Do you ever take a look at your work and wonder: “why am I doing this?”
You’ll have seen the quotes. From Banksy, to Facebook founders, people are lamenting the loss of great strategic minds and creative talents to the task of working out how to make someone click a banner or buy a sports drink. Do not go into advertising, they warn. Working in communications is a far cry from our old dreams of being an artist or changing the world.
Of course, sometimes we get lucky. We have bold and thoughtful clients. We work among energising and talented colleagues, on inspiring campaigns, at agencies that really want to make a difference.
But we’ve all had those moments. Sitting in meetings debating the use of ‘scrumptious’ over ‘delicious’ in body copy no one’s ever going to read, trawling through stock image libraries, poring over ridiculous briefs, struggling to make our ideas a reality.
So why, then?
Why do we do what we do? Why do we care about it? Why does any of it matter?
As part of a Nextness Project at the recent Cannes Lions, Jessica Stanley and Victoria Hannan have asked those working in advertising & digital communications “why?”
The results are inspiring & meaningful with a mix of industry profesionals from around the globe sharing what motivates them and why innovation is imperitive.
Check out a handful of my favourites below & the complete collection of interviews via the nextness link:
Iain Tait, Executive Creative Director, Google Creative Lab, New York | @iaintait
Iain can’t believe he ever worked in advertising. He jokes that anyone who feels like they’re stuck in it should just leave. He worries that people in advertising find their inspiration only from other ads. He wants people to look outside the industry, to investigate the how and why, to collaborate. He says agency culture is not conducive to collaboration. The industry is full of confusion: people want to do good work, they want to make things that are useful. But they don’t know how. They make things that smell like innovation, but they’re always missing the all-important big idea. The secret? Bring together a great story and great technology.
Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide | @AmirKassaei
Amir says advertising is not about being an artist. It’s about solving business problems. He think agencies need to take responsibility and stand for something, and that too many of them are confused about the definition of creativity. He wants us to be relevant and take this opportunity to change society for the better.
Tim Devine, Creative Technologist, OgilvyOne Melbourne | @timothydevine
Tim specialise in technology, science and culture, and he firmly believes that our digital lives are leaping into the real space. How and why do we ask people to engage with anything digital? Tim wants to add his own piece to this great puzzle. Advertising challenges him to innovate on a grand scale; in fact, it’s fast becoming the greatest source of innovation at the intersection of real and digital life. For Tim, that matters.
Josie Brown, Director of Digital, JWT Melbourne. | @JBro
Young Josie studied languages at school because she wanted nothing more than to understand people and join in their conversations. Now she loves the act of communicating: persuading people to make choices or take action in a way that’s relevant to them and makes them take notice. Technology adds a new layer to that dynamic, and opens up new possibilities. She loves coming to to work because she gets to generate creative ideas that bring those tools to life. Young Josie would be proud.
