students land full-time jobs after graduating without incurring any additional debt, Davis-Lyons said. It now has a network of 110 alumni from its four class locations—Chicago, New York, LA, and Atlanta—and is preparing to welcome 60 new students in the next academic year.

Removing the cost barrier

Amber Jessup, who was part of One School’s Fall 2021 cohort in Chicago, recently wrapped up an art-director internship at ad agency OKPR. She’s now working as a freelancer. Jessup told us that she’s wanted to be a creative ever since watching 13 Going on 30 when she was young, but paying for portfolio school felt like too big of a risk.

Now, looking back, she said, “I don’t think that I would have pursued my dreams if it wasn’t for One School.”

Break it down: Today, the standard yearly tuition for many portfolio schools is on par with, and sometimes exceeds, the average for a bachelor’s degree.

• The Miami Ad School charges $38,800 in tuition for its two-year program; the Denver Ad School charges $27,000 for 15 months, priding itself on being less expensive than other similar schools; and the Creative Circus, which will soon be closing, charged $45,000 for two years.

“The idea that you can only get into this industry if you have the money to pay for school, that’s wrong, and we have lost so much potential because of that,” Davis-Lyons said.

Read about other students’ experiences with One School here.—KH

Bad news for anyone who hates virtually trying on Warby Parker glasses: TikTok recently made it easier to create AR filters. In April, the platform made Effect House, its AR tool for creating filters and effects, available to all creators and brands, although it’s still in beta.

Big picture: AR filters have essentially become e-commerce tools for fashion and beauty brands, allowing people to virtually test out products before purchasing them. Half of US adults have used or expressed interest in using AR or VR while shopping, but only 4% use it regularly, per eMarketer.

But what about the AR filters that aren’t used for e-commerce? According to marketers we spoke with, they can still be valuable engagement and awareness drivers for brands.

Chasing rainbow-mouth waterfalls

Eric Dahan, CEO and co-founder of influencer marketing agency Open Influence, told Marketing Brew he’s created AR filters before for brands like Crocs and Google. He said the benefits of these types of filters are “definitely indirect,” explaining that AR filters can help improve top- and mid-funnel marketing efforts.

• Take Macy’s 2021 Pride out-of-home campaign, for instance. The retailer painted rainbow QR codes on the sidewalk outside of its flagship store in New York. After scanning the code, users could find a Macy’s Pride filter on their Instagram.

Annelise Campbell, CEO and founder of influencer talent agency Campbell Francis Group, has worked on AR filters for Fortune 500 CPG brands like Lifewtr and Nars. Campbell told us that she expects marketers to start to integrate AR filters into experiential activations as in-person events resume this year, saying that they work well for some brands in terms of getting content shared.

Keep reading here.—PB

Each Tuesday, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Becca Anderson is US content marketer at hiring software firm Recruitee. In her role at the company, which was founded in Amsterdam, she “creates and leads US content initiatives and specializes in video campaigns.” Before joining Recruitee last year, she was Solico Engineering’s first marketing, communications, and strategy officer.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? A Valentine’s Day campaign where I created a video called “Recruiter Match: The candiDating game.” This video educated/entertained by showing our target market (recruiters) how to give their candidates a better experience.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? Definitely when innocent had their Instagram profile photo changed to the wedding photo of ”their boss” and then it became a recurring joke on their page. When it came up again on April Fools’ Day, it was the perfect continuation. It was the type of campaign where we all felt like we were in on the joke.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? One of my favorite things to do is improv. In college, I was in an improv club—we had a president and vice president, but we needed to have a third board member to be an official club. So, they let me improv the role of improv-club historian in all our official meetings.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? I’m the most optimistic about the power of video. I think that video marketing is going to be a more and more desired skill in our field, especially those that can conquer short-form video. I’m least optimistic about the trend of promoting social responsibility as an empty marketing tactic, without really following through on it or keeping it as a brand core value.

What’s one marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? If you need a laugh, follow memes4marketers on Instagram!

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

The social network: Brush up on the latest updates on Facebook, including new Reels capabilities and increased monetization options for creators.

The content plan: If you need some inspo for social media content, check out these infographics with plenty of ideas.

The long read: Got some time today? Cozy up with the new issue of Big Thinking from LinkedIn, which includes everything from a breakdown of sustainability in marketing to targeting without cookies.

Candid convos with industry icons: Hosted by Brew co-founder Alex Lieberman, the Imposters podcast delves deep into the personal and mental challenges some of the biggest names in biz have faced while reaching their most resounding achievements. Listen here.

Long weekend? Be sure to check out the Marketing Brew Job Board to find your next marketing role!

Today’s featured openings:

• Product Marketing Manager at SOCI, Inc.
• Brand & Content Manager at Maiden Home
• Marketing Manager at Informa

See more jobs or post your job opportunities here.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• How’d all those brands get into Stranger Things?
• Hashtag Pay Me, a calculator that helps influencers determine rates, rolls out
• Staffing firms expect recession to boost shift to freelance and temporary work

Skittles were first released in 1974, but the colorful candy brand’s iconic “taste the rainbow” tagline wasn’t developed until later. In what year did the tagline and campaign first appear?

1. 1979
2. 1986
3. 1994
4. 2003

Keep scrolling for the answer.

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