To The Moon, To The Stars
A resolution to stop worrying about the future of the ad/creative industry.
This is part of a series on the state of Struck and the ad/creative industry. Read the other installments:
Two Years In
Fire the Client
The End Of Creativity As A Service
Not Great, Bob
My Five Favorite Days
In the last few weeks, I’ve written a lot about what I think. It felt like the right thing to do—to assess our place in the landscape, to try to make sense of everything that’s happening right now, to think about it, to write about it.
I think I’m done thinking for a little while.
It’s exhausting, isn’t it… trying to make sense of an industry that never stops devouring itself and trying to redefine a business that’s always evolving? So now that I’ve written all these words and begged you all to read them, recommend them, and respond to them—let’s light some stuff on fire.
Things aren’t great. At worst, Donald Trump is going to be the presidential runner-up. The Dodgers are still playing baseball while the Giants are on vacation. The internet of things is still just a light switch on my phone. Movies have been awful, really really awful. If it weren’t for an incredible year in music (Solange! Bon Iver! Angel Olsen! Chance! Beyonce! So! Many! Others!) and the glory of Michelle and Barry O., I don’t think we’d have much to be happy about.
We should do something about it. Make all those problems, our problems. Paint our towns/cities/hamlets whatever color strikes our fancy. Remember that we have as much to say about culture and happiness and optimism as anyone else. Build a loyal army that’s willing to do whatever it takes to flip the world upside down.
The world needs us—to stop being so cynical, to stop living in our echo chambers, to stop writing the same jokes for the same 27 likes on Twitter. We’re better than that. We’re independent, odd, undefined, starving, living in the margins, eating what we kill, fighting in the streets, surviving, wondering what it’d be like to have deep pockets and unlimited expense accounts. The trade pubs say we’re small, we say we’re lean. The consultants say we’re not a growth business, we say our passions can’t be confined to one industry. The client says we’re expensive, we say we’re valuable—and that some things should be expensive (we’ll leave the discount sushi, the bargain plastic surgery, and the cut-rate skydiving lessons to someone else).
It’s our turn. Haven’t we heard enough from the holding companies and the conglomerates? (We have.) Shouldn’t we listen to Dan Wieden when he says he’s jealous of the small independents? (We should.) Can’t we give the bureaucracies a run for the money? (We can.)
Whos’ going to make the things that the next generation of weirdos will love with irrational fervor? Like the amazing Volkswagen spots I loved so much. That fleeting Saturn campaign . The Mini stunts. That stuff still makes me want to be a better person, a better creator. It’s on us now. We owe it to those unholy Millennials and all of their entitlement. We’d better leave them more than a few thousand look-alike websites and an undigested mountain of branded content. No one dreams about sponsored Tweets and promoted Instagram videos.
I’m not going back on my word. I’m doubling down. We have to make things that matter. Things that count. Beautiful things, wild things, messy things—but things that resonate. Things that drive people to action. Things that move the needle. Things that our clients will pay for… this year, next year, the year after that.
It’s late. I’m sitting alone in an empty office. This isn’t the best thing I’ve ever written. It’s a bit incoherent and the narrative lacks specifics. But I’m probably going to click “Publish” anyway. I’m listening to Francis and the Lights, pretending that I know what to say in a meeting tomorrow about the future of our agency. I don’t know what to say; I know how I feel. I feel like taking a few swings. I feel like this is our only chance. I feel like it might happen. I feel like I know very little, but it’s enough: I believe in you. I believe in us. We can do this. We can do this. We can do this.
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