• by Seana Mulcahy , July 12, 2004

I always question the impact and affect of our work in the industry. I am thrilled with the notion of communication via multiple devices and formats. I love that it is accessible anywhere and everywhere to anyone from kids to adults to my grandmother. We live in a land of laptops, kiosks, and set top boxes. As advertisers, brand marketers, researchers, tool providers, and technologists, we have a thirst for finding the next trend, big idea, or better solution.

We advance in our industry brand-by-brand. We take jobs based on accounts. We get awarded, rewarded, and reprimanded in regard to effectiveness, impact, design, solution, and return on investment. We go through a thought process of determining who our targets are and where they will see our ads through various arts of their days and their lives.

A slew of challenges such as clutter, availability and affordability get in our way. Optimization, banner burnout, linguistics, load time, and latency are everyday happenings.

After all is said in done, what do we have? The optimist in me looks at creativity in our writing, art direction and production. I also look at how the target was defined and reached. I then consider the fuzzy art of determining effectiveness. Quite often this all adds up to success.

I'm not here to burst your bubble. However, at the end of the day, was this work we are evaluating important or necessary? Of course it is to us from a professional and livelihood standpoint. It was certainly important to our client's, bottom line. Does it really matter to the consumer, potential consumer and public?

Bear with me for a moment... Think about some of the greatest work you've done as if you were writing your bio or resume. The bulk of us tend to think brand-centrically. If you are reading this than most of us have worked on big brands or hot brands. So when we think about our work in this arena it's most likely ranges from cars to banks to breakfast cereal to beer to clothing to music. Some of my "best" work was for an automobile company and a beverage.

Although I am proud of being a part of such work, I face a moral dilemma (or two). Who really needs more fruit juice? Does my work on this juice campaign really make a difference in the world? I think if a consumer doesn't buy this car will they be walking to work? Does anyone need to super size ever? Hell no.

Certainly, some of us (me included), have represented products and services that are cause-related, health-related or community-driven. I've worked on brands that ease asthma, keep diabetes in check, and protect the security of children, computers, and online identity. However, these accounts and opportunities are few and far between. I guess we should be lucky when we get them. We should also realize not everyone wants or has the ability to work on them.

What's your opinion on this? Certainly we are passionate about what we do. What makes you tick in this online state? How do you evaluate your online achievements? Have you had the opportunity to make impact? If so, what does it mean to you? Post to me on the SPIN board and I promise to put away my microscope, and pull out my rose-colored glasses and pom-poms.