The above title is hyperbolic. Or is it?
Hi there! I am the Creative Director at a small internet marketing firm lost in a mid size city in Texas. My title is completely and utterly meaningless. Why? Because we don’t do any creative. No one does that any more.
We are what is sometimes known as an “SEO Company”. At this point I will pedantically explain that this means we attempt to game the Google algorithm to make client web sites appear near the top of organic search results. One issue with this is that our entire effort is based on the assumption that being high in SERPS will automatically result in more call/sales volume. While there is merit to this assumption, it should be pointed out that no one has really bothered to prove it conclusively. It is “common knowledge”. The other issue with our approach is that the Google algorithm is straight-up smarter than us. And you. And everyone you’ve ever heard of. All of that is really neither here nor there.
The advertising agency was once a storied and glorious institution. Just watch Mad Men, you’ll get it. Horrific sexism, alcoholism and probably a lot of other isms aside, the folks at the fictional Sterling Cooper were badasses (especially, it should be noted, the women, despite the aforementioned sexism they had to face). They created things. The Creative Director, despite the hor…
OK, you know what? Let’s just assume we all know that the men in this show were horrifically sexist so I don’t have to add the disclaimer every time.
Anyway, the Creative Director, identity thief and stolen valor pioneer Don Draper, was a god damn creative genius. The men running the agency were hardcore business guys and salesmen extraordinaire (even that one Ayn Rand worshipping asshole). The point is, they made things. They used instinct, experience and talent to make great things. And yes, I know it is fiction, but I know people who lived through that era, and that fiction has a lot of reality in it.
But no one does that any more. At least, most agencies don’t. See, these days we have metrics. We have data coming out our collective wazoo. And if I am being honest, a lot of this data is great. A lot of it also noise. It takes very talented people to find the signal. And that’s where the problem comes in.
Once upon a time, marketing and advertising were almost arcane disciplines. They required expertise. They were required connections. The web changed all that. I know, I know what you are thinking. But no, this is not a “the web destroyed x business” rant. Really (everyone knows Millennials did it anyway). However, the advent of the web had a horrible effect on the traditional agency. See, there were no web experts. Or at the very least no real ones. Anyone could claim to be a web expert. And wow, did a lot of people do just that. Who could gainsay them? No one knew how the hell any of this crap was going to work. No one had the foggiest notion how to use the web to drive marketing. I worked at old time agencies when I first started, which coincidentally was when the web got started (yeah, I’m old). And let me tell you, some of the ideas that got floated around were just laughable. And I don’t just mean laughable in hindsight, I mean at the time, we knew it was crap, but we didn’t know what else to do. This led to the rise of the web design firm. Which then led to the rise of the web consulting firm. This, in turn, led us to where we are today.
At some point, after the advent of the almighty G*, we sort of figured it out. And we jumped in with both feet. A lot of the old storied agencies did not, and were slow to adapt. I remember seeing one or two giants close their doors. Others simply bought up the smaller web-based firms and played a furious game of catch-up. We could read the future. We understood the “new economy”.
We destroyed The Agency.
“Oh, come on, Jason”, you say, “there’s agencies everywhere.” To that, I say, bullshit.
What we call an agency now would be unrecognizable to our forebears.
Agencies used to be creative. Now we just run two-line “ads” with a link to click. Web design? Don’t make me laugh. 90% of all websites are virtually identical if you break them down into their abstract elements, and that’s igonoring the fact that they are overstuffed, slow, and riddled with tracking scripts that make a mockery of high bandwidth.**
Yeah, yeah, I know, there’s still some people doing cool stuff. The new Nike campaign comes to mind (and fuck you, Wieden & Kennedy, for making me side with Nike, those bastards ruined the Chuck Taylor All-Star). But honestly, how many are left doing that sort of work. It seems like the numbers shrink on the daily. Where once we had magazine ads and billboards print pieces galore, now we have one inch on SERPs.
What can we do about it? Nothing, really. I am just an aging Gen-Xer lamenting the business I thought I was getting into.
At least we still have television.
Looks at Youtube.
Oh, god damnit.
*Google, of course
**And yes, I am as guilty of this as anyone.