Some Avuncular Advice on Entering the Ad Biz
Including “The One Thing You’ll Need to Succeed”
John Emmerling
This article is adapted from one that appeared in the Forum section
of Advertising Age on September 14, 1998, p. 36.
Successful advertising people are direct, clear communicators.
wishy-washy, second guessers.
Not
What do you tell a favorite nephew seeking advice about a career in
advertising? Actually, I don’t happen to have one of those nephews,
so I’ll invent him.
Meet Bill, a 21-year-old former English major who just graduated and
is eager to blaze new trails.
Bill: Uncle John, your whole career has been in advertising-and I’ve
been wondering if it might be a good place for me?
U.J.: Pull up a chair, Willie. Let’s have a little chat.
Bill: OK, but could you please not call me “Willie.” Frankly,
that’s always bugged me.
U.J.: Bingo! Score one for being direct. That goes a long way in
the advertising business. Successful advertising people are direct,
clear communicators. Not wishy-washy, second-guessers. Now, Bill,
do you like to solve problems?
Bill: You bet! Problem solving is very exciting.
U.J.: Well, advertising people get paid to solve thorny problems in
short time spans.
I told him every new assignment is part of a marketing chess game;
playing against shark-toothed competitors who are planning to eat
your pawns for breakfast and checkmate your king for lunch.
I described the initial client briefing. How he might then take a
trip to watch the product come to life on a factory floor.
Next, into the field to witness a real live consumer-maybe a female,
25 to 34, with $50,000-plus household income-as she encounter his
client’s product on Aisle 17.
I told Bill how the agency’s marketing, media and creative engines
quickly rumble into action. I explained that, once the marketing
strategy had been developed and accepted, the momentum would
build…creative presentations…client approvals…the production
process…and suddenly the new campaign would begin to spill from the
media in an orchestrated geyser of TV spots; magazine and newspaper
ads; radio spots; and outdoor boards.
U.J.: Bill, the amazing thing is that the whole process-from factory
tour to 30-second spots on the 11 o’clock news-can happen in as
little time as two or three months. Six months would be a footdragging pace.
Bill: Sounds great. But how many years of back office grunt work do
I put in before I actually get to do things like that?
U.J.: In advertising, young people aren’t held back by bureaucratic
structure. If you’re good, you can quickly take on a high level of
responsibility. It’s merit-not time on the job-that counts.
Bill: Well, I like to take on responsibility. I love to think
creatively-and I thrive on fast feedback and quick results. Any
other advertising opportunities I should know about?
U.J.: I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned the “I” word. The
Internet might be the most potent new medium to hit advertising since
network TV boomed onto the scene 50 years ago. And with the
Internet, old fogies like me are lost in the fog-in the online world,
youth rules.
Bill: Tell me this, Unc…in advertising, would I be working on my
own? Or is it more of a team sport?
U.J.: Teamwork is critical. In an agency, everyone pulls together
toward the same lofty goal-MYCAS.
Bill: MYCAS? What the hell is that?
Since he’d caught me in a PAC (pompous acronym coinage), I backed up.
U.J.: What I mean, Bill, is that you and the team must Make Your
Client a Success-and from that all good things shall flow.
Bill: Well, I definitely work well with people, but I also feel
strongly about my own ideas. I don’t want a committee to mush them
up.
U.J.: I always knew you were a humdinger, Willie…uh…Bill. Stick to
your guns and you’ll end up leading your team.
Encouraged to continue my advice-giving (Bill had actually started to
take notes), I described the ad business as an industry that would
employ the right and the left sides of his brain. “Get ready,” I
told him, “to use both your highly creative ‘Steven Spielberg’ lobe
along with your keenly strategic ‘Rupert Murdoch’ lobe.” (I could
see him thinking hard, doing an internal inventory. Yup, he had both
those lobes.)
Bill: One last question, Unc. If you could name one thing I’ll need
in order to succeed in the ad business, what would it be?
I hesitated, rubbed my chin and pretended to puzzle over the
question. But it was a piece of cake.
U.J.:
Bill, what you need is enthusiasm.
I told him about this century’s reigning genius, Albert Einstein, who
had stated: “Enthusiasm is more important than intelligence.” Then,
for good measure, I tossed in Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nothing great was
ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
Bill jumped up from his chair. “Wow, you’ve really inspired me. I’m
going to polish up my resume, call 20 ad agencies for interviews and
go knock their socks off! Thanks Unc, I’m pumped!”
“Go get ‘em, Willie,” I cheered, unconsciously reverting to the
disliked moniker. Young Bill didn’t even notice. He was already on
the phone, calling Y&R.
Mr. Emmerling, chairman and chief creative officer at Emmerling Post,
New York, is a frequent contributor to Forum.