Getting into advertising in 2015
I’ve recently been judging some of the portfolios that have been entered in the Cream portfolio contest run by The Talent Business.
So far the standard has been very high, but not just of the work – the websites (there are no actual books) are remarkably professional.
That made me wonder: what exactly does it take to get your first job in the creative dept of an advertising agency these days?
When I left Watford back in 1996 things were kind of different. No one expected you to have access to a computer, let alone a website, so portfolios were no more technical than they were in the 60s: paper, pens, maybe a bit of (colour) photocopying and photography if you were really making an effort. And of course the work was almost all press, poster, TV and possibly a tiny bit of radio. 8-10 campaigns and with no computer wizardry to bump it all up, the idea was naked, front and centre. A CD would flick through it, maybe flick back at the work he or she liked and that was that.
Now, as far I’m aware, there are no physical portfolios (I have no idea what they’re planning to put up at the Cream exhibition). I only have websites to look at, and not much of your bogstandard Cargo Collective drag-and-drop jobs, either; these have landing pages and navigation that function as well as many corporate sites I’ve visited, and many come complete with blogs and other extra-curricular activities to help the team nose ahead of their competition. And the work is a mix of really well shot case studies that explain multi-media and digital ideas in the best tradition of a Cannes entry film.
So, a few questions:
Where do they find the time and money?
How long does it take to go from an idea to a finished ‘case study’ film?
There’s very little print and poster these days. Does nobody ask for them even though they’re still a huge slice of what makes up advertising today? And they used to give a CD a clue to the art directional abilities of the AD (or ‘creative team’). Without them will anyone bother with that skill (let alone with its nerdier cousin copywriting)?
How are CDs expected to view them now? In the old days you’d have a pretty good idea of a book’s quality within a minute of flicking through (especially as the best idea usually goes first). Nowadays that’s just about long enough to get through half a case study. Three or four books used to take 15 minutes. Now it’s usually going to take an hour most of them surely can’t spare.
How did things end up like this?
It seems there are pros and cons to all of it, and if everyone’s doing the same thing then I suppose you have to join the party, but I miss some of the old simplicity.
Yours,
Not a Millennial.
xxx
When we do crits, we always recommend that teams have a ‘fast’ version of their book.
I can’t leave a video on a CD’s desk, or expect him to watch a case study video.
TBH I find it fucking annoying when teams turn up and expect me to sit through 20 minutes of them bringing up videos on their laptop as I watch them in silence. Part of the crit process should be talking about your work, selling it to the person you’re talking to.
Where do they find the time and money to make case studies?
Time: they’re students… its the one thing they have loads of.
Money: they’re free. All you need is basic editing skills, a program like aftereffects (v easy to download) and someone on your ad course with a nice sounding voice for a VO.
The problem is that the ideas are usually half baked and simply dont warrant a case study (much like a lot of the case studies/”ideas” at Cannes)
There is definitely an absence of art direction craft in modern books. We are constantly encouraging teams to try and show off and show a bit more flair.
Yours,
Technically a millenial but prefer not to be called one.
Fuck, man. I’ve been in this business for 16 years, now at my third agency, and I don’t even have an online portfolio site. I have an actual physical portfolio and a jump drive full of the shit I haven’t had time to print out or otherwise share.
I have, in time when my mind wanders darker possibilities, wondered how the fuck I’ll get my next job. This one keeps me so damn busy I barely have time for my family. Who has time to build a wicked-polished online portfolio? I mean, if you’re that good, you should already have a job, no?
I still have all my TV ads on a VHS cassette. And my radio ads on tape.
Antediluvian.
Ben, the problem with poster/print is that it’s too close to reality. There’s no trick, no editing, no music, no cuts. No five minute case study with happy little underprivileged children running around whose life you’ve improved with your invention. No contrived setup to prove some stupid social justice agenda you’re using to sell more of whatever it is you need to sell. Just the idea, presented to you like Joe Average will see it on the street. It’s like dropping your creative pants in front of whoever you’re presenting to. It takes a lot of balls (pun intended), craft, and…I hate to say it…good ideas. Not many people can do it, and those who can’t hide behind all of the aforementioned.
There are a few students like myself, who wish it was still the same as when you left Watford.
It’s really difficult not to ‘join the party’ and make fancy case study videos, when you see what can only be described as ‘After Effects diarrhoea’ winning awards at D&AD New Blood.
The Wieden + Kennedy London placement page reads: “Please, please, please don’t show us a book stuffed full of print ads. Please.”
Let’s hope that there are enough CD’s out there who still believe in simplicity and speed.
Or else I’m off to the dole queue.
Cream entrant/Watford Grad.
I think this started in America. Kids who went to expensive portfolio schools like VCU and Creative Circus would often make fancy videos for their ideas. The schools had all the equipment already, and they had mates on other courses who were happy to make a film for their book.
Now you don’t need any special equipment at all, so people are doing everything themselves. I think it’s pretty daft, because they have to spend time learning a skill they probably won’t need again.
I didn’t go to any ad school, and I had to make my first portfolio in my spare time, on my own, after work. I’d never have had the time or the energy to put together videos for my ideas. I’d like to think that good ECDs can recognise good ideas no matter how they are presented, but in my experience that isn’t the case. If I was trying to get a first job these days I’d probably be out of luck, and I bet the story is the same for other people who start a little older and/or don’t have anyone wealthy to support them while they fight their way in.
Well, when the world zigs, zag.
Daryl and I hired a team with some great ads but they’d also patented a heat-proof plate that old people could use without burning their fingers.
The idea was great, but the gumption to actually make it was even more impressive.
I can see why the demand for print has slipped and TV, both victims of the explosive growth in tech, but why are posters crap now too?
Buying a portfolio and constantly paying to get your work printed costs more than a website mate.
2015.
And the patronising addition of ‘mate’ at the end of sentences…
When did that begin?
Picking at sentences like that goes to prove you know you’re wrong.
Nice new reply feature on the site by the way matey!
is a website mate a friend who can sort your online presence out?
Great subject and post Ben, because obviously we’re talking about how the next lot of talent finds their way into the business.
I don’t have the answers, but for one thing, I think for the good of the business, we have to start thinking about where that talent comes from, how we make the business accessible to people who haven’t spent years on an ad course or portfolio course. This current trend that you’re talking about doesn’t help in that regard. The skills and talent that advertising needs aren’t necessarily best exemplified by the making of a case study video or making an app.
I feel sorry for people trying to get into the business though, because they’re being sent confusing messages. When you look at the industry from the outside, and you see what the industry itself is celebrating, a couple of exceptions aside, it is these facile one-off stunts and ideas, and their case study vids. That what’s winning awards in the industry, and as much as I personally dislike that, you can’t blame aspiring creatives for seeing that and trying to ape it. The work that is winning industry awards doesn’t tend to be the work that you’d want to see in a creative’s book.
Personally I like to see a book full of fairly roughly finished print ideas, because I’m lazy, and for me it’s a really quick, easy way to see if someone can think, and if they know how people think, and how that applies to the product or brand they’re advertising, and if they can communicate. When they come in with videos or apps or other tomfoolery, I tend to have to ask them loads of questions to find out how they tick.
If you’re an aspiring creative though, please don’t take that as advice, as I get the impression that I’m in a minority. Speaking to the creatives who come in with their work, it seems like there is more conflicting and different advice between agencies than ever before.
That’s a bunch of good points, S!S!.
I’d also prefer the rough scamps because I too am a bit lazy, but I also think the nowhere-to-hide nature of them tells you more than a case study video.
But it looks like you have to play the game, or stand out so much with such high quality work that you don’t have to.
Yes @Pablo, why the fuck do even print anything these days, anything mate?
Well I mean… that sentence just makes no sense.
I wonder what would happen if a team did both. Give the CD the choice between looking at their book of idea scamps or viewing their online portfolio with its slickly edited case studes. Obviously, both would have to be stuffed with great work.
I reckon you’d stand out.