Commentary
Why The Ad Industry Needs Old Curmudgeons
- by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, July 7, 2023
This week, Brian Jacobs announced he is not exactly discontinuing his excellent “Cog Blog,” but he did announce a reduction of its publishing frequency, writing, “I must admit I’m finding it increasingly difficult to write a regular weekly post about things I care little about.”
He goes on to explain, “Today I’m more disappointed and frustrated than proud. The majority of people inhabiting what they refer to as the ad business are nothing to do with advertising. Instead, they’re technocrats and sales people more interested in numbers on a spreadsheet than in the ads themselves.”
Jacobs is ex-Leo Burnett (where he was my boss, and where he worked both sides of the Atlantic), ex-Carat and ex-Universal McCann. He is also ex-Millward Brown. So he knows the industry pretty well.
And now we will hear less from him, which is a real shame. Brian has steadfastly supported better creative, better understanding of how advertising works, better integration across all advertising and marketing roles, better accountability from agencies and the marketing industrial complex as a whole, and – ultimately – a better industry where people feel proud and inspired to be part of it.
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We need critical voices like his. We need voices that can remind us of what is important in our industry. We need voices that cannot just remind us, but explain to us what some of the things are we have lost over time. And why that matters.
Brian is by no means an old curmudgeon. He does not constantly proclaim that “everything used to be better.” He has always been a critical analyst. The things he cared for when he was my boss still are the things he cares for today. And he always has ideas on how to address them, make them better.
Before this begins to sound like a eulogy, I better change direction.
My point is this: our industry is youth-focused, progress-obsessed, and new-fangled trend-distorted (if “Threads” or “AI” was not in one of your communications this week, you have failed, obviously). This focus is mostly a good thing, but it often is just noise.
It is estimated that the average consumer is exposed to between 6,000 and 10,000 commercial messages per day. According to Marketing Week, “57.5% of marketers say they have increased their focus on short-term marketing over the past 12 months.”
Their role is no longer truly “marketing” but “marketing communications,” in charge of figuring out how to drive short-term results through messaging. The focus on the “now” coupled with agencies and platforms focused on margin and revenue has brought us to what Brian means when he says that we are no longer focused on advertising. We are no longer focused on what messaging can do for a brand, but rather what a touch point can do in terms of delivery vs. cost.
Now don’t get me wrong. Cost and efficiency of delivery always was important. And many advertisers care (worry?) a great deal about the impact of their message, as well. But it seems what has been lost is a collective desire to try and understand how “it” works, especially when thinking about building and nurturing brands.
David Ogilvy famously said “The objective of advertising is to sell,” which is true. But we sell brands and the consumers’ perception thereof. And to remind us of that we need people like Brian Jacobs. I will happily take his thoughts, even if they appear with less regularity.
Good one, Maarten. But I suspect that Brian, like myself, would not buy the widely cited but hopelessly wrong stat that the average consumer is "exposed" to 6,000 - 10,000 ad messages per day. Perhaps that's what gets Brian ----and myself----down as no matter how often we speak out on this and other far more important subjects---like attentiveness, for example---we are drowned out by the hordes of dreamy eyed "data" chompers who never bother to think about what the stats really mean----if anything. I hope that Brian reconsiders and does not reduce his thought-provoking output---we "old hands" are hoplessly outnumberd in this fight against blissful ignorance and need all of the help we can get.
Bad creative delivered to the right people at a very efficient price still does nothing except contribute to the number of ad impressions we are bombarded with everyday, regardless of what that actual number is. How many people in today's ad business are even aware of the heavy user of their client's product, what is important to them when they consider buying it, how the brand stacks up against its biggest competitors, and what unique positioning the brand could make credible in the marketplace? I don't have that actual number either, but I can predict it's not enough.
First off, thanks Maarten for your kind words.
If I may I would like to say how much pleasure I get from seeing how so many of those I see as 'my guys' are doing so well. And Maarten is certainly a prime example of that!
As Maarten says I'm only semi-retiring the Cog Blog. Producing new content week in week out is tiring.
Especially when so much is so wrong, and needs to be fixed. The level of ad fraud remains outrageous. The silence of trade bodies and agency leaders disappointing.
The misuse of data, as Ed says is a real worry. As the blog post says we are obsessed with the biggest numbers, even if they're meaningless. Ignorance of what the data means is not a policy.
I still love the ad business, and I expect I'll be back when I find something important to comment upon.
And Jack Myers and the lovely folk at MediaVillage promise they'll continue to publish my thoughts.
Maarten, (and Brian) I hope Brian keeps engaging and writing. I interacted with Brian towards the end of his (also my) career in the corporate marketing and agency world, when he was with Millward Brown. His wisdom is borne of a wide perspective spanning media and insights. He is not a curmudgeon. Unlike others who take the easy route of taking cheap shots at the short-termism, falsehoods and fraud of much digital advertising, Brian endeavours to maintain a view of the big picture. I cut my teeth at "we sell or else" Ogilvy. As you rightly say, the world has moved on, yet the truths of building brands and engaging people and communities are more important than ever. The future of media and advertising is still to be written and made. Stewart
Bravo Maarten.
Wow... what a step...
I had the honour and pleasure to meet Brian when HMS became part of Carat and we did many times things the industry saw as impossible... Brian is one of very very few icon that I would join in any target any pitch any battle with maximum confidence about a positive outcome...
other than hot air balloons like Jerry B or Nigel M... he has a deep profound understanding of how humans and communication works... and how this knowledge can be used to create and or change markets...
I feel blessed to had the chance to learn from him and work with him
Aleks