Advertising's Culture of Hero Worship Is Shifting

For decades, advertising worshipped a consistent pantheon of dapper demigods. They founded scrappy agencies that became global juggernauts, several wrote books with their own names in the titles and most left behind legacies of inspirational leadership speckled with quotable witticisms. But do names like Bill Bernbach, Leo Burnett, Jay Chiat and David Ogilvy—or the many (still overwhelmingly white and male) creative leaders who've come along since—still pack as much motivational punch with today's rising agency creatives? The changing nature of hero worship in advertising can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the industry-rattling disruption of the digital age, the changing landscape of leadership that has created client-side superstars and the #MeToo era's ringing reminders to be careful whom you idolize. The result is a workforce that often seems leery of marketing messiahs. But as talent has shifted its gaze from the leaders of the past to the pioneers of the present, it has also ushered in a new era of inspiration that can be far more personal than old-fashioned idolizing. Retiring the rock stars "The ad industry used to elevate people to godlike status," said Laura Visco, deputy ecd at 72andSunny Amsterdam and industry advocate for diversity. "But at the end of the day, if those people go to the supermarket, nobody will really know who they are. There’s something about that disconnect with the real world that is and was wrong." Visco believes the agency world lived too long in its own bubble, artificially elevating the influence of its most loudly opinionated leaders. [kickout id="1"] "In that sense, the new generations are more down-to-earth," she said. "They are no longer looking for gurus, and they are certainly not looking for rock stars. Advertising is leaving its microworld and becoming more a part of everyday culture." Social media has also closed the distance between leaders and young talent. "We used to find their wisdom in books, so every word felt etched in stone. They were on a kind of pedestal," said Alejandro Juli, a rising creative leader recently named vp and creative director of DDB Chicago. "Now you follow your heroes on Twitter, you add them on LinkedIn, you hear them on podcasts, and you might even stalk them on Instagram." Early in his career, Juli looked up to a range of creative leaders as icons worth imitating and learning from, and as he worked up the nerve to reach out to some of them in hopes of building a connection, he found it wasn't so intimidating. "You can get in touch with anyone through social media, and if you write the right message, you might even get a reply from one of your heroes," he said. "I know I’ve done it, and I’ve learned that some of mine are simply nice people who were kind enough to give me feedback." Seeing yourself reflected Obviously, it's not just the access to role models and potential mentors that has changed. The industry has also (albeit slowly) grown more diverse and representative of the young people trying to join it. [kickout id="3"] When Bozoma Saint John was beginning her career as an agency account executive in the early 2000s, there were painfully few black women active at the levels of leadership she aspired to reach. "Early on in my career, I was drawn to Ann Fudge, who was the CEO of Y&R," Saint John said. "She was one of the only women of color in a C-suite position in the advertising industry, let alone in corporate America. I was in complete awe of the journey she took to that role and how she sat proudly within it." Since then, Saint John has become exactly such a role model for today's young talent. After making a name for herself at Apple, PepsiCo and Uber, she was named CMO of Endeavor. Along the way, Saint John found herself in a position few could even dream of. Two years ago, she appeared on stage for a Harvard event moderated by her hero, Fudge. "It meant so much to me to be able to share the impact she’d made on my life with her in front of everyone there," Saint John said. "It’s amazing how people like her, who are an unknowing beacon, can make such a lasting impact on those coming after them." [kickout id="2"] Meanwhile, new leaders like Saint John and Visco, who struggled to find relatable icons in their early careers, are also keenly aware that the eyes of many other young and ambitious women are now on them. "When I first started, the industry didn’t have any female role models for so long, so aspiring female creatives are looking for one," Visco said. "As a woman working in advertising, you feel more in the spotlight. You are conscious that people are looking up to you." Not just a name on the door As reflected by Saint John's career path, another factor behind the changing nature of hero worship in advertising is how the lines have blurred between the agency and client worlds when it comes to celebrated leaders. In previous decades, CMOs had a reputation for keeping a certain distance from those in the agency world. The Venn diagram of marketers and agency creatives often seemed to intersect only where business relationships required them to. But today, brand marketers at multiple levels (not just CMOs) regularly mingle with creatives at industry events and engage alongside them on social media. The result, especially when factored in with the recruitment of high-level agency talent by brands like Apple and Facebook, is an ecosystem where marketers and agency creatives look to each other for inspiration. "In fact, you are seeing more and more inspiring figures on the client side," said David Droga, founder and creative chairman of Droga5. "Look at Fernando Machado at Burger King, Tor Myhren at Apple. ... We aren’t short of leaders worth following on both sides of the fence." Regardless of which aspect of the marketing world they work in, charismatic and compelling leaders remain vital even in a world that's less inclined to idolize them outright, said Droga, whose shop was recently named Adweek's Agency of the Decade. "Even though much of the mystery and myth of leadership has disappeared, the necessity for strong leaders will always exist. They build cultures, take moonshots; they make ambition contagious," Droga said. "Having your name on the door doesn’t mean much. Having your belief system in the work matters far more." Why wait for heroes? The industry's shift away from idolizing its leaders can understandably create generational tension, with veterans often wishing young staffers spent more time learning from advertising's past. Before Anselmo Ramos became an ad industry icon as creative director of Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches," then as founder of agency network David and, more recently, independent agency Gut, he was a young Brazilian creative who found his heroes in advertising annuals. There, he discovered the work and wisdom of leaders like Bernbach, Ogilvy, Tom McElligott and Cliff Freeman. But Ramos is keenly aware of the homogeneity of the creative icons he worshipped, and while he feels it's important for today's young creatives to learn about the industry's pioneers, he's optimistic that a diverse new roster is on the rise. "Some might say that we don’t yet have enough diverse heroes to worship," Ramos said. "Well, the question is: Do we need to wait until a new hero is already famous to start worshipping him or her? Can we start worshipping junior heroes or midlevel heroes now? Maybe the act of early worshipping can help to develop faster the heroes we so desperately need. Maybe we should overworship instead of underworship, because our industry needs heroes more than ever."

Leadership & Talent

For Younger Creatives, Advertising's Culture of Hero Worship Is Shifting

'They are no longer looking for gurus'

David Griner

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David Griner