Watching Jon Stewart grill Jim Cramer last week, I started thinking why more of us don’t ask tough questions, particularly in the ad industry.
In advertising, the answers to marketing challenges don’t often come easily. You have to dig, to prod, to challenge conventional wisdom. And the beautiful yet exasperating truth is that there are always many, many solutions to a marketing problem. So be wary of anyone in the ad business who tries to dismiss a probing, inquisitive mind. People who are afraid of challenging questions might have something to hide–like their own incompetence.
But be prepared for a letdown. Sometimes, even if you ask the tough questions, you have to accept and deal with the answers, no matter how illogical and nonsensical they are. Such is life. Especially in advertising, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense most of the time.
It’s the subject of my new column on Talent Zoo. Talent Zoo has also revamped their web site. There’s lots of content, and a bunch of jobs. Poke around and take a look.