Loeries 2009: Apocalypse Now? Loeries 2009 happened this past weekend and as creative directors popped corks and downed shooters Jarred Cinman tells us why he believes their job prospects are no longer what it used to be.
I have noticed a strange change in the attitudes of “traditional” advertisers toward digital and mobile over the past year or so. I used to hear them saying that digital would be a niche, more akin to direct mailers, and that nothing would challenge the dominance of the big TV ad.
Now they seem considerably more contrite. Suddenly they’re talking about the need for “integrated” campaigns and lauding the digital dream, whilst still emphasizing the need for traditional advertising methods for brand building and emotive messages.
Personally I think we’re seeing nothing short of the slow death of an industry that has basked in its own glory for 100 years. From the mad men of the 50’s to the massive conglomerates like WPP and Omnicom, these bloated, self-congratulatory businesses have cynically shaped the world’s ideas on everything from the weight you need to be to be happy to the car you need to drive to get sex. And their time is ending.
That doesn’t necessarily mean their values and agendas are being subverted. Instead they are buying digital agencies like crazy and reshaping their stories to sound like they were ones that invented the internet. But it does point to the devaluing of one particular animal: the Creative Director.
These days he is as likely to be asked for an ROI spreadsheet as he is to recommend a good place to get your forehead pierced. And this is the gift and the sword that digital has wielded. To open the eyes of business to the idea that marketing and advertising can be measured, and that smug and self-satisfied post-modernist perfume ads with anorexic women embracing swans probably don’t sell products.
Digital is all about measurement. About truth. And about using that truth to make better decisions, refine messages and calculate your engagement with customers. And as that happens, and the world speeds up, the time allowed to produce ads will decline, along with the budgets to do so, and the great creatives will, I believe, be a thing of past. Replaced by a different kind of genius who understands statistics instead of emotion, and twitter rather than glitter.
And it would be senseless to lament this because, after all, this is not art. It is selling toilet paper and tampons and cheap holidays to Greece. And the less money and energy that is wasted in euphemizing that the better for us all.
– Jarred Cinman is software director at Cambrient. He co-founded Johannesburg’s first professional web development company and was one of the founders of VWV Interactive, for many years the premier creative web business in the country, winning numerous Loeries and international awards.
When last did this dude walk into an ad agency? Completely misguided, or misinformed on the current state of advertising. Oh yeah and you find one of these: “kind of genius who understands statistics instead of emotion, and twitter rather than glitter” here: http://www.kalahari.net/electronics/Toshiba-Satellite-U400-17M/35220/34399919.aspx
Well proposed thoughts on the future of communication and the future of digital within that. Watching agencies work towards new forms of integration shows that there is indeed more of an understanding of the value of the digital realm. As the communication industry moves ahead buyers will be better informed of options and have clearer communication with companies that now have the chance to listen to consumers and would be foolish not to make use of that lifeline.
The recession has given many industries a great chance to stop and rethink the way they sell themselves and their products- agencies/ creatives that survive this shake up will want to start making use of their creativity and re-look the way they approach communication and their clients. The iPhone is a great example of this- the only common thread of this product and its competitors is the core functionality- all other elements have been radically re-approached with astounding results, not to mention the new market that “Apps” are creating.
Kidd Parker you offer no real argument against this article? Which in itself is a fairly strong point.
Did he really say “twitter rather than glitter”?! man , a line worth quoting. Of course the value of emotive appeal exist in the measured environment of the digital.. you just have to know the right metrics!
Tim, you just said “Blah Blah” in more than eight words. Its an echo of the same anti-advertising crap we’ve heard for ages…. “basking in their glory” and “self-congratulatory”, come on. There no approaching apocalypse. Just change, and sure those that don’t may well fall to the wayside.
Interesting. But whilst digital may offer measurement recent past events shows me that this is not necessarily represented truthfully. I think that those creators of digital advertising campaigns are going to demand an entirely new creative brain. You have to try and capture the attention of millions of “clicks” aka people who all suffer from ADD. Close your eyes and tell me what desktop adverts you remember from today’s ten million that hit your desk? Self fulfilling is self fulfilling is self fulfilling…
You’re dead on—the traditional agency IS dying a slow death. In fact, our firm is made up of former traditional agency pros who recognized the need to move away from the old-fashioned strategies and tactics that do little to help customers remain profitable in this post-recession economy. Companies are looking for results these days and can no longer justify the costs of creating clever image ads or glittery TV spots. Our customers appreciate our desire to help them—they trust us. They know we’re not trying to pull the wool over their eyes. Social media and the Web allow us to provide affordable alternatives to traditional advertising. For more perspectives on this movement, check out “Prying the Torch From the Dead Hands of Old Marketing” and “Changing Marketing’s Old Guard” found at http://bit.ly/bN4zw