It’s been muttered in the halls of Adland for decades. “You know who they’re related to?” “You know our CEO goes to BBQs with their parents?” “They only got the job because of their surname.” And cards on the table, I may have cursed a nepo-rival once or twice – particularly if I’d missed out on a job, a promotion or been beaten in a pitch.
It’s not hard to rationalise why. Ask any parent and they’d do just about anything to help their kids live a happier, healthier, more prosperous life. Gossip be damned.
Which is why it’s easy to think nepotism is rife in Adland. Even if it isn’t.
Imagine your surname was Ogilvy or Saatchi or Clemenger. It wouldn’t matter how talented you were. How independently successful you were. How brilliant your work was. The rumours would always swirl. Your rivals would always get a lazy, free hit.
“Nepo” can be just as much a curse as an advantage.
Now, without getting into details, both my children work in this silly industry. Both have great gigs doing amazing work. Here’s the important bit. I had nothing to do with any job they’ve landed. I haven’t strong-armed an old friend to employ them. I’ve offered to open doors and feedback on folios and edit websites, but they’ve resisted. They are where they are based on talent and hard work. My contribution? Nothing.
They’ve put the ‘no’ in ‘nepo’.
Which is why I’m suggesting us older creatives start saying ‘yes’. It’s time to turn nepo-babies into nepo-parents. They’re the new answer to the old question. Literally, the old question. Ageism.
Truth is, in our schizophrenic rush to curse and/or embrace all things AI, ageism has vanished from the industry discourse. Everyone’s talking about A.I., not A.G.E. Have we miraculously solved the ageism issue?
Nope.
We still have amazing copywriters and art directors hustling to eek out a living. Applying for everything that moves. Dropping their day rates. Even (gasp) going client-side.
So, it’s time to reverse the polarity of the ‘nepo’.
Related to a young suit? Got a child in a creative department? Share a surname with an intern? Get them to introduce you to agency leads. Hit them up to give you a contact. We need to stop being polite and start being employed. Writing. Art directing. Designing.
We’ll know it’s worked when the gossip mill starts saying, “You know who that old bloke is related to, right?”
Nepo-parents unite.
Rob Morrison is a rarity in advertising – a grey-haired working creative. His consultancy, ‘morro’, is dedicated to curing businesses laryngitis. Giving companies back their human voice.
Here are two more opinion pieces from Rob Morrison:
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