“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.”
Daniel H. Burnham. Director of Works. World’s Columbian Exposition 1893.
This quote from The Devil in the White City is not specific to advertising. In fact, it was written by an architect before the turn of the last century. The sentiment, however, applies to any creative field. It’s not just the idea, but your ability to excite your clients and enable them to share your vision that ultimately determines its success. And yours.
Advertising is probably not the most secure profession you can choose. (Although these days, what is?) But it is for a creative person, under the right circumstances, one of the most challenging, rewarding and stimulating. Some people spend a lifetime trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. And unfortunately, many of them look back at the end of long careers and long for the jobs they would have loved to pursue… and the mountains they never got to climb, if only life and all its responsibilities hadn’t gotten in the way. I am not among them.
I love advertising in all its many parts and pieces and processes. I love the confluence of really smart and talented people of all ages, demographics and skill sets all coming together to solve a marketing problem with everyone manning a different oar and all rowing the boat with all their might in the same direction. I love our potential to make an emotional connection and our ability to impact, persuade and alter the public perception of a product or service.
At the end of the day and the beginning, I love awakening to the feeling that I’ve got something important to do today. I’m grateful that for me, this has been the perfect career choice. It is a blissful confluence of almost all of the things that fire my imagination: movies, music, words, lyrics, travel and adventure.
After half a lifetime in advertising, I can look back and silently celebrate my successes and sigh at my failures. And ultimately, I wouldn’t change a thing. (With the exception of a few great ideas that were never sold.) But if those are my greatest regrets, I’m still way ahead of the game.
These are some of the stories and memorable moments from my 28 years in New York. Just getting them down has been cathartic for me and, hopefully, illuminating and entertaining for you. I’m glad that Mad Men has rekindled an interest in those days and that time in the advertising business.
Thank you for reading.
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