A rainy day interview with Jonathan Plazonja
I’ve never seen advertising as an art. At the very nature of art is free expression, and in advertising — no matter how creative you are — you must always answer to a client. I’ve always seen this as a negative, a hindrance to putting something of personal value in your work. As a result, I’ve entered this industry with a lot of skepticism and even some shame, avoiding the question, “what field are you interested in?” because when your roommate’s answer is pediatric oncology, it’s pretty hard to compete. Saving babies vs. selling flatbreads? I look like Satan.
Walking out of Connelly Partners one rainy Thursday afternoon, my understanding of advertising shifted in a small but important way. The reason? I had just finished interviewing Jonathan Plazonja, Executive Creative Director at ismcp, and someone I learned quite a lot from in a short hour.
I began the interview with a topic Jonathan had mentioned once before: stories. My intrigue as a writer couldn’t help itself; it was the first time someone had put something so innately human in the context of something I’ve tended to view as frigidly impersonal.
“There’s still room to tell longer stories in advertising,” Jonathan said, despite his admission that people these days are suffering from what he called “self-induced ADD” — a world of people with attention spans shorter than ever. “It’s like film; if the story is good, then people will keep paying attention, but a bad story is interminable. No one ever said the Godfather was too long.” I understood, but I wasn’t completely convinced. He continued: “There are plenty of products that merit a longer story, products you want to know more about. If everyone is doing short copy, why not do long? When others are zigging, you have to zag.” I remember smiling — he had a point, and my hopes lifted a little. Maybe if there was an audience for longer stories advertising wouldn’t be so bad; maybe I could be the zag and get away with it.
When I asked Jonathan what makes for a good advertisement, his answer attuned perfectly to his belief in stories. His first two qualifications were straightforward enough: the ad must never underestimate the intelligence of its audience (my mind immediately went to Kate Upton scantily charging into battle), and don't assume that just because something is “on strategy” it will be successful getting through to people.
It was his third qualification that really interested me. “Look for simple, human truths; look for things that people can relate to, whether it’s sad or funny, things that make you say hey, that was me when I was younger, or that resonates.” It was the stories again — the common chord that winds through every life. It’s a chord you have to hit perfectly to make things sound human and real, and not fabricated by some twice-removed CDO that doesn’t remember what it’s like to struggle a little. According to Jonathan, in order for a creative to stay on top of things, “you have to be a human sponge, soak up as much as possible, ride the T even if you have a car, go to bars even if you don’t like to be social, know what people are walking around with on the street, what people are talking about and what’s on people’s minds. You have to read a lot — read about the whole world — travel, know who’s doing the good work and not just in the US but also in Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney.” In other words: “be an insatiable observer of the human condition.”
And that was it. My hope sprung eternal like a seven year old with a jump rope on repeat. Advertising isn’t just about selling to people; it’s about understanding people. It’s about knowing the stories that connect people in a world that’s more fragmented than ever. And if you find those stories first, those big ideas that catch ahold of people’s attention because they recognize that human element, then the rest follows — the creativity flows from that personal touch. That kind of creativity is power. It’s not something that everyone can do, which is what bothers Jonathan about advertising today. “Agencies are being marginalized. All these new tools make clients think they can do the ads themselves.” But it’s not the tools that make the ideas good; it’s the people behind them. “Big ideas trump big data every time.”
I then asked Jonathan the question I feared hearing the answer to most, bracing myself for what he was going to say: “has there ever been a time when you didn’t like advertising or what you’re doing?” My anticipation that the question was going to hang in the air as he thought long and hard about the answer was entirely unfounded. His response came immediately. “Almost daily,” he replied. “It’s a love-hate relationship. Some days you do feel like a sellout.” I slumped, hopefully imperceptibly, but most likely not. “But advertising can also change the world.” I nodded at the examples he gave — Barack Obama’s Change poster, Lyndon Johnson’s famous 30-second spot, the work that Alex Bogusky is doing at his new “social impact” agency called Fearless — but I had already acquiesced to the fact that it’s an uphill battle, and always will be. Advertising will always feel like selling a little bit of your soul. And yet…for some reason, that confirmation sat a little sounder with me than usual, and it was sincerely because of the person who was sitting in front of me, and all the other mentors I’ve had the fortune to meet in this industry. Here was Jonathan Plazonja, someone who, even from sitting only an hour with, I learned was a very intelligent, empathetic, and socially conscious person — and he had spent his entire career in advertising. These weren’t mutually exclusive. Realizing that alone changed so much for me. If anything, that’s what I would want to thank Jonathan the most for.
At the end of the day, there are always going to be problems you can’t solve. No one can do everything in the world, but we can try to do everything within our capabilities. My roommate, who may someday save a child’s life, isn’t going to have the power to make people pay attention and care on a large scale — but I might be able to. Do not under any circumstance put any surgical tool in my hands, but give me a pencil and maybe I can do some good. Maybe some days that will be enough and maybe some days it won’t. From what I learned from Jonathan Plazonja on that rainy Thursday afternoon, I think that was the best story we shared.
