Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Work hard.

On Sunday, December 9th, I "celebrated" my 28th year in the agency business. That was the day back in 1984 that I joined an agency called Marschalk as a copywriter.

Since that time Marschalk became Lowe Marschalk, then Lowe and Partners, then Lowe and Partners, SMS, then Lowe, then Ammirati Puris Lowe, then Ammirati Puris Lowe Lintas, then Lowe Lintas, then Deutsch.

I've also gone through a few changes. Though my name has remained the same.

But a few things have stayed the same. I hate lazy.

I remember back 28 years ago at Marschalk we were pitching a Danish Vodka. (This was just after the launch of Absolut, a brand and advertising that changed everything.) Everyone thought their weird national vodka would be the next new new thing.

In any event, these were the days before the internet and I asked an account woman for some information on Denmark--thinking there might be something interesting buried there. She returned  with the World Almanac data word for word, including these, which I'll never forget: "Famous Danes include Hans Christian Andersen and Victor Borge."

Lazy.

Today I got a note from someone to whom I sent a cut over a week ago. "I wasn't aware you were waiting for feedback," she replied.

Lazy.

Also today a young writer who is meant to be helping me won't be in until 10:30. She lost her phone last night and is getting a new one. I have scripts for spots due this evening. I was in at 8.

Lazy.

There's a lot of blather in the world about new agency models, new communication modalities, the idea that brands are patterns and that before long my 37-inch Samsung will be trashed for a two-inch mobile device.

That's all well and good.

But victory will come, as it always does, not to the pontificators.

Not to the poseurs and posturers.

It will come to people who buckle-down, follow-through and dig. People who keep coming at you. People who work.

That's the new agency model for me.

That's Web 4.0 for me.

That's the new economy for me.

Work hard.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Surprised by Generation Next? Geo, your world in its cultural curiosity and intellectual rigor grounded in liberal arts is anathema to the under 35 set. Just the way it is. No changing it, Im afraid.

Teo

Anonymous said...

Teo,

I can't argue the idea that the younger (my) generation is labeled as lazy both intellectually and physically. It's certainly not untrue in some cases. And, given our almost innate understanding of the Internet, keeper of all of mankind's information, there's zero excuse for the ignorance we have to deal with every day.

But not at all of us are this way. Just like not every member of our parent's generation raised us with blind praise and participation trophies, fostering a sub-generation of, well, pussies. It annoys, frustrates and embarrasses me to share the millennial label with the folks so often (justifiably) called out on ad blogs. I share an office with them too. I relate to this post just as much as you do.

But we're not all bad.

M