When did you start to care about advertising?
“I’m giving this six months,” said the client. “If it doesn’t work, I’m pulling the plug.”
Just outside the boardroom door I could see an office filled with employees. Two of them were friends of mine, and one of those was a new dad. I knew how much they depended on this job – and here was their boss talking about closing up shop if the ad campaign I was there to create didn’t work.
This was during the last big recession. Where were those two guys going to get new jobs?
That was the day I understood that advertising wasn’t all just fun, creativity, and free beer. Sure, some of my bigger clients regularly set sales targets or accountability figures on campaigns. But that was all about keeping profits up. They didn’t live or die by the campaign’s results.
This man’s business was dying. He had one of the last independently owned radio stations in Halifax. It had the highest listenership outside of the CBC in terms of sheer numbers of listeners, and in terms of the numbers of hours they tuned in.
Problem was, they were all 60+.
By the time we all reach our golden years, we’re done with major purchases. We’ve got a house and it’s furnished. We’re not having kids and keeping them in toys, sneakers, cereal, and school supplies. We’re certainly not getting a second car to drive them around.
We’re not as obsessed with fashion as we once were. We’re pretty loyal to our brands. And we’re probably on a fixed, retirement income. We ain’t partying like we used to.
So advertising doesn’t sway us the way it once did. And that’s why, despite this station’s great listenership, no one wanted to buy their ad time.
Without ad sales, it’s dead air. (Unless you’re CBC, which gets a budget from the government.)
That was the day I started to care if the work I did worked. And by “worked,” I didn’t mean win an award, get me up to Toronto for a week to do post-production and shop, or even give me some portfolio samples I could parlay into a raise or a new job. If this campaign didn’t work – two of my friends were going to be unemployed in six months’ time.
If you’re in the ad biz, think about that next time you sit down to create an ad. Don’t let the pressure of it crush your imagination, but do keep in mind, an ad has a job to do. And it’s not just your job and reputation riding on it.