The New Age Ad Exec

In 2013, a conversation between an adman and his co-passenger in an airplane (with due apologies to David Ogilvy) could go like this:

So you are in advertising? It must be fun writing those ads.
No, we don’t write ads any more. That’s so ‘90s. We create content. We develop ideas that could be put to use in films, mobiles, video games, outdoor, blogs, promotions, events…
Wow! You dream up all the ideas?
No, we have content creators for that. They are experts in executing media-neutral ideas – anything that makes our brands sell. Some of these blokes are just 3 years old in the business but are already on the Cannes Jury.
So you do the research and figure out what to say?
No, our Strategic Planners do that. They are the catalysts for insights and make sense of data. Paradigm shift used to be their favourite phrase.
You must be in media then?
No, we have Experience Architects for that. They ensure that our consumers experience the brand with maximum impact across media. We got to know the team members recently.
I am sorry, but what do you do? Are you in management?
I am a newly evolved species. I used to be called an AE. The multi-tasking consumer, who has the attention span of a goldfish made life difficult for all of us. And we figured that a big chunk of the client’s budget was being spent outside the agency. I had to change. And oh, I am not in management, but soon will be.

Agencies are either reinventing or claiming to reinvent themselves of late. Specialist media agencies are offering creative services; some agencies are doing away with the Servicing function and others are buying out specialists in digital and events. The mantra seems to be specialist services and pardon the cliché, total solutions. In this scenario what happens to generalists like AE’s; those that grew up to become Profit Centre Heads and the rest of the agency?

David Ogilvy advised in his book: ‘set yourself to becoming the best-informed person in the agency on the account’. The legendary Fairfax Cone applied his study of literature, history, sports, film, art, archaeology and politics to advertising. One of the forgotten tenets of a good Account Management person is this old-fashioned ‘product knowledge’. Given the rise of specialists and lack of training, it has made the executive excel largely in operations and orchestration. Very few of the Account Management people immerse themselves into the client’s category and its consumers. In these days of high churn, how much can a servicing person imbibe about the category in 1.5 years? And in those years, training would have been on-the-job rather than through any structured sessions.

The seniors that I have had the chance to work with are equipped to contribute to all aspects of the business – beyond their domain. They naturally earn the client’s respect. But the juniors rarely get a chance to know more than the next quarter’s advertising campaign. The industry must figure out a way to make our frontline employees more well rounded in all aspects of communication. This may sound obvious, but getting back to basics and learning our business in its entirety will be the key to the survival of the Account Management function. And imagine the pressure when one has to keep pace with the ever-changing new media and its consumption by consumers. The Account Head will be a quasi-planner with more time to think on the brand than chasing operations stuff – there is likely to be a BPO-type backroom setup for that.

The new age ad execs, be it in Content Creation or any other area, need to keep pace with technology and its impact on consumers. One may be planning a nice web banner campaign in say, a popular blog in the category. But if the blog has millions of RSS feed subscribers and if the ads don’t appear there what is the use of banner? I am being simplistic, but you get the drift (and I could bet that many may not know what an RSS feed is). The beginning has already been made – creative heads today oversee the content across TV, digital and event. While their role has not changed in 50 years, the volume & breadth of work that they will have to oversee will only increase.

How will agencies facilitate better communication between the specialists? At DraftFCB+Ulka, we are implementing a process called The Wheel, which attempts to bring together the various specialists onto the same (round) table. Business Builder, Content Creator, Insight Catalyst, Data Strategist and Experience Architects may sound like mere fancy titles but are a good starting point to redefine our roles. Efforts like these should go a long way in democratizing ideas. As Crispin Porter + Bogusky state, the ‘best idea is the boss’. Ideas that deliver a new kind of ROI for the agencies: Return on Ideas.

- Lakshmipathy Bhat