FUSE Marketing

Real Reasons To Love Working In Advertising

I realize that the world of advertising seems mysterious and what we all actually "do" is a question that puzzles people.

Shows like Mad Men have created an added layer of expectation of a glamours and dramatic work atmosphere and leads to questions like "whose the Don Draper in your office?", "oh are you like Pete then?" and "you miss the good old days of advertising don't you?". (Actually, I don't because I wasn't alive yet so it makes it difficult to miss something that you never experienced. However, I do miss Nirvana.)

Heck, it took me years to explain to my own mother what it is I do and I was finally able to clarify it by using various examples from movies, TV shows and her own career. But even when I am successful at explaining to someone what it is like to work in an advertising agency, I will still sometimes see puzzlement and slight confusion ("so, you do what all day?"), disappointment that it is not more glamourous or like Hollywood ("so you don't get to meet famous people?"), or the snub ("well that's nice but don't you think you should do something a bit more meaningful?").

Which is why when I see lists like this one from Agency Spy, titled "10 Reasons to Love Working in Advertising", I get annoyed. Very annoyed.

It's not that I don't like lists, or that I have no sense of humor, or that I haven't poked fun at my career choice before. But I have never made myself and my whole profession look and sound like a group of idiotic, entitled, unfashionable, frat-boys. I realize that the list was probably created by a junior male creative with too much time on his hands, and thus I should be a bit more understanding. But kid, you are in ADVERTISING. You should know the importance of branding and image better than anyone else, and not submit your 420-induced lists to Agency Spy without thinking about how it reflects on you and the profession you have chosen.

Do you really want everyone to think your career is a joke and say that you could be replaced by typing monkeys? Do you really want your boss to think the only value you bring to your agency is your ninja-googling skills? Do you really want clients to think that we just "get paid lots to look at the internet all day" and that their whole marketing effort (which they have spend millions of dollars on) is "nothing"?

I wouldn't want my own mother to think that, much less the people whose good-will and trust I depend upon to enable me to do what I do every day. So let's try this list again, shall we?

10 Reasons I love working in Advertising:

10) No two days are the same.

9) I can talk about LOLZ Cats in a meeting and be applauded for my insights into pop culture and technological trends. (Try this if you work in insurance.)

8) The people and the personalities.

7) That I am encouraged to have fun, take risks and push myself beyond the obvious, every day.

6) A fashionable dress-code is encouraged over a corporate-uniform.

5) High-fiving with your client over wickedly awesome creative.

4) Doing this at a client-meeting:

3) Being the champion of change, rather than hiding from it.

2) The thrill of the "next big idea" hunt and the sense of satisfaction when you know you've found "it".

1) Getting to do what others only dream of. Making my crazy ideas a reality and, yes, getting paid to do it.

@kinga_p

Real Reasons To Love Working In Advertising

10 Reasons I love working in Advertising:

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