On May 25th, Brand Republic claimed, “the digital world really made its mark at last night’s D&AD ceremony.” But DDB London creative Rob Messeter ain’t buyin’ it. In a guest post on Scamp he says:
I know it’s the future and everything, and everyone seems to be wetting themselves with excitement over it (particularly marketing people) but, is it me, or is most online advertising really pony?
I’m not just talking about the big shouty garish banners, or the annoying pop up things, I’m actually thinking of the supposedly award-winning stuff.
Here’s a link to the winning entries, so you can judge for yourself.
An anonymous commenter on Scamp weighed in with this ego-based drivel, “the unfortunate reality, ladies and gentlemen, is that our industry is rapidly losing its glamour and the geeks are taking over. and there’s bugger all we can do about it.”
I don’t know what pony means, but if these “old guard” creatives would spend even 20 minutes looking into the potential of digital creativity they would be wetting themselves with delight over the possibilities.
I’m convinced the ‘old guard’ will never get it. There too full of themselves and their ‘visions’ to learn anything new. Learning and exploring are things they are not interested. It would mean they’d actually have to admit they don’t know everything.
It’s sad, really to gaze upon those who fashion themselves as industry stars. What’s their thinking based upon? The fact that one-tenth of one percent go to Cannes in springtime? Or that we spend precious time in dark editing booths, the same booths that Hollywood occupies?
We find clever ways to sell things via mass- and micro-media. That’s our job. Where’s the glamour in that?
Digital does not bring as much fame as broadcast media.
The day it does I am sure many a pompous creative director will be happy to jump on the bandwagon.
Indeed. The days of $800,000 TV boondoggles to Kenya to shoot a stupid fucking Ford car driving in and out of cones with giraffes in the background are over. Sorry. Move over.
while it’s obvious that digital advertising/marketing can offer great creative opportunities, i can also understand the dismay over the steady decline of big TV spots. it is quite fun to go on a shoot, hang with the director, sit in an editing room etc. it may be ego driven on some level, but for many of us, we just simply enjoy it. that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the process on the digital side, but for some, i imagine, it will never offer the same level of excitement.
T, i agree.
I think there are many creatives drawn to this business in part because they percieve it as hollywood fantasy camp.
But honestly, even if your ultimate dream is great broadcast spots, working in a kickass online conjunction will help your clients prove their investment paid off, and help convince them of the value of great broadcast spots.