We are living in an alternate Kafkaesque universe.
This is a universe in which decks take longer to complete than creative presentations.
Where briefs are allotted four weeks and creative is allotted four days.
It's a world where people who talk about work are more valued than people who do the work.
We live in a world where 90% of our effort is expended on media tactics that have never proven their worth.
Where you're "hot" based on your ability to do fake ads.
Maybe someday there will be a substance resurgence.
And smart work that works will rise again.
But I'm not holding my breath.
Don't feel too bad. Until I started reading your blog, I thought a deck was something on the back of a house. And I hope this new procedure helps you contain the former soviet block comments.
ReplyDeleteBravo.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading through a One Show annual. I wasn't quite sure what some of the winners were even selling.
So foolish.
//Where briefs are allotted four weeks and creative is allotted four days.//
ReplyDeletePlanners literally get months for "research," which is supposed to help guide the creatives. Who then get a week (maybe) to actually do the work. And when you mention the absurdity of it all, you're told that "planning needs that time, and it has to come from somewhere in the schedule." Oh, and then internal presentations are moved up several days, because "Midge the AE is on vacation that week."
Everything is so upside down, nobody can see the craziness of it all. How I long for the days when agencies had at least one major partner from the creative side.
Me and some of my more" experienced" peers who left the biz are thinking of putting the band back together. Old school and independent.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Sean.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if the worm turned in favor of the good guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npQbPpDF6hA
ReplyDeleteThanks George. I have a feeling it will be more like the movie RED than The Last Waltz. Won't be popular, either. Looking at rewriting the creative brief, banishing USPs, and focusing on brand salience instead of ad persuasion, and distinctiveness over differentiation. I expect flack, but that means we're closing in on the target.
ReplyDelete