Advertising Man

Advertising Man, Those of us who chose advertising as a profession learn the ropes the hard way. The determination to persevere despite disappointments, the capacity to pour in endless hours of creativity into a project and the resilience to handle rejection is a part of our life.

Advertising agencies are nurseries for their own particular brand of stoicism, so often do we have to handle the rough with the smooth. Everybody does understand that the real test is that the content has to appeal to the target audience. There are quite a few instances though which try the patience of even the most philosophical among us. Especially when at the insistence of demanding clients we work hard on polishing a particular pitch and work and rework, other work in the process. 

Advertising Man, Once the process is complete at our end and a final version submitted, lo and behold there is total radio silence at the client end. The very people who would be calling and following up become incommunicado. After a long gap they deign to reply that we have selected some other agency and look forward to working with you in the future. There is no acknowledgement of the effort put in and no feedback of any sort which is frustrating.

Branding

It is not the rejection that rankles but the sheer callousness and disrespect for one’s efforts. Also there is no compensation for the loss of time and opportunity that one misses out on in directing all one’s energy and time for this one particular project. The resultant financial losses that stem due to this also cannot be brushed away. So if you are banking on clinching any particular project for financial reasons, God help you if the decision makers belong to the above species. In so many cases, the marketing team has already decided the agency. They just call for this superficial pitching, to silence their opponents or may be their conscience. 

Creativity

Often the creative team takes the brunt. Despite no fault of theirs, they have to face this trial and hear the music from their boss. We are sure this affects their work and motivation adversely.

It is time that all Agencies unite and take a firm stand to discourage such behavior. Competition is great, especially in the creative field, as it inspires a person to produce one’s best, but it should foster a culture where everybody flourishes. After all there is only so much work that a person or organization can handle and limitless potential in the sector. 

It is up to our fraternity to respect our hard work and ensure that others do too and we get rightly paid for it. Do let us know your views on the matter.