ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Imagine a day where you don’t own a computer, and you lose your phone just after breakfast.
We used to live like that.
Every damn day.
With virtually no access to information.
Researching how to be better at your job wasn’t a thing.
Advertising people didn’t do podcasts or post articles about their work.
True, there were books, but not many.
Aside from awards annuals, the main two were ‘Ogilvy On Advertising’ and ‘Bill Bernbach’s Book’.
Occasionally you’d photocopy an article from Campaign, Creative Review or Direction magazine.
Dave Trott’s ‘How To Get Your First Job In Advertising’ was the most useful.
I had a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy.
The text was so faded and broken up it looked like an old religious document.
Which it was in a way.
It’s still great. (I’ve attached a copy below.)
Later, The Copy and Art Direction Books turned up.
They were a revelation – good creatives explaining how they create.
(If you haven’t read Richard Foster’s piece do, you’ll be a 9% better writer after reading it.)
We have the opposite problem today; too much.
But it leads to a kind of inertia.
A bit like living next to St. Pauls, you put off visiting, because you think ‘it’ll be there tomorrow, next week, next year’.
The other problem is who is or isn’t worth listening to?
LinkedIn if packed with people aggressively telling you exactly how to create ads as good as the ones they… like.
At the other end of the spectrum are people like Dave Trott, George Tannenbaum, Brian Burch, The Behind The Billboard guys, Rory Sutherland, Ben Kay and many more I’ll be embarrassed tomorrow that I forgot to mention.
And Steve Hudson.
He posts a series called The Power Of Advertising on LinkedIn where he breaks down his (and Victoria Fallon’s) ads from nose to tail.
From brief to air.
What’s great about it is the work.
A lot of teams have a style or preference, Steve (and Victoria) don’t.
At least, not that I can spot.
What links Audi to Anti-Smoking to One To One to Levi’s to Kingshield other than they’re all great?
The weirdest thing about our chat was realising how short their creative career was.
10 years.
They took it very seriously, which lead to some great work, but maybe some bad decisions too.
Hearing about Steve’s career was a bit like watching a horror film.
Instead of shouting ‘LOOK BEHIND YOU!’ I was shouting ‘DON’T RESIGN TO HEGARTY!’ or ‘STAY AT ABBOTT MEAD!’.
Anyway, it was a great chat, hope you enjoy it.
