Mentorship in Advertising

Yesterday’s post was about the lack of the 50+ perspective and the glaring absence of 50+ staff in advertising agencies.

For those who don’t know, we’re talking Baby Boomers.

My way-back-when-colleague, Jeff commented “…the notion of mentorship, seems to have evaporated in this worship of youth culture.”

Damn! I forgot completely about mentorship.

That’s because I have seen it so rarely in the past 20 years. Is anyone mentoring these days?

In a Google search with the words Advertising and Mentorship, I turned up one – only one – agency on the first page.

Barkley ding! ding! ding! you get the prize. And the word is in the page address: http://barkleyus.com/mentorships. However, at first read, it does look like an internship…

For me, mentorship is different from internship, though. Mentorship goes well beyond Summer Break. It lasts throughout your career, then you, kiddo, get to pass it along.

So for those who hire recent grads, please don’t stick them in a cube and give them crap to file, or do data entry. Guide them.

Partner them with someone who knows the ins-and-outs of advertising and agency life. By the way, this goes without saying, but put them with someone who isn’t jaded and just doing time.

And for God’s sake, DO NOT PUT THEM ON SOME STUPID SOCIAL MEDIA ASSIGNMENT BECAUSE THEY ARE UNDER 25.

Rookies need to understand the business of advertising. Client relationships – which requires finesse, like not saying yes; getting shit done – not passing off something half-done because it is late; creative – because there is logic behind it; strategy – because there is reason behind it; getting coffee – no it isn’t a one-hour, off-site venture; partying – there’s a right time and wrong time to partake. Paying attention to budgets and timelines. Culture in the context of camaraderie.

And please, foosball tables, dogs-at-work, and Beer Fridays do not constitute culture. That’s just slop shots, poo in the hall and a Saturday of Regret.

So this is about mentorship. If you’ve only worked in advertising for, say, three to five years, you may have won all sorts of accolades for your digital stuff. Did anyone mentor you, or did you follow the hype about The Next Big Thing?

Mentorship is about thoughtful consideration of your work; how you approached your strategy, how you executed your creative – through the eyes of someone who has made the mistakes and celebrated the successes. Those folks, who have been in the trenches for the better part of a quarter-of-a-century – or more – will share amazing things with you.

This world has gone digital, and in that wake has drunk the Kool-Aid of youth.

And I’ll bet Gen X and Y don’t know anything about Kool-Aid other than a euphemism.

Youth In Advertising

I’m over 50. Well over 50. Not yet 60. There I said it. Three ways.

Before Hard Rock Las Vegas existed there was a beach with bikinis.​

I read Bob Hoffman’s Ad Contrarian blog. If you are under 50, you should too. You will learn valuable information. Do it because I said so.

If you’re marketing to more than the R(x)ehab demographic, maybe you should consider making the message more relevant by targeting the correct demographic. Do you know how to do that other than using a focus group?

We, the people over 50, would like to see just a little more representation. We do buy more than Aleve®, Depends®, and Viagra®.

When I read Bob’s post about the misconception that “people over 50 want to be like young people”, it got me thinking.

What’s the percentage of staff over 50 in any given agency?

I harken back to the last agency I worked in and I think out of about 250, there were just a few – very few workers over 50 – who were not partners.

Where do those of us, who at 49, go when the big five-o is looming? I know that one won’t be a coordinator forever. I know the pay is pretty shitty in many of the positions. Do we find something more meaningful that pays better? Like landscaping?

Maybe that’s the nature of agencies. Interns become coordinators, coordinators become account managers, account managers become something else that is utterly strategically important, then they become VP of Operations. Eventually they own the place. But that is few, far between, and for the suck-ups.

The talented leave and open their own agencies. They assure themselves relevance, well past 50. Or they become consultants. Guilty.

So it comes down to this. Perhaps those kids don’t realize that anyone exists but them. Their parents did train them to think that way, after all. Everyone’s special.

So they market to their peeps. God forbid they’d ever think their parents did anything like buy a car, take a vacation or buy pickles.

Thinking back, rarely did we have a creative review where those of us over 50 were invited to lend a little critique, insight.

Maybe it’s time to seek out your over-50 colleagues and get their take on what they buy, how much they spend on themselves and their adult children.

What brand conversation engages them? (That one’s for Bob)

And by the way, there are awesome, talented people over 50 who would love to work for your agency and are out of work. Hire that person. They get it, and will work harder and more efficiently than anyone you’ve hired out of college. They onboard quickly because they have experience you don't yet have.

And yes, those folks know how to use a Mac and an iPhone. Think about it. Steve Jobs would be 58. I'll bet you’d hire him.

​Now I gotta go. Have to iron my bikini.

Print vs Digital or Everything That's Old is New

​Here’s a history lesson. Yes, and it's about me. Then you’ll learn all about how print is useful in the digital world.

​That's me. Circa 1972, wearing Seafarers - the real kind - with buttons. And my first car, a '63 VW safari top. 

I started my ‘career’ in advertising as a paste-up artist. Even more exciting than that, I was creating technical manuals at the in-house department of a high-tech company. When high-tech was called electronics. The company also had one of the largest in-house print shops on the West coast. It was also the ‘70’s and I wore Seafarers (by the way, they’re coming back, say hello to high-waist jeans).

Lesson: Don’t throw out those jeans. Put them in the attic for 40 years.

So that job gave me a background on production. From writing, designing, illustrating; to shooting, stripping and plating film; and on to printing and bindery. Great boot camp for a newbie.

All of that is relevant today. All that stuff we actually did on a board is now done on your little ol’ Mac – but you know that.  So all those tools in your workspace relate right back to the good old days. Cut and paste.

Lesson: If you don’t understand the process from start-to-finish, you’ll have no idea that what you do or don’t do affects the next person (or three steps from now) until they complain. Then you get do to whatever you did – over again. Understand process.

So, I caught this piece in the Denver Business Journal that print is making a Big Comeback. It’s a friendly, albeit fluffy read. But it makes the point that direct mail is relevant and it ties in with digital. The writer’s connection to digital is a stretch, but I’ll make a more direct connection. Read on.

In my glorious past, I transitioned from paste-up on a board to using a Mac, the internet was invented, and I witnessed the change to where driving eyeballs to a website was the New Goal; and even got to see the first iteration of watching real-time as a user navigated a site. Then that became illegal and it evolved to Big Data – which seems to have some sketchy components.

Anyway, we had this odd transitional period – from getting junk mail to your home and telling them about cool stuff, to sending people to your website so they could experience it – we had to tell them you had a website. This is the digital connection.

You didn’t know that the world didn’t automatically GO TO THE INTERWEBS?

No they didn’t. This was pre-dot-com.

So whether business or consumer, we did a lot of direct mail – ink on paper delivered to you via USPS – and then directed the eager public to websites to tell them all about awesome stuff to buy. And we started tracking them. Early Big Data.

On to digital. Faster. Cheaper. Prolific.

These days my email in-box is full of all kinds of stuff I don’t read. As of this morning, I have 198 unread emails in my TRASH. I received two items via direct mail – the print kind – today. Two-for-one buffet at my local casino, and 20% off at Bed Bath and Beyond. Easy.

Get it? I know what those two pieces said. I haven’t a clue what’s on those emails.

Lesson: We’re on digital overload. For me personally, I look through my mail. Even the stuff addressed to resident. There isn’t that much, really. And I don’t have to click, scroll and read. Thank you.

Maybe it’s time to try out print. I personally love print. If you’re a designer, and you understand print – paper, ink, foil, die cutting, folding, bindery – and finally hold that finished product in your hands, you understand. Tactile. Thoughtful.

Even a postcard can be (and should be) done well.​

Quit filling up everyone’s email with crap. Getting something wonderful in the mail is so rare these days. And did you ever think that going to direct mail you would be cutting through the clutter?

Now go forth and design something for print.

Final lesson: Be sure to follow USPS guidelines. Never assume anything when dealing with a quasi-governmental agency.

Good Friends Old Agencies

It’s Sunday. Mother’s Day. All that stuff is good. But what makes this special is that my dear friend from Portland is visiting me.

Julie is here. We worked together for a few years way back when at Gerber Advertising in Portland, Oregon.

​I was up there on the left, just above the arched window. Five years with a view of The Portland Outdoor Store neon cowboy.

She is the funniest person I know. And is the only woman I know who could make a longshoreman blush with her very creative use of profanity. Always elegantly executed. You wouldn’t know what just hit you.

We conceded that Gerber had one of the best groups of people we have ever worked with. You know, those times when the chemistry what just - there? 

Julie and I reminisced about the funny things that happened. The arguments between creative and account; Brian and his tricks; personal ups and downs; and how we got through life while keeping up with a job that was fun and stressful at the same time. And the phone books. The Best Story Ever.

Back then, we’d get new phonebooks every year. Big, thick Yellow Pages. So Ma Bell delivered a couple hundred to our agency. Being in Oregon, it was time to recycle.

There was a copywriter who rarely showed up to work. He was Important. I guess. So Brian and colleague Jerry decided to take care of recycling. They sent an email to the agency, from this Important Copywriter’s email account saying that his son was doing a recycling drive at school and to put all the old phone books in his office. In the Important Copywriter’s office.

Now, we were in an old, historic building. Everyone had an office. Little spaces with windows facing the hall. The absent writer had an office about six by eight feet. One can only imagine…

Phonebooks stacked floor to ceiling, only enough room to open the door. The light was turned out and the door shut.

A few days later, the Important Copywriter showed up. He saw the Wall of Yellow. I don’t think he saw the humor. I don’t think he ever returned.

Gerber is gone now, but the stories live on.

So anyway, Julie’s here. We’re going to a casino so she can play craps, and we’re going to have awesome carnita tacos tonight that my lovely daughter-in-law Barbara is making.

Nice. Mother’s Day and Friends.

"Handles Rejection"

There’s an ad on Craigslist for an in-house graphic designer. Among all the regular skills/qualifications on the list, “Handles Rejection” is listed.

It’s the last thing on the list, by the way.

Oh, yeah, also on the list of duties:

Ensures operation of equipment by completing preventive maintenance requirements; following manufacturer's instructions; troubleshooting malfunctions; calling for repairs; maintaining equipment inventories; evaluating new equipment.

What the heck happened at this place with the previous designer?

What kind of workplace is this?

I was a graphic designer waaaay back when. But Handling Rejection wasn’t what we called it. Usually it was more like – My eye is drawn to...there, come back with something else; do this or that; I want the product featured (yes!); add a starburst with the price (yay!); or the ever popular...make the logo bigger.

Any graphic designer with five minutes experience knows that they will have to swallow their creative pride once in a while to make something...better. Or just make the client happy. We've all been there. And that's not rejection.​

Since I was in the graphic designer mode back in the dark ages, I had to do equipment maintenance. I had to clean and change chemicals in the processor...For the type...That we got from the typesetting machine...And for processing stats...

Oh, you guys have it so easy these days…

Back to the point. The point being that someone in this company felt they had to include ‘Handle Rejection’. Why did they use those words?​ 

Sometimes the job postings are the most telling about company ‘culture’.

One Word - Gamification

I’m so behind the times. I was reading Laurie Ruettimann’s blog Cynical Girl the other day and one of the commenters stated that her company was implementing gamification to induce employees to work better.

“My companies marketing department has now decided to embrace something called "gamification". It seems to have something to do with awarding employees "points" for desirable behavior or something equally as banal and mind numbingly infantile. Shoot me now.”

Really?

Because I too thought it was a totally stupid idea, I did some reading.

It seems that gamification is a way to engage Millennials in the workplace. Since they grew up using computers – and computer games – they are wired to look for the wins, badges, levels, recognition, so they will do their work.

And I say, B.S. And why are Millennials inducing companies into certain workplace methodologies so that we keep them engaged? Weren’t they hired to do a job?

As I am a regular reader of Cynical Girl, I found this post – that says it all...in the way only Laurie can.

But, I’ve been reading further. And since I’m in the business of helping agencies and marketing departments implement software – to manage the day-to-day work – I’m wondering how much gamification will engage staff and actually get them to pay attention to what they have to do; how well they do it; and get them to pay attention to the work itself.

I don’t know much about gamification.

So, I’ve been wondering how adding this extra layer of mayo to the work-day sammich will truly ‘engage’ the Millennials, and why / if it ‘turns-off’ the rest of us.

I come from the generation of expectations and meeting them. Not earning badges because I did what I was supposed to do.

But…in light of something I have read about gamification, I’m doing further ‘research’.

Why would I ever research something I think is stupid? Well, it is hard enough to get everyone in an agency to use the tools we need to use every day in order to manage work efficiently. I wonder how well gamification apps engage, keep engaged, and truly provide relevant data to determine what’s gettin’ done.

What do you think? Is your agency, marketing department, company implementing gamification? If so, what flavor are you using? How is it going? What does your staff think?

I’m going to give the guys at Bunchball a call.

Include Your Team When Evaluating Agency Software

This Forbes article by Avi Dan relates to building a great creative team. But this isn’t just for doing creative – it’s really for solving any puzzle or problem.

When I implement an agency management software solution, I invite people from all areas of an agency – to review, question, and provide the ‘what ifs’. If you want people to use something, give them a voice. And listen. Inclusion and careful consideration of their feedback will go a long way. They won’t feel victimized by some decision that accounting or the partners made for the hope of better performance and reporting.

There is no reason for victims.

Boring things like process and procedure do have real a purpose in any organization and should induce a positive outcome. They provide the framework so the daily hum of an agency has a level of predictability and is logical to everyone.

Why are we doing this?

Introducing agency management tools, along with a ‘new’ process – without input – is usually a disaster.

Putting time and money into tools and process without engaging your agency staff is a waste. And if you’ve done it unsuccessfully once, I can guarantee they will be even less inclined to participate should you look for yet ‘another solution’.

In the article, points number four and five are important:

4. Get naïve feedback. “Beginner’s luck” can facilitate creativity – with a twist. A lot of brilliant ideas don’t start this way, but become so when remarked on by a novice or an outsider. Experts sometimes tend to think in lockstep, and denigrate ideas not their own. Reach out for naïve advice beyond the usual suspects and liberate your creativity.

5. Fail quickly, cheap – and often. Creative organizations understand that success and failure go hand in hand, and therefore they are not intimidated by the prospect of failing. The willingness to absorb failure is liberating and encourages creativity. Simply manage the economics of failure to make it acceptable.

Get feedback – even though you know your business well, when’s the last time you sat in a production artist or coordinator’s seat? They’re the ones doing the work, using the tools and are really important sources of information (why did X happen?). Ensuring tools and processes work for them is essential. They know things you can’t even imagine…

Fail quickly – there’s always a transition to be factored in when introducing new tools or process. Didn’t think of transition? Step back and determine if it is transition – letting go of old, ‘trusted’ systems and using new ones – or if there are situations that you didn’t consider. Review those situations immediately. If the tools or process aren’t working as they were designed / trained /deployed, pull your team together and determine if you need to re-boot.

It’s far better to re-boot, or put off a plan that wasn’t thoroughly vetted than to launch half-cocked – which is usually due to a self-imposed deadline.

This is for the long-haul. No one wants to do this more than once.

I believe in a completely integrated solution to manage agency work, to track projects, to document what’s going on, to assign tasks – everything in one place. Multiple and/or redundant systems don’t provide the level of transparency everyone needs to assure everything is running smoothly.

I also believe that everyone is a stakeholder. Everyone is responsible. That means every individual is accountable for clearly defined instructions, content, budgets, schedules – and doing their part updating / making notes / passing along information – in a shared, structured environment.

That is where transparency in process resides.

You get that transparency through compliance. You get compliance with a system that everyone can use, knows how to use it, and who were given a voice in the evaluation and decision-making process.

They become owners of the process and systems your agency has paid for.

Success.