"GOD SO HATED ADVERTISING MEN
THAT HE NEVER MADE A WHOLE ONE"
My first official act tonight is to issue a denial.
I am not the author of the wisecrack which is the title of my remarks. I stole it.
I stole it, however, from an unimpeachable authority, Bruce Barton, the man whose name is embedded in the melodious corporate title of Batton, Barton, Durstine & Osborne.
Barton was already a nationally famous magazine writer and editor when he was lured into the advertising business by Durstine and Osborne. He was a reluctant bride. He stipulated that he would only work half days and that his work was to be confined solely to writing. He demanded assurances that he would not have to attend meetings, call on clients, hire or fire anybody, sign checks or listen to lawyers and accountants.
"It is possible to be born
a writer or an artist but
God so hated advertising
men that he never made
a whole one."
|
Alas, 20 years later circumstances forced him to be president of the agency, and all those fine assurances went out the window. A mere junior copywriter at the time, I had the temerity to ask the great man why he had insisted on his original restrictions.
His reply to this young whippersnapper was:
"It is possible to be born a writer or an artist but God so hated advertising men that he never made a whole one."
Tonight, I have been asked to give my opinion of what can be done about this unfortunate condition.
"I think it highly unlikely
that any individual can
in a lifetime acquire all the
skills needed to qualify as a
complete advertising person."
|
First, I'm afraid that Barton was right about there being no born advertising men or women. I would go even further. I think it highly unlikely that any individual can in a lifetime acquire all the skills needed to qualify as a complete advertising person. I don't think the human skull will hold that much. I can guarantee that mine won't.
So what's the answer? One clue is the large number of successful advertising agencies with long names. When I was very young I naively thought that they were imitating law firms. But when I got to know the men behind some of these names, the logic became clear.
"The answer was to organize themselves
so that each man's weaknesses were
offset by the strengths of the others."
|
The founders of these businesses knew very well that no one of them could encompass all the skills needed for success. The answer was to organize themselves so that each man's weaknesses were offset by the strengths of the others.
And to this day it appears to me that the only likelihood of creating a complete advertising entity is by combining the talents of several individuals into kind of a mosaic - hoping that there are not too many large cracks in between.
"..adapt to a
high degree on
inter-dependence..."
|
From watching the progress of hundreds of agencies, both large and small, I would conclude that success depends very heavily on their ability to develop managements and staffs who are able to adapt to a high degree on inter-dependence.
This is not everybody's cup of tea. It presents a problem for those who are natural loners. Small agencies who start without considering this problem frequently, come to a standstill or fragment when they reach a certain size.
"...advertising is a field
that involves quite a lot
of adaptation."
|
In fact, advertising is a field that involves quite a lot of adaptation. It is that process of adaptation that I propose to discuss tonight. First let me explain the sense in which I am using the word adaptation.
I remind you first that adaptation to one's environment is what life seems to be about. The survival of all living things depends on their ability to adapt to the surrounding environment. In most living things the process is more or less fixed. In man, however, it is possible to consciously experiment with new methods of adaptation.
One of the ways man approaches new methods of adaptation is by "learning about" his environment.
Unfortunately, learning about an environment does not automatically bring about adaptation to it.
"Unfortunately, learning about
an environment does not
automatically bring about
adaptation to it."
| One, for example, could learn a great deal about Eskimos without being able to personally adapt to living permanently in an Eskimo Village.
But let's take an example that is a little further south of the Arctic Circle.
Every year colleges graduate people who are shocked and hurt by the process of adapting to a non-academic world. But this is hardly surprising. Up to this point in their lives they have lived in an environment in which for the most part may have been treated as customers. All of the organizations of which they had been a part were created for their benefit. Family, church, youth organizations and educational institutions existed to support their needs.
All of a sudden, the shoe is on the other foot. Almost instantly they are being asked to adapt to another world. In this New World they are no longer the beneficiaries of the social and economic organizations to which they belong. On the contrary, it is the organization who expects to benefit from them.
This transition from being a customer to a servant of an organization is frequently a difficult one. Some never make a successful adaptation.
(Go to page 2 of 3)
Try Another Speech?
Check Out Last Month's Newsletter
Copyright © 1996- thepocket.com
|
