The Next Generation?
Today (Monday) I gave a talk at my old school about advertising.
It was their careers advice day thingie and they were lacking people who worked in the meeja, so I kindly volunteered to spew forth the kind of poison you find on this blog right into the ears of the young.
The oddest part of doing it was wrapping my head around when they were born – 1993ish – and remembering that Cotton Eye Joe and the best work of Ice T happened long before they were sentient.
Anyhoo, I think it would have been remiss of me to do anything other than warn them about what’s happening to the industry and suggest that they might find more fulfilling lives elsewhere.
It was pretty hard explaining the giant pustulating boil that is the Myth of Digital and the way an entire industry has fallen for a bullshit sandwich big enough to choke the monster they hid the Millennium Falcon in at the start of the Empire Strikes Back. When I remembered all that guff people were regurgitating in 2007 about how if you didn’t have plenty of digital in your book by 2010 you’d be a dead, smelly brontosaurus, I sighed so hard I broke my clavicle.
I then tried to decipher shit-but-effective versus award-winning-but-ineffective and explain how the latter still gets you the promotions and raises, and that no one has yet managed to think of a better system than that. I felt embarrassed as I did so. Lots of supposedly intelligent people work in advertising, but we seem to spend a ridiculous amount of time suggesting the opposite is true.
They also asked about how we really know about the people to whom we are advertising. I said that, in general, we were a bunch of wankers whose idea of getting into the mind of people who work outside the Circle Line is to read The Sun.
I’m not sure they left keener on the industry than when they arrived, but you never know.
yeah, nothing beats the opportunity to screw with young innocent minds.
I may work on the 'other side' to you, but I reckon the industry kicks ass.
Nice post.
What's the myth of digital again?
It goes a little something like this:
http://adcontrarian.blogspot.com/2010/06/just-wait-youll-see.html
What's digital again?
Start an agency, Ben.
You have a point of view. There is a place in the market for what you believe.
It's the what would you tell the 15 year old you question.
I'd tell him not to shag that Emma girl in spain, oh jesus you knew it was a bad idea before you did it and you were fucking right. Why don't you listen to yourself.
And stop doing so many of those fucking areosol cans, what are you some fucking bueno airies street urchin
And don't go down they keyhole at southsea skate park without knowing how you are going to get out of the turn, it's a fucking big fall
And advertising is alright, every industry is full of cunts but there are better looking girls in this one
Surely digital makes it a more exciting industry to work in?
11:37 Good call on the keyhole. I'd add that nasty bowl at Romford with the over hang, to the list of things not to drop in on.
You sound like a sad bitter fuck.
Pumped full of your own self importance you will actually take the time to discourage young people from an industry which has helped many of the world's leading creative people on their career paths. And because you're not one of them you don't want any of them to succeed. Great. You may just have dissuaded a genuinely talented person from joining one of the good places out there who need that supply of talent to keep doing what they do and make the industry better. In an attempt to look ever so cool and knowing I've no doubt you ended up looking more like Ricky Gervaise in The Office. Unlike a miner or a roadsweeper, there should be absolutely nothing stopping you from getting yourself out of this incredible rut you're in. What does it say about a man who despises his job so much but carries on doing it with such willingness?
Ha. the "myth of digital". nicely put. people need to stop thinking about digital. it's there. it exists. get over it.
anon 13.34
Did you not detect a slight tongue-in-cheek feel to the article? Don't take everything you read literally. Fool.
Alex: Happy birthday. I think the two points are separate. We have the potential and 'excitement' of digital then we have the industry's unjustified thrall to it. I agree that digital is a chance to go to great places, but I think it's a castle built on sand. Someday (and I don't think it'll take too long to get there) this will become glaringly apparent, and the Myth of Digital will end up being used as a stick with which to beat the industry. Possibly (no one knows the future, so that theory has as much chance of being right as any other).
13:34:
You, like many others (this may be my fault), seem to have missed what I'm trying to say on this blog.
I don't despise advertising at all. I really like it. What I don't like is what's happening to it and I want that downward slope to stop. You might have seen a Honda ad that espoused this philosophy (hate something, change something).
I'm one of the few people who is happy and willing to say publicly that advertising is heading in the wrong direction. The ads used to be much better and the working situation used to be much better. The creative part of this industry is getting marginalised to the detriment of the product and I think that's a BAD THING.
Stupid cunts like yourself seem to want to stick their heads in the sand and say that everything is hunky dory. Well, look around you. It fucking well isn't, and lying to teenagers to get them to come and sacrifice their chances in another, better career just to improve this industry seems to me a pathetic and immoral thing to do.
And what right does advertising have to good, creative talent? Fuck all. You're so bloody thick that you thought I should have recommended advertising to them as a route to another job. That's a pretty scathing indictment of advertising, don't you think? Why shouldn't they just do the other (better) job without stopping off at this industry on the way?
And I'm not in a rut. Advertising is. And if you can't see that you're as thick as I think you are.
@13.34
"you sound like a sad bitter fuck"
you sound like a sad bitter fuck.
As kids are automatically contrary and think they know best whilst actually being a bit stupid and , let's face it, knobheads of the first water (think back – am I right? Of course I am) they will undoubtedly do the opposite of whatever Ben says. So in fact he has probably inadvertently ENCOURAGED them into the advertising industry.
I think that what the rather angry anon (13.34) is getting at, is why are you sometimes so down on the industry, Ben?
Often your enthusiasm shines through, yet other times you are very derogatory about it. What gives?
What's hilarious about DIGITAL is the knee jerk reaction of students/colleges in putting a book together.
You see campaigns with a thought done as TV and poster and then the same thought done up as an IPHONE APP and as a WEB PAGE. These executions are not iphone app or web page 'ideas', they are simply the TV/poster idea done up as an iphone app or a web page. WHy? Because "agencies want to see 'digital'". Its hilarious and pointless. If you have a great IDEA for a web site of Iphone app then fine. If not don't bother. It was the same with 'ambient' when I was a student. Everyone had to do 'ambient' and so just bunged a poster on a beer mat. JUST COME UP WITH A FUCKING ACE STRATEGY that's the only thing that really really matters.
13.34
a sad bitter fuck you sound like.
like a sad, bitter fuck, you sound.
sad, bitter, fuck you like a sound.
fuck you like a sad bitter sound.
fuck sad, you sound like a bitter
sad fuck, you sound bitter like.
It's exactly like Alan Partridge going back to his school and banging on about "terrestrial TV being a dead duck".
Hate something hate something in your case. How the fuck are you striving for change? By telling a group of kids to go work in a different industry? Strive on sanctamonious cunt.
How's the creative part of this industry getting marginalised?
Clients need creativity as much as they ever did. No more so, no less. What, you suddenly think products no longer need to connect creatively with their audiences? That we've suddenly jumped into an economic time warp where business doesn't need to connect in that way?
Creativity is just coming from different areas now. Less from your particular area of expertise, so you say it's all going down hill. Old agency life is being marginalized I guess. Creative ways of connecting with consumers remains as important as it ever was. Advertising isn't in a rut. The old advertising model is. You can't see the difference which makes you pretty thick.
IS it as bad in other countries? It doesn't seem to be. If not why not?
18:31:
Where to start…?
Of course clients need creativity. Unfortunately, many of them don't want it.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'the old advertising model' but if you read the hyperlink on 'The Myth of Digital' in my post you might find that old school media is still where all the money and effectiveness is.
I'm not saying digital is rubbish or has no validity. I'm saying that its importance is being overestimated (mainly by fuckwits like yourself).
I'd guess that you're quite young, otherwise you wouldn't be stupid enough to deny the marginalisation of creativity. Look for a start at relative wages in the average creative department.
But please think more carefully before you comment. I know you're anonymous and inexperienced but you still look fucking dumb.
16:05…Some things are good, some things are bad. I just call them how I see them. If everything was going great, I'd happily point that out, and I like to think I do highlight what positive things there are (Devil Flake ad for instance).
18:17…Could you explain further?
Hate something, change something? Bollocks to that. Hate something, go out and get some dynamite then blow the fucker up!
Pay no attention to the Adcontrarian, Ben. He cherry picks the worst examples of digital bullshit to denigrate the entire industry. Just like the morons who will tell you that TV is dead, he has formed his opinion and is now searching for the facts that fit it.
In his defence I suspect he wouldn't do it if he wasn't sick to the death of digital evangelism drivel. The problem is how he chooses to respond.
It's not Traditional versus digital. It is traditional AND digital.
Honestly I think it is fucking pathetic. Creative people in any field should embrace change and if they can't do that they just aren't that good anymore. My guess is that they just lack the will.
If you want my opinion about why creativity in this country has slumped you'd find my answer somewhere in there. We, as in creatives on both sides and the bullshit politics that mires us in mediocre work are part of the problem.
PS Devil flake is awesome. Just a shame I can't friend him on Facebook. 🙂
Tell 'em how it all went tits up at…. That should scare the f*ckers senseless.
The people defending digital always sound like dicks. No wonder no fucker wants to work with them.
PS I work with them now. Happy? No. Paid? Yes. Making good work? Not a fucking chance… taxi
Good point Ben. But It depends how you define digital. If you limit it to banners and the like then yes, digital hasn't caused half the ripple the nerd herd claimed it would.
But if you look at work that uses the digital medium in some way, it has turned the way we communicate on its head. Stuff like Whopper sacrifice, Nokia signpost, infinite moonwalk, that ikea facebook campaign that cleaned up at cannes, the Livestrong titanium winner, even the twelpforce thing that I didn't love – none of this stuff would exist without digital technology. But they all start with an idea. which is where we come in.
I was feeling pretty negative about the industry a few years back, watching tossers like Tuttsel prancing round cannes trumpeting about the latest cannes gold press for a superglue or toy museum. Scam was king and we were creating work for bloated old junket monkeys who travelled from one award show to the next. Tuttsel was talking up the 'renaissance of press' again at cannes this year but no one is listening.
And this is also to your point of people getting promoted and rewarded for winning awards, not doing work that works. Some of the best stuff at cannes this year worked its tits off, and consumers responded to it.
Personally, I'm excited by what I do again, there's lovely TV being made for big clients, and some huge integrated ideas that are getting the punters interested and involved with big brands.
the very same thing you shit at AdContrarian you're doing yourself.
talk about hypocrisy.
Damo:
The bits of the AC I quoted merely refer to that study which says TV viewing is going up and digital is making less progress.
For the umpteenth time and just to be clear: I have nothing against digital (I'm not exactly sure what anon 7:28 means but I think he's suggesting it's a bit rich that I slag off digital yet write a blog). I am using digital now. The best examples of advertising and digital communication are excellent and wonderful. Please bring me more digital. Yummy yummy yummy.
But the 'digital evangelism drivel' (Thanks, Damo) is something I think could be damaging for the industry. It's not as big, prevalent or useful as we, as an industry, seem to be suggesting. In the headlong rush not to be left behind, many people are wasting a lot of time and money on things which are of little use (how often do you visit a product's website? Even one you love, like Hellman's or Fray Bentos?).
Digital will find its place but none of us currently know where that is.
And I notice no one has taken issue with the awards/effectiveness part of the post, or the bit that mentions the lip service we pay to the people to whom we are trying to persuade. Both of those are fundamentally damaging to what we do, whether in digital or otherwise.
One of the great unwashed said to me that the product site for comparethemarket.com was rubbish.
Something about hanging or something. I switched off by this stage. Anyway apparently they loved the ad but not the digital experience. They then went elsewhere for their insurance.
When it comes to the future of communications, I guess, some of us are perched on a wire above an abyss of anxiety.
John W.
You seem to be refering to a bad product as opposed to making any kind of relevant point.
A bunch of creatives bleating about the situation advertising finds itself in is a complete waste of time. Make your case to the clients, make your case to the account directors, then do better work and prove yourselves right. Otherwise just shut the fuck up.
@10.16
Sorry if my specificity threw you off the scent.
I can't be arsed explaining myself so I'll bow down to your greater knowledge.
Ben,
It's your blog (I like it and I think you do a good job) so I guess you can print what you want. But isn't the point that it's an open forum? I can't think why you wouldn't have published my last two posts. They were certainly no ruder or more abrupt than yours, and they raised issues which I thought were interesting to the debate even if they were contrary to yours. They're only observations. Don't take them to heart too much. We can all learn things from other peoples opinions as I often do when I come on here. I still wanted to know why someone who wants to change the industry would tell a load of youngsters not to join it. Can you answer that?
John W.
I see. You were making a general point not a specific one. Ads are good but products aren't good.
Hi,
I didn't put up your last two comments because the conversation was getting a bit long and circular. I couldn't be arsed to respond to everything you were saying but felt that if I left any points unaddressed it might look as if I agreed with them.
To answer what seems to be your most important question: I do take your point, but there are many ways in which you can change something, particularly an entire industry. In my opinion advertising has some more fundamental problems it needs to sort out before we get down to the (possibly) small difference a few new recruits might make in five years' time. You might say that there's no harm in getting good youngsters in, so why put them off? Well, that would be perpetuating the status quo.
If you'd like an analogy, look at global warming. The world is being lowered, very slowly, into a cold bath of our own making. Eventually, if we don't do something about that, we will all be fucked. Same with advertising. I think it needs to get worse before it gets better because until that happens, the people who matter will not change things. I'd love them to realise today and improve things ASAP, but they won't.
You might also say that people in other areas of advertising are having a great time, but it's all relative. However fun it is now, it is less fun than it used to be, but more fun than it's going to be. The wages for creative teams are similar to what they were 20-30 years ago, and you can't tell me digital people are getting paid more because I know that's not true.
Some good work is papering over a mountain of shit, but we are about to have our third consecutive year of no 'great' British work. Standards are heading in the wrong direction and until that stops, I'm not going to lie to a few possible employees on the tiny off-chance that the tide will turn before they find out how bad things are.
I see both sides of this debate, but must say its weird to censor comments and damages your blog's credibility. Its even weirder to then answer the censored comments!
16:13.
Close but no cigar. I guess the search for the truth goes on. Maybe it's on this blog somewhere already?
08:08
I didn't see it as censoring. The comments I didn't put up were the same stuff that had been covered earlier. I just don't have the time to answer every single thing twice.
I only censor comments because of the above kind of laziness or if they are personally rude, never because I disagree with them.
'…above kind of laziness'. Is that me again?!
Hello ben,
I don't agree with you but appreciate the honest reply, thanks.
A good blog is always about stimulating debate even if it does get a bit narky. You certainly do that. And I'll continue to bite. All good fun.
I agree whole heartedly with Ben. To me, digital isn’t an idea or a strategy, it’s a media channel. In the same way a TVC or a 48 sheet is.
I wrote a similar piece on my own blog. (But without the expletives.)
http://thereisnocavalry.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/whats-all-the-palaver-about-digital/
I hope you don’t mind me plugging it.