While you were working your ass off to meet those deadlines while desperately trying to fend off an irate brand manager, your bosses were at the 4A’s Conference trying to get over themselves. From Stuart Elliott’s New York Times piece today:
“speakers at an advertising conference urged the industry to stop wallowing in self-pity and get on with the challenges ahead.”
Also:
“Stop whining,” Mr. Clow told the estimated 380 attendees. The new realities “shouldn’t be scary,” he said, because they offer “a huge opportunity for us” to become far more useful to marketer clients as they seek more effective ways to sell products.
Okay. Like, seriously… how many ad staffers do you know who have a brilliant idea for the company or a client. They pitch it in one of those long ass meetings where the same ideas rattle round, round the cage while everyone stares at half eaten sandwiches and sips from lukewarm cans of Coke. The idea flashes into the room like a bolt of heat lightning. Co-workers sit up a bit, wipe their blurry eyes and stop text beneath the table. People, actually begin to pitch in an build on the concept be it creating content strictly for the P2P networks (let’s call that the new P2P viral) or figuring out how to get some IP dollars from the latest campaign for brand XYZ. And then… what happens? The boss, the big deal “I-make-200,ooo-plus-a-year-but-I’m-tired-beat-up-and-run-on-fear” boss shakes his head. He looks at the floor. He considers his words and says, “What Bittorrent?” or “I don’t think we can change the nature of the relationship with brand XYZ at this point in the game.”
Sigh. So many folks inside agencies are sitting on their genius and tucking it back between their legs. You can only get shot down so many times before you just take the paycheck and shut the hell up.
The revolutionary change you these big bois are looking for is right beneath their Mont Blanc pens.
That’s it. Revolution! What do you think? Hmm… I think I have an idea. More to come…