Advice from an "old" man.

15 years in advertising distilled into one neat post.

Hi friends, I got half way through a post about Elon and Twitter and quickly lost the will to live, so instead I did the right thing and finally wrote the post that’s been bouncing around in my mind for a couple of months. I’ve been in Advertising for 15 years, which in adland years makes me 75 years old (yes, ageism is real), and I’ve been thinking a lot about this industry we all love to hate. I still love many things about it, hate many others, and one day might decide to destroy my career prospects by writing what I really think are the big issues of our time. For now though, I want to focus on giving something back, some advice to those who’ve been brave enough to choose to start their career in an agency.

HOW IT STARTED vs HOW IT’S GOING ( I wish…)

Full disclosure, I’m a straight white man who got his first interview in adland through family connections. It was the toughest interview of my career thankfully and I’ve worked hard to get where I am, but I think it’s key to know who the person giving you advice is, as they may not have gone through the same hurdles as you. I had interned in a couple of Ad agencies and realized I wanted nothing to do with the egos of Creatives, but I still wanted to be in the industry. I applied to a few brand side roles, never heard from them, and then finally landed an interview at a famous Media agency with the then COO. He really grilled me, probably annoyed that an Italian kid thought he could just get a job through nepotism in a British agency, and then referred me to the standard interview process once he saw I wasn’t a complete idiot (joke’s on him). I was excited about working there because I’d always been fascinated by people and thought that I would get to spend a lot of time trying to understand people (consumers) and figuring them out.

I spent the first 14 years of my career in Media agencies working mostly on global accounts in a strategy/account hybrid role. Media agencies have this weird knack of calling account people “strategists”, but they also have real strategists, it’s all very confusing. I worked in London and then managed to convince my employers to send me to New York, the dream of a lifetime. I landed on a huge Global technology account and finally entered the world of true Integrated Agency Teams, where I worked side by side with Creative, PR, Digital, Experiential, and more. 8 years on the same account is more unique than rare in adland, it was the hardest and most satisfying job I’ve ever had. A year and a half ago I finally realized I had been tired of working in Media for quite a while, the hard shift to “Data Driven Performance Commerce Media” just wasn’t for me. So I finally found the courage to look outside of the company I’d worked at my entire career, and landed in a Creative agency for the first time at the young age of 38. I’m happy I found that courage, it was the best career move I’ve made in a long time.

So, this is who I am and why I think I have some reasonably valuable advice to give to those who are in Advertising and, like me, are in that weird “Generalist” bucket. You’re not a Creative or a Strategist, you’re not a SEM expert or a TV buyer, you like knowing a bit about a lot and you still don’t know what you want to be when you grow up (I still don’t). Here we go:

1. Try different things.

Agencies can be really tough places to work, but they offer one thing no other company can offer in Advertising, variety. Variety of clients and categories, variety of job types, of skills you can learn. Unless you have a very clear idea of what you want to do in your career, find an agency that will let you try different things, it’s how you’ll grow, realize what you enjoy doing and what you’re good at. Focus on being the expert on what’s new and exciting in the industry, new channels, platforms, etc. That will open doors very quickly.

2. Learn, learn, learn and when you stop, move on.

Connected to the first point, your career, heck your life, should be all about evolving and growing as a person. I’ve had some really difficult clients that wore on me but I held on because I was learning a lot from the experience. Ask questions, even if you think they’re dumb ones, most of the time they’re absolutely not. Sometimes I felt that learning had slowed, I found a way to move on, other times it took me way too long to realize I wasn’t learning and I had given in to the comfort of coasting. It’s OK to coast from time to time, just don’t let it become your long term way of being.

3. Get good and fast at the boring stuff.

All jobs, especially junior ones, are mostly boring. I still have a lot of boring tasks I have to take care of every day. Focus on getting good at doing those boring things really well and really fast. This way you can make time to focus on the interesting parts of the job, the time to raise your hand and get involved in bigger projects. The boring stuff will never go away, it’s up to you whether you let it take up the majority of your time.

4. Raise your hand and get involved in new business.

If you met me know you wouldn’t believe it, but early in my career I was insecure and hated attention (if my wife ever read this she would laugh out loud and walk out of the room still laughing). I avoided new business like the plague, I saw how much stress it put on people, it looked like a circus from the outside, and I didn’t want to present in front of senior clients, it terrified me. I only got involved much later in my career and realized that I was actually decent at it and that it was the single best way to get on the radar of the agency leadership. It’s how agencies grow, by acquiring new clients, it’s not all fun, it’s grueling, and often unnecessarily so, but if you’re serious about growth in an agency, it’s the single biggest career accelerant. Word of caution though, exposure can go both ways, don’t do it unless you’re ready to be on the big stage with your agency leaders, especially if they’re not kind and empathetic leaders, it can burn your career too.

5. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

I spent most of my career thinking that my work spoke for me, that I didn’t want to be one of those who did little work but always boasted about it. My clients loved me, I’m not great at any one thing, but I’m very good at working with clients. I thought that would be more than enough to get promoted, get raises, and have my profile within the agency rise. It did at times, but it also hindered my career at times because my bosses saw that I was good at what I did and had no other aspirations. It’s uncomfortable to ask for more, but you need to do it. Even the best bosses can’t read your mind, tell them where you want to go, what you want to work on. Don’t be one of those stereotypical advertising assholes who everyone knows don’t do shit but are great at sweet talking the boss, those suck, but don’t let them be the only ones who have the boss’ ear.

6. Be loyal to people, not companies.

I’m a very loyal person, always have been, but it’s important to know who deserves your loyalty and who doesn’t. There’s a camaraderie in advertising that comes from the insanity of how we work: the scrambling, the late nights, the crazy client requests, the pitching against other agencies. You also become loyal to good clients, you want to help them succeed, even when deep down you know their organization is a mess. This is one of my favorite things about advertising, but it’s also one of the most dangerous. You easily mistake loyalty to people who are in the trenches with you to loyalty to a company. Advertising agencies are businesses and you are an employee, an asset but also a cost. Be loyal to people, but know that people leave agencies, clients move on, sometimes they fire your agency, and your status can change very quickly when that happens.

7. Don’t be an asshole.

Advertising is fundamentally all about people. That’s all there is to it, it’s not about frameworks, or data, or tools, it’s people. It’s also a very big yet very small world, you’ll quickly learn that your colleagues become your clients, or your vendors, or consultants that run your pitch. You’ll unfortunately meet a lot of assholes in advertising, it seems to attract them, my suggestion is simple, don’t become the asshole. If you look around in a meeting room and you don’t see one, it’s probably you. Don’t let your wins get to your ego, don’t ever, ever treat more junior people with contempt, or partners as vendors. Be kind, because it’s the right way to act as a human but also because it’s very hard to repair a reputation for being an asshole.

8. Make friends.

Adland can be incredibly childish and territorial. When I worked in a Media agency, Creatives in meetings often look down on us and we thought of them as egomaniacs. The system is designed to pit people against each other, even within the same agency, don’t give in to it. The best and most fulfilling projects in my career have been the ones where I ignored the stereotypes and built amazing working relationships with people in competing agencies, people in other departments, clients outside of my remit. That’s where the magic happens, don’t let the system stop you from making magic. Meet as many people as you can, inside and outside of your agency, build those relationships by simply introducing yourself to someone more senior, or by connecting with people on LinkedIn and Twitter. Trust me, there are a lot of assholes in advertising, but there area lot more decent human beings who will be more than happy to listen to you, talk to you, and help you out.

9. Know your worth.

You’re smart, you know when you do good work or when your work is not up to your own standards. Be humble but be confident and don’t let people knock you down. You’ll unfortunately meet a lot of mediocre people who have risen through the ranks through sheer inertia and they will rain on your parade every chance they get. Only you know what you’re truly worth, never, ever forget that, and if you do, find smart people who will remind you. Find a mentor, whether in your agency or not, someone who’s gone through it all and can give you perspective. There’s an abundance of people in advertising who say they have impostor syndrome, I don’t buy it, we’re all insecure, I still am whenever I try something I’ve never done before, it’s part of being human. The impostors are those who exist to knock others down, don’t let them. Also, learn the business of advertising agencies, how they make money, how they pay for staff, etc. You’ll have a much better idea how where your career can take you if you understand why they can’t promote you on the team you’re on now but they could on a different team.

10. Have fun.

It’s only advertising, we’re not saving lives. It’s an unnecessarily difficult industry, full of terrible working habits, poorly paid, and increasingly stressful. It’s also a lot of fun, inspiring, exciting, and fulfilling. You’ll have some really tough days, weeks, and months, but if you’re not also having fun, leave, immediately. Nobody should have their spirit or mental health broken by working in Advertising, and yet, it happens way too often. If the job is making you hate yourself, hate waking up in the morning, run as far as you can, trust me, you’ll find a much better one eventually. Find people who can have fun with it and stick with them, the ones who take this way too seriously are a real drag.

If you made it through this post, thank you, I hope you found it useful. I’ve had some great times in Advertising and some dark times, the key I’ve found is to build a network. A brain trust that can help you navigate your career, help you put the dark times in perspective, help you figure out your next step. If you’re looking for someone to bounce ideas off of, I’m here, I may not be the right person but I’ll help you find who that is. Find me on LinkedIn or Twitter if you want to chat.