George Tannenbaum on the future of advertising,
the decline of the English Language and other frivolities. 100% jargon free.
A Business Insider "Most Influential" blog.
Friday, April 22, 2011
When advertising talked harder.
Agency life, 2011. Ratio of people talking about work to people doing work. 12:1
Talking about work is more lucrative than doing work. As a typical agency today makes money based on hours put on a time sheet rather than on commission on media. Everybody claimed to hate the commission system back when creative and media were aligned, but somehow it required some discipline. To get your hands on the handsome 15% you had to deliver some great work. And not waste too much time getting it done if you were to keep some of that money as an agency. Maybe it wasn't such a shitty model after all? Other than if you were in hard core b2b with its narrower and cheaper media channels. Okay, today, with a totally different media landscape commission probably won't work, but I agree with you George that there is way more talking than doing. It seems to have gone out of control lately.
You may want to get a clue and open your eyes a bit wider. Many of us are "talking" about working because there is NO work available. As a creative, you need someone to pay you for your services. In today's world, creative competency is valued over creative superiority. I'm guessing like most working creatives today, your just competent? Thanks for devaluing the business Mr. "I got a job". :D
Talking about work is more lucrative than doing work. As a typical agency today makes money based on hours put on a time sheet rather than on commission on media. Everybody claimed to hate the commission system back when creative and media were aligned, but somehow it required some discipline. To get your hands on the handsome 15% you had to deliver some great work. And not waste too much time getting it done if you were to keep some of that money as an agency.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it wasn't such a shitty model after all?
Other than if you were in hard core b2b with its narrower and cheaper media channels. Okay, today, with a totally different media landscape commission probably won't work, but I agree with you George that there is way more talking than doing. It seems to have gone out of control lately.
You may want to get a clue and open your eyes a bit wider. Many of us are "talking" about working because there is NO work available. As a creative, you need someone to pay you for your services. In today's world, creative competency is valued over creative superiority. I'm guessing like most working creatives today, your just competent? Thanks for devaluing the business Mr. "I got a job". :D
ReplyDelete