Amber Guild —SVP & Managing Director, The Martin Agency New York
Amber talks to TheNextGag about how advertising need to change, how agencies should diversify their talent and why she still believes in the industry.
Amber Guild is the Senior Vice-President & Managing Director of The Martin Agency New York in the USA.
Amber joined The Martin Agency in 2016 as the first managing director of its New York office, bringing her business acumen and her track record of doing great work, for big brands, at some amazing agencies to the mini-network.
Target, Coca-Cola, Spotify, Foursquare, Clinique, Chase and Allstate are all part of Amber’s brand experience portfolio during her career at agencies including Ogilvy, Saatchi, Chiat Day, T3 and Collins, a brand consultancy where she most recently served as president.
Amber Guild was named a Ad Age’s “Women to Watch” in 2016.
I’d like us to be fearless enough to start experimenting around new ways of working and new ways to attract and retain a new generation of talent.
THENEXTGAG: WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR YOUR NEW POSITION ?
AMBER GUILD: The Martin NY office first opened its doors in 1995– quite successfully. Originally set up to service clients who wanted their day-to-day Martin team on the ground here in NY it also becoming a way to retain and attract talent to Martin who wanted to work in NYC. I think the opportunity ahead of us is how we can leverage our size, location and unique talent to create something new for the industry. Our entire industry is challenged right now — we’re not agile enough for our clients and no longer progressive enough to attract and retain a diverse set of rising stars. We have to change that if we want to stay relevant to our clients and to our talent — I’d like us to be fearless enough to start experimenting around new ways of working and new ways to attract and retain a new generation of talent. Our entire business model is based on people and their ideas — who are we if we don’t attract and retain the best?
TNG: WHAT DID YOU LEARN RUNNING A BRAND CONSULTANCY THAT YOU CAN BRING TO THE AD WORLD ?
AG: Most of our clients at the consultancy were either the CEO’s and/or CMO’s of their organizations and would share with us their frustrations with the Ad world. They felt the Ad world was stuck in time and not helping them move fast enough to connect and engage with their consumers. And the clock is ticking — for them. They’re under an incredible amount of pressure to show real-time results and they need partners who understand that.
TNG: HOW DO YOU APPROACH MENTORING ?
AG: Mentoring is a part of my every day. I believe we all have our strengths and weaknesses and if I can help somebody find their strengths and unlock their potential then I’m doing right by them, and right by us. You also have to understand your weaknesses — it’s not that they will go away — but you need to understand and support your Achilles heel.
The most important thing about mentoring is to be honest — I find this is actually pretty hard for most people. Communicating honestly is one of kindest things you can do for someone.
TNG: IS THERE A DIGITAL GADGET THAT YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ?
AG: The easy and honest answer is my phone. But not because I need to be in contact with people at all times (in fact, I prefer not to be), but because every morning and every evening on my commute I look through my photos and stare at pictures of my kids laughing.
TNG: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO AFFECT CHANGE IN THE INDUSTRY ?
AG: Every year I’ve been in this industry is every year I have said it would be my last. It’s harder than it should be — especially as a woman of color. But I’m still here. I’m still here because I’m still naïve enough to think what we do for our clients is pretty powerful. Powerful for their businesses, but also because the brands we create can have an impact in our communities — locally and globally — and I take that responsibility seriously.
I’m still here because I worry for our industry that we’re not taking it serious enough — and it’s time we do. Our first step, diversifying our talent to make sure that we can insightfully reflect the world we live in.
TNG: IS IT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ADVERTISERS TO MAKE AD AGENCIES MORE DIVERSE ?
AG: Well, it’s certainly helped — so thank you advertisers. But no, the advertising industry’s lack of urgency around this for the last several decades has been deplorable. And I see a direct correlation between the struggles we are having as an industry and homogeneity of our thought.
TNG: WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON EGG-FREEZING BENEFITS ?
AG: This is a benefit that I know many women need and want to have — and I support that fully. What I don’t support is the feeling that the only way we can advance in our career is if we put off having children. We need to evolve our culture of over-work so that we can make room for all caregivers at every step of our careers.
TNG: DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ENTRY-LEVEL SALARIES NEED TO BE RAISED IF WE WANT TO ATTRACT PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS (AND WITHOUT RICH FAMILIES) IN THE INDUSTRY ?
AG: I believe we need to attract people from different backgrounds and different socio-economic backgrounds, so if that is one of the ways to do that — than yes! I think we also need to create awareness in different communities that this industry is even an option — I for one had no idea growing up as a poor kid in lower Harlem.
Amber Guild
Senior Vice-President & Managing Director
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