<A Saturday #advertising thread>
I’ve been toying with the idea of giving back to the industry that’s given me so much (and continues to do so).
And one of those ways that I’ve been thinking of is with my time. (1/n)
I’ve been toying with the idea of giving back to the industry that’s given me so much (and continues to do so).
And one of those ways that I’ve been thinking of is with my time. (1/n)
To designate a certain number of hours each month to give to anyone (particularly those who’re just starting out in advertising / marketing) who may find an interaction or a conversation with me useful. (2/n)
Not because I’m smarter or wiser, but only because I’ve had the good fortune of being around for a little longer, and had the opportunity to learn a bunch of things that others may not yet have had the opportunity to learn. (3/n)
I’ll act on that idea soon.
In the meantime, FWIW, I thought I’d put these two questions out there.
What are these questions? They are what I have my conversations around when I talk to someone who wants to get into advertising. They are what got me here and keep me going. (4/n)
In the meantime, FWIW, I thought I’d put these two questions out there.
What are these questions? They are what I have my conversations around when I talk to someone who wants to get into advertising. They are what got me here and keep me going. (4/n)
Q1. Have you ever been passionately, madly, completely head-over-heels in love? And I don’t mean just romantic love, nor only with other living beings.
Here’s why I ask this. Advertising, as a profession, is and isn’t many things. (5/n)
Here’s why I ask this. Advertising, as a profession, is and isn’t many things. (5/n)
But it’s nothing without passion. It’s nothing if you only bring logic and routine to it. And like with love, you won’t know if it’ll work out. You only have the choice of committing to it, and then making it work, daily, weekly, monthly, year on year. Because you love it. (6/n)
Without that passion, and given the heartlessness of the industry otherwise, you’ll be chewed up and thrown by the wayside. But if you do bring passion to it, then the joy is amazing. And everything else — fame, fortune, new canvases — will follow sooner than later. (7/n)
Q2. Tell me about a big failure in your life and how you dealt with it.
Failure is an escapable part of life, but that truism is acutely experienced in advertising on a daily basis. We will fail to come up with great ideas, we will fail to articulate them well,
(8/n)
Failure is an escapable part of life, but that truism is acutely experienced in advertising on a daily basis. We will fail to come up with great ideas, we will fail to articulate them well,
(8/n)
...we will fail to sell them, we will fail to get them to see the light of day, we will fail our partners and clients, and ourselves on a regular basis. Our ideas will face rejection most (and I mean at least 95%) of the time.
(9/n)
(9/n)
In over 20 years of doing this, I don’t have any awards to show that I’m successful. And my path up to the present day is littered with the corpses of ideas that have never seen the light of day.
(10/n)
(10/n)
But the ability to accept this high rate of failure and more importantly, to keep coming back with better, different ideas because of the sheer joy of coming up with ideas in the first place—that’s what keeps me going.
(11/n)
(11/n)
Ideas that spark emotion, ideas that kindle joy, ideas that change behaviour, ideas that persuade people (including obstinate and ego-driven colleagues and clients), and of course, ideas that move business.
(12/12)
(12/12)
