Ad Agencies: Not an Option on Account Planners’ Minds

After a long meditation about the top 5 companies planners would like to work in after graduating I came to a conclusion. First of all, a planner graduating today thinks totally different from the ones that graduated 10 years ago. I really believe the golden era of planning, and the days of the planner as the advertising rock star, are truly over.

It is fair to start by asking ourselves a question: if you were graduating now, all bright eyed, ambitious and hoping to change the world, which companies would you apply to?  Whilst there might be a few agencies in the mix, this list is now filled up by companies such as Apple, Google, Intel, Pixar or Facebook. There are potentially even consultancies over traditional agencies. The options for smart, analytical, creative, and curious people remain abundant.

It seems that a lot in finding a career comes down to experience. The fact is, it isn’t really seen as necessary anymore. This is a bit of sweeping statement and there are many exceptions to the rule, but ‘experienced’ advertising and marketing professionals are generally long in the tooth and are the very people that are making the industry less innovative.

Experience is still valuable, but young people do not feel they need to wait in order to succeed. Gone are the days of having to work your way up from the mail room. You can just get on and do it; you don’t need permission.

Even the client side is becoming sexier and more appealing. For example, take P&G’s ‘Inspired by Purpose’ positioning and focus on design strategy. For me, at least, that sounds way cooler and meaningful than running groups and writing briefs for ads (even for great ones). It takes you much higher up the food chain and closer to the development of ideas, and most importantly, making a difference.

Agencies used to hold all the cards. If a brand wanted to drive sales, the easiest thing to do was to create some advertisements and book some media. Brands needed agencies to do that for them. That is no longer the case. There are more ways to skin a cat, and it is increasingly more possible, easier, cheaper and more effective to do things in house than through other channels and partners.

 That’s not to say that all innovation will (or even should) happen in house, but any planner with ambition will look to be at the center of innovation, at the heart solving real business problems, and on the margins of cutting edges. Advertising still has a future, but it’s no longer the strategic part in your plan that it used to be; it’s now merely a service.

What would you find more attractive: Transform an industry, change the world with a new product, or help create an award-winning ad? Even the coolest integrated, digital, social media idea isn’t as cool as the Nike + Fuelband. Yeah, it will need advertising, but I’d rather have contributed to the making of the product than the production of the ad.