Get your ears round an interesting, spiky and forthright interview with advertising legend Sir John Hegarty as part of the Assorted Nuts project on The Drum.
Many wise words are spoken.
I think it's required listening for everyone in the business.
He calls out the poor quality of current advertising and suggests some ways of doing thing differently.
It's refreshing to hear someone who's still passionate about brilliant ideas prepared to speak out about falling standards.
There's almost a tacit, fatalistic acceptance in some quarters that times have changed and it's just not possible to make great advertising any more.
This is, of course, horseshit.
It's bloody hard to make great work but it's not impossible.
The business needs a healthy injection of never-say-die tenacity and fighting spirit to accompany the talent that exists in agencies these days.
And that goes beyond just those in the creative department.
You can access the whole podcast in this article here
While I agree with most of the things he said, I find it amusing how he thinks that the state of advertising can be improved from the bottom up.
ReplyDeleteYou'll change fuck all by having good creatives make better work, you have to have the framework around them to support it.
The talent's still there but they have been reduced to idea spewing cash machines the holding companies can tap into.
Case in point: you went and made your own agency. Probably because you thought the current ones won't let you do what you think is great work.
I'm all for making "the office" a place I want to be at, not a place I have to be at. But putting all of the weight of changing the industry on the poor sods that are just starting out is why the industry is in its current state.
It's why most creatives start chasing the money because they realise that it's no use trying to change the behemoth while they're being left in a ditch at the side of the road.
End of rant.
I agree with you wholeheartedly Anon.
ReplyDelete