No doubt you’ve heard the rumblings: Adland is dying, right?
The lawyers stop us saying anything creative. The IT nerds keep stealing our budgets. HR are low-balling every salary. Social has become wallpaper. Since Sorrell, the bean-counters are running everything. Then, of course, whatever’s left will be delivered by AI.
It’s probably why so many of us seem so unhappy.
Truth is, it’s easy to be negative. Sure, Adland has changed and adapted a million times over the years. From the moment the first classified ran in the first newspaper we’ve had to reshape ourselves to every obstacle. Radio. Television. The internet. Social. The industry is nothing if not a survivor.
But this time feels different.
Then, just when the light at the end of the tunnel looks like disappearing, the nicest thing happens. I recently got in touch with a bunch of former workmates – some I haven’t spoken to in 15 years. I needed a favour.
I pitched it as a small favour, but I knew it wasn’t. Because it involved the most precious of resources in a senior Adlander’s life.
Time.
The request was this: Can you spare 30min to talk to a recent university grad? A junior looking to understand where she might fit in the industry. So, she knows how and who to pitch her skills to. So, she can find her way in this silly business. It wasn’t a request for a job. Just a chat.
I was fully expecting most to say, “Sorry, but no. Why would I encourage anyone to start their career in a dying business?”
I was so very wrong.
Of the 11 people I asked, 9 said “Yes” almost immediately. Nine. In my direct marketing days we’d have called that a 82% response rate and started writing an Effie entry. Importantly, these are not thumb-twiddlers or head-counters or number-crunchers. They were a mix of CCOs, MDs, CEOs and ECDs. They are leading a mix of Sydney’s iconic multinationals and nimble hot shops.
They’re busy people with pressure on every hour. Nine said “Yes.”
Now, it’s true these were people I had an existing relationship with. Some I helped at various times in their career. But, honestly, that’s also my point. When outsiders bad mouth Adland as cut-throat. Or not as great as it once was, we all need to remember the fundamentals hasn’t changed.
Be nice to people on their way up because, eventually, you’ll need them all again. And when that happens, you’ll be amazed by how open industry leaders can be. Even more so today.
Faith restored.
Rob Morrison is a rarity in advertising – a grey-haired creative. Rob’s experience includes time as a Creative Director at Ogilvy, BWM (now Dentsu Creative), George Patts (now VML), Campaign Palace and Wunderman. He now runs his own consultancy – morrison.collective.
Here are two more opinion pieces from Rob Morrison:
Cover image by Inna Lesyk at pexels.com
