Where did all the ideas go?

Be warned – this blog is going to be a bit of a bitch fest. Today, I find myself in one of my “curmudgeon moods”. They usually pop up when I start working on a project that is quickly rendered lifeless by a complete lack of interest in the guiding parties to be creative. This is one of those days. Names and faces have been left out to protect the innocently incapable.

However, my need to vent is not just about my one unfulfilling day (though that is why I’m on a rant here). It’s about watching a craft I love, and, which I still maintain has tons of merit, take a huge backseat to click-throughs, rambling content (like this blog), search engines, and scoundrels on social media hawking their wares to faceless groups of so-called friends.

Look, I’m in no way discounting the effectiveness of today’s cyber economy and online marketing methods. They work like gangbusters. They are the nature of the beast and will be as marketing forges ahead. Hell, I’m as in as deep as anyone. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t sometimes feel nostalgic for the days of my advertising youth. It doesn’t mean I can’t long for a time when agency creative departments were dynamic because of the ideas whizzing about them, not the algorithms. I miss crafting campaigns where creativity was a big part of the strategy. I miss racking my brain with an art director, while swilling cocktails and scribbling ideas down on bar napkins. Damnit, I miss the good old days! There I said it!

By now you might have guessed that I’m an elder statesman in this whole advertising game. I honed my copywriting chops in the late 80’s long before the internet or SEO or inbound marketing ever entered the picture. I’m proud to say I grew up at a time in this business when great ideas ruled; when agencies and their clients were looking to best the competition in both sales and bragging rights on who had the cooler campaigns. And yes, they did go hand in hand. Great ideas, more often than not, led to great increases in sales.

So what happened?

The world changed as it inevitably does – in some ways for the better and in some for the worse. We all changed with it, occasionally kicking and screaming as we found ourselves spending less time thinking and more time executing faster and leaner marketing programs in the burgeoning online universe. Of course, now we’re all mouse-deep in it and there’s no question that the merits are measurable. It’s just that I sometimes miss the immeasurable. I miss the merits of a great idea. I miss the days when that’s what we all wanted. Agencies. Clients. Even the general public.

Of course, it’s not as though creativity has vanished entirely. That won’t happen because it still works. It’s still the best way to build and define a brand. There are still Madison Avenue titans out there delivering some pretty great stuff, and us regional players put out our fair share of winners, too.

However, in great part, creativity has become an ever dwindling part of the job. We find ourselves working in environments built on finding instant access, providing instant gratification, and generating instant sales. Thus, our strategies have become far more media than message; far more science than art; far more word choice than wordsmith.

I know I’m coming off like a dinosaur, though, I really don’t consider myself one. I’m not denying these methods or questioning their validity. In fact, I embrace the future and look forward to exploring the branding possibilities it’s sure to bring. I’m also fortunate enough to work with a team that’s as technology savvy and online strategic as you’ll find, many of whom, bless their hearts, are far too young to relate to my good-old-days mentality.

I’ll welcome the future of advertising with open arms. But I won’t deny that the best days I have at the office are still the ones when I get to be truly creative, when I get to unleash my thoughts instead of funneling them into a formula. Call me old school, but I still get a rush from making a great ad. I still believe in the beauty of finely crafted copy and compelling art direction coming together to create an inspired work of marketing. This in no way discounts all my postage-stamp banner ads, or character-counted blurbs, or blogs packed with key words, or templated websites pre-programmed for ease and enjoyment.

I’m cool with these things.

But once and a while, especially on days like this one, I can’t help but whisper to myself, “where did all the ideas go?” On the bright side, I have to believe there are clients out there who are thinking exactly the same thing.

Rant over. Thanks for listening.