Creative agencies: an industry so clearly on the back foot is hardly a way forward
Interesting to test the water at the UK IPA’s Effectiveness Awards on Monday night. Despite the whooping and hollering from the winning teams (a 7stars bronze winner seemed to have a team of at least 100) and the many excellent entries (winner McCain below), there was a discernible air of, not dejection exactly, but resignation among some of the creative agency attendees. It’s an industry in decline said one of the creative agency judges, almost off-handedly.
Established in 1980, arguably the great era of British advertising, winning an award, says the agency trade association: “opens doors, builds brands, launches careers, grows budgets, attracts talent and advances knowledge.” Over the years it probably has.
1980 and the succeeding decades were a different world though: initially no internet and certainly no “platforms,’ the over-mighty Facebook, Google and now Amazon (among a few more) that now dominate media expenditure. Not that long ago WPP’s then boss Sir Martin Sorrell described Google as a “frenemy,” implying it was some kind of equal contest. Maybe it was..
The IPA was different too. Then it was creative agencies with media independents (lately arrived on the scene) kept sniffily at as much distance as possible. Now they’re at least equal members (the current IPA president is Group M’s Josh Krichefski.) But are the two wings of the organisation pulling in different directions? Media agencies now take a brutally pragmatic view of life with the platforms (we’d better get on with it even though they’re having us over) while some creative agencies (although not necessarily their holding company owners) hanker after the days when advertising could inform and entertain, even make us laugh.
The IPA Effectiveness Awards remain a noble attempt to square the circle. Some clients don’t help of course. Brand building is a holy mantra to many in advertising but, as we saw from the exit from lockdown, too many were prepared to alienate customers by whacking up prices ands margins because they could. Saw today that Sainsbury’s, hitherto leading the charge to self service tills for even big shops, is recruiting 20,000 more (admittedly short-term) staff at Christmas. Wonder why that is? Kantar says the UK’s top brands are worth 5% less this year than last.
We shouldn’t forget that the global ad market has grown exponentially through the rise of digital (about 70% of the total.) So there will always be room somewhere for the kind of campaigns that win effectiveness awards. But when the creative element in this process is so clearly on the back foot it doesn’t augur well. Not least for consumers.