Behind the Numbers: Inside an MSU Ad Mgmt Student’s Eye-Opening Internship at Cannonball Creative
By: Sinae Hong
When people think of advertising, they may picture bright Times Square billboards or viral Super Bowl ads. For Michigan State University advertising management senior, Devin Finnane, his internship at Cannonball Creative, a Los Angeles-based agency, revealed that successful campaigns rely just as much on financial precision as creative vision.
Cannonball Creative operates differently from most agencies. It is composed entirely of independent contractors rather than full-time employees. Each contractor specializes in areas such as digital media, print production or strategic planning and bills hourly at their own rate. This structure gave Finnane a firsthand look at how agencies manage costs, allocate resources and maintain transparency with clients.
His main responsibility was auditing every contractor invoice from the previous year. That meant thousands of spreadsheet entries to ensure billing accuracy and proper project allocation. Though not directly involved in campaign creation, Finnane’s behind-the-scenes work helped him understand how projects progress from concept to completion.
“I didn’t work directly on the creative side,” Finnane said. “But auditing every invoice gave me a foot in the door to understand it all. I saw every small step because it had to get billed. Someone was getting paid to do it.”
By analyzing invoices and budgets, Finnane began to see how dozens of contributors – including graphic designers, copywriters, strategists and account managers – collaborate to bring campaigns to life.
“You start to realize how many people it takes to bring a campaign together,” he said. “There were between 50 and 100 people involved in just one project.”
The experience strengthened Finnane’s analytical and strategic thinking, directly linking classroom concepts to real-world application. He learned how small financial errors could ripple through a campaign’s budget and future planning.
“Even one person billing under the wrong category could throw off everything,” he said. “It really tested my patience and attention to detail.”
Working for a fully remote agency also taught him adaptability and communication, key components of advertising management. Because Cannonball Creative has no physical office, Finnane communicated with colleagues entirely online using Slack, email and Zoom.
“I had to learn how to talk professionally to everyone, from IT experts to creative directors,” he said. “You can’t just say, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ You have to match their tone and professionalism.”
Remarkably, Finnane completed much of his internship while studying abroad in Rome, managing a nine-hour time difference while contributing to projects.
“It proved that you don’t always need an office if you have the right people who love what they do,” he said.
Finnane’s journey is a reminder that the best ad professionals are not just creative. They are organized, detail-driven and adaptable. Finnane says while students aren’t making ads yet, they are learning how they work. For AD+PR students, now is the time to build those skills and step behind the numbers.