Fine ties, nice suits, sleek cars!
Advertising people are a funny lot. They are even more so if you are talking about those of them who do business in Nigeria. Creativity is their forte. And you can be sure we have them aplenty.
My brother, John, once gave a brief to one young agency to do some work for his company, both for the print media and a radio jingle. He came home and showed me the copies produced by this young agency and my mouth stayed open for such a long time you would have wondered what the name of the hurricane that had just passed by our house was called. They were awesome, to use that particularly all-in-the-air American expression! The copies looked like they were straight from the art studio of Rembrandt or Monet. Beauty is always palpable, touchable with these creatives of the advertising world!
Real advertising agency people, not the fake ones, though, are a sucker for beauty, the good life. That’s why you are likely to find them in clean white shirts, fine ties, dean shoes, nice suits – they will network like mad, sip cognac, party like parties are going to be banned when they have finished. They need such lifestyles to keep business coming. How are you going to convince a client that you can talk a good talk to help him shift his product or service if you don’t look the part? You tell me, I’m
all ears! That’s why it is that anyone and everyone who works in an ad agency is creatively determined; if you have ever been into the philosophy of determinism, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. This creative determinism is not only in how the copies they put out regale your senses, but also in how they put themselves out to be what they want you to think that they are.
“So what makes them a funny lot then, Phillip?” I can hear some of you ask as you read this. To this, I will answer by asking you to tarry awhile and read this story about how creativity made famous two British brothers in the UK in 1979. It was really ‘thank goodness’ to the Saatchi brothers, Maurice and Charles, whose agency, Saatchi and Saatchi, helped send the strong message of the failure of the Labour Government home to the British voting public. Their wonderful ad copies for the Conservative Party in Britain helped to bring Margaret Thatcher to power.
Both brothers were known for their flamboyance, which is still the common disease of the industry types. But to fellow indulgees, who have been quick to ask me what makes advertising agency people a funny lot, let me just say simply that this is quite a challenging journey for me. It is a journey to which I openly invite you to join in. Don’t worry, be happy.
It is not that it is really a dangerous journey, it’s just challenging. And that’s all. Personally, I think it is going to be a hard task. But it’s me and me alone who has brought this upon myself. As you all know, I have a penchant for bringing ‘things’ upon myself, that self-deprecating indulgence that you and I are all very familiar with. It’s the story of our lives together on this page, I’m afraid! But it is worth saying too that surprisingly, even though I am embarking on this journey that seems all written in ‘task’, I am really not a taskmaster.
With that out of the way, let’s see where we get to with this. I am sitting at my desk hitting away on the keyboard trying hard to meet the deadline set by the lady downstairs of this page. She’s my boss sometimes when it is her responsibility to ensure that your BusinessLife goes to bed on time. As I get on with the keyboard thing, I am also engaged in bottom-line work. We all get involved in bottom-line in our own different ways. Sometimes our bottom-line is big, and at some other times it is small. It doesn’t matter where we live or work. Managing involves bottom-line thinking, and in media work, the bottom-line is very important, especially in Nigeria.
Bottom-line has a way of determining your happiness, and the happiness of your people, including friends and family. And if you are someone like me who wouldn’t hurt a fly, then you’ll know I am in the business of ensuring that other people around me are essentially happy, all the time. So there are always going to be good reasons to look at the bottom-line wherever you are. Small man, small woman; big ma, big woman; young boy, young girl! The responsibility is ours!
And here is how the bottom-line I am talking about concerns all those in advertising who are going about in their top bleached white shirts, fine suits, clean shoes, sleek cars (like the brand new one I saw the other day at one media buying agency) and living in big houses. Most of them are debtors who won’t pay on time for ad copies carried by media houses. They take care of their own bottom-lines and don’t care what happens to other people’s bottom-lines. Which is a shame, I tell you. So next time when they come around wearing those expensive suits, driving those big and sleek cars, and looking like ‘fine boy no shaking’, just ask them if they have paid for that advert carried by your favourite newspaper’.
By: PHILLIP ISAKPA