Modern day Advertising roles
Discussion
JiggyJaggy said:
Just wondering what the modern day life of Advertising is like? Not trying to imagine for one moment it is the life of Donald Draper but would be great to get some insight to the creative world of modern advertising (and marketing) careers....
I'd imagine the creative side probably being least affected by the modern world, after all, amazing TV ads still need to be created - though the world is obviously much more digital now, and therefore making short versions of your TV ad for youtube and the like is going to be a huge part of it to the point where actually TV ads may come second as a priority for a brand vs their short form video content, obviously print ads are a fading business. The rise of influencer marketing agencies has been meteoric in the last few years and as far as I can tell it hasn't been a space your old creative shops have really moved into (could be wrong) and clearly makes up a huge part of the budget for certain brands.Interestingly the life of lunching and getting pissed/high as per Draper is absolutely still present, though mostly in the world of media buying agencies who buy space for their clients rather than design actual adverts for them (though these holding companies often own creative arms too of course). It is still almost totally unregulated and boozy lunches, trips abroad, festivals, boats in cannes each year, gifts and all sorts of things still are paid for by vendors (both those who have actual space, like perhaps a newspaper, but also vendors who are a tech layer making the game of buying space better more targeted etc) to try and win the budget that these agencies hold - essentially bribery in all but name.
Pretty much everything in terms of advertising is now digital, and in most cases space on websites is bought in real time auctions. It bears little resemblance now to when I began working in it in 2009. In fact jobs/companies I've worked for even in the last 5-8 years in some cases are now obsolete such is the pace of change.
Edited by okgo on Tuesday 4th October 15:42
Interesting, I was expecting a change into the digital world but not that much of a change. That's a great insight you have given there. I'm currently exploring the idea to get into a more creative role. 20+ years of sales is swaying my head/heart in a potential alternative direction.
JiggyJaggy said:
Just wondering what the modern day life of Advertising is like? Not trying to imagine for one moment it is the life of Donald Draper but would be great to get some insight to the creative world of modern advertising (and marketing) careers....
Very much as Okgo describes....I have been in media all my life and have been chairman and CEO of a couple of agencies. Now running a digital media business (search, video, display, programmatic, CTV etc).
Happy to meet for a beer one lunchtime if it helps. PM me.
I know very little about creative agencies by the way - not what I do.
Advertising and marketing is a very broad church. At one end you have the small, provincial design company churning out websites for local bakers, sales brochures for double glazing companies and the like - and at the other you have global Ad Agency giants working on the fancy-pants blue-chip stuff. I've done the lot, starting as a junior in '83 and still in the game, though in a highly specialised field.
The fundamentals that make it such a special industry remain intact. Being part of a process that starts with nothing, a blank sheet of paper or screen - and developing something creative that works is an exceptionally fulfilling thing to do. There's plenty of sectors that will pay you more but I can think of few that offer as much variety, interest and fun.
Digital is of course a primary channel that didn't exist in the past but there's still plenty of traditional media that gets used - print, outdoor, etc. At say around 40% - 45% of my work ends up printed in some shape or form.
There's a few things that have changed over the years for the worse (IMO).
Data has become a huge factor in advertising and I think that this has taken a lot of the spontaneity out of the industry from which great things used to emerge. Gut-feel has been replaced by evidence - needed sometimes, of course, but opportunities are often missed because the data says otherwise.
Back in the day, concepts were hand-drawn - pieces of art in their own right. Artwork was in the form of beautifully and meticulously pasted up boards with overlays. It looked every bit the specialised service it was - and worth the fees that were billed. It's difficult to achieve the same with a PDF proof.
There's more roles doing more things than ever. When I started, there were the Designers, Artworkers, Copywriters, Media Planners..... and that was it! You've got all manner of job titles in agencies today so more opportunities for more types of people.
The last time I applied for a job was from an ad' in the back of Campaign magazine so can't help you on the best routes in but hope the above is of some help.
I think it was the CIM that recently reported a steady increase in Direct Mail spend - the theory being that such is the predominance of online, a nicely designed, well produced mailer landing on a doormat has a greater chance of being responded to than the same via digital.
The fundamentals that make it such a special industry remain intact. Being part of a process that starts with nothing, a blank sheet of paper or screen - and developing something creative that works is an exceptionally fulfilling thing to do. There's plenty of sectors that will pay you more but I can think of few that offer as much variety, interest and fun.
Digital is of course a primary channel that didn't exist in the past but there's still plenty of traditional media that gets used - print, outdoor, etc. At say around 40% - 45% of my work ends up printed in some shape or form.
There's a few things that have changed over the years for the worse (IMO).
Data has become a huge factor in advertising and I think that this has taken a lot of the spontaneity out of the industry from which great things used to emerge. Gut-feel has been replaced by evidence - needed sometimes, of course, but opportunities are often missed because the data says otherwise.
Back in the day, concepts were hand-drawn - pieces of art in their own right. Artwork was in the form of beautifully and meticulously pasted up boards with overlays. It looked every bit the specialised service it was - and worth the fees that were billed. It's difficult to achieve the same with a PDF proof.
There's more roles doing more things than ever. When I started, there were the Designers, Artworkers, Copywriters, Media Planners..... and that was it! You've got all manner of job titles in agencies today so more opportunities for more types of people.
The last time I applied for a job was from an ad' in the back of Campaign magazine so can't help you on the best routes in but hope the above is of some help.
okgo said:
The rise of influencer marketing agencies has been meteoric in the last few years and as far as I can tell it hasn't been a space your old creative shops have really moved into (could be wrong) and clearly makes up a huge part of the budget for certain brands.
You're quite right and odd that more haven't done so. I know a few who have and are doing very well from it but I think there's too many that hanker for the CowGum and PMT Machine who consider anything 'new' to not be for the likes of them.okgo said:
Pretty much everything in terms of advertising is now digital, and in most cases space on websites is bought in real time auctions. It bears little resemblance now to when I began working in it in 2009. In fact jobs/companies I've worked for even in the last 5-8 years in some cases are now obsolete such is the pace of change.
As I mentioned above, there's still a fair proportion of ad spend that get's spent putting ink on paper.I think it was the CIM that recently reported a steady increase in Direct Mail spend - the theory being that such is the predominance of online, a nicely designed, well produced mailer landing on a doormat has a greater chance of being responded to than the same via digital.
StevieBee said:
The fundamentals that make it such a special industry remain intact. Being part of a process that starts with nothing, a blank sheet of paper or screen - and developing something creative that works is an exceptionally fulfilling thing to do. There's plenty of sectors that will pay you more but I can think of few that offer as much variety, interest and fun.
Thanks for the insight. I think it is this creative side you describe above which is luring me in that direction. 
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