Adland and Its New Future
Michael O’Donnell / Editor
Back in the final days of December 2019, more than two months before the pandemic, Forbes declared that advertising, as we know it, is dead. The argument was relatively straightforward: thanks to digital and data-driven advances, the marketing focus is now on disposable content to grab attention, not long-term ideas to build brand loyalty.
If you ask a bunch of ad people across roles, titles, and continents, the old agency model can’t coexist with this new marketing focus. By shifting its attention away from creative campaigns that build brand loyalty, the ad industry is testing the loyalty of its own creatives.
We surveyed 850 advertising creatives in the Working Not Working community to see how they feel about their current jobs, the industry they’ve called home, and whether they see a future in it. From their responses, we now have a clear understanding of what will push advertising creatives to sell their stock in this lifestyle and what will motivate them to buy into the future of advertising.
We’ll be putting these insights toward actionable support for our members, and encourage the ad industry to do the same. The only way this industry can support itself is to support its workforce. As an Associate Creative Director at a tech brand in San Francisco simplifies it, “People care about their jobs more when their job cares about them.”
Do Creatives Feel Creative, the Very Word that Defines Them?
Under the current conditions, creatives aren’t especially ecstatic in their advertising jobs. Only 24.5% are feeling happy while 4% are “extremely happy.” (We’ll be sure to follow up with the 4% and see if they can offer some advice on how they reached nirvana.) Conversely, 43% feel middle-of-the-road, while the remaining 28% feel unhappiness and extreme unhappiness. An industry with more than 1/4 of its community dissatisfied with their work seems like an industry that needs work. But how can we help them?
The first step is understanding why. For better or worse, our community did offer plenty of reasons why they’re dissatisfied with their jobs.
In our survey, 61% of creatives say they have felt less creative in their work over the course of the pandemic. But this loss of creative fulfillment is only partially influenced by the pandemic itself.
A lot of fingers point to agencies appeasing clients at the expense of creativity.
“Clients making the call on what's creative is killing us.”
- Senior copywriter at a big agency in Sydney, Australia“Agencies spend too much time managing clients that can't make a decision and not enough time creating actual work.”
- Senior art director at a big agency in Los Angeles“People in advertising get treated like they work at Kinko's. There's too much pressure from internal stakeholders to keep the clients happy and paying.”
- Executive Creative Director at a big agency in New York
Artwork by Working Not Working Member Twisha Patni
Aside from feeling like they’re sandwiched in the bureaucracy between agencies and clients, there’s a belief that data-driven decisions increase scope creep but not the scope of creative opportunity.
“Numbers & data are winning over ideas & creativity in our business.”
- Executive Creative Director at a big Agency in Miami“Creativity has become an afterthought with many clients and agencies. There's little satisfaction that comes from creating ads the size of a postage stamp.”
- Executive Creative Director at a small agency in Oakland“I haven’t worked with artists in over 3 years… only libraries of existing assets.”
- Senior Art Director at a big agency in San Francisco“I want less layers and more direct input on the work without artificial barriers to making it good.”
- Creative Director at a big agency in New York
The creative/client dynamic is complicated to say the least. While creatives understand that clients hold the power, there’s a growing frustration when the agencies don’t offer their staff any creative ownership. The feeling seems to be that the current model leaves creatives with a pointed question: who has my back? If the answer is no one, they consider having their own back and going freelance.
And if agency creatives are ultimately answering to the clients, some wonder whether they should just work directly for those clients in-house?
Artwork by Working Not Working Member Twisha Patni
The Squeeze
With these conditions and a slew of others, burnout is a near certainty in the advertising industry. 41.8% of creatives feel burnout every so often, while 27.3% consistently and currently feel it and an additional 20.5% are “extremely burnt out.” Only 10.4% of respondents don’t experience burnout at all.
“We are race horses. We have a prime and are run into the ground until we can't produce as much. My role as an Art Director has become more like a factory worker than someone who is developing genuine thought-out campaigns.”
- Senior Art Director at a big agency
There can be so many reasons for the excessive and prolonged stress that lead to burnout. For creatives in advertising, who selected all that apply, the reasons for burnout break down like this:
Hours of work = 51.5%
Lost motivation = 48.5%
How I'm treated and/or valued = 36.7%
Issues with leadership = 31.7%
Not having a voice = 22.3%
Lack of promotion = 20.2%
Here are some words from our community that cut even deeper than the numbers.
“This industry has traumatized me—my “passion” is now my biggest trigger.”
- Senior Art Director at a big agency“The work is draining. There is a self importance to the ad industry that makes me physically sick. We’re not doing anything that should require the expected devotion and time spent that this work does. It’s a cycle of abuse. Burnt out, just waiting for some praise carrot before you’re thrown to the fire again.”
- Strategy Director at a big agency in San Francisco
The probability of burning out is significantly determined by the average number of hours worked in a week. In fact, the relationship is almost one-to-one. For someone working 50 hours a week, they have a 50% chance of feeling burnt-out. For someone working 80 hours a week, they have an 80% chance of burning out.
If you’re an employer reading this, things should start to be taking shape. Giving your staff ownership of their creativity, protection from unrealistic client demands, and management of their hours should improve motivation and reduce burnout. If you don’t, it’s the creatives who will make a change.
Join Working Not Working & the creative community deciding the new future of advertising.
The Shift
Pursuing a creative career is rarely encouraged within families or culture. To survive the naysayers and discouragement and choose the path less traveled takes courage. Is that courage rewarded in advertising?
Financially, oftentimes yes. 59% of survey respondents believe that their rate / salary is fair. 70% described their financial situation as “comfortable” or above.
And yet, the money isn’t enough. Or as one creative puts it:
“I’ve been at this for 23 years. It has become more and more frustrating over time. Frankly, the juice is not worth the squeeze.”
- Creative Director at a big agency in New York
That may explain why a stunning 50.3% of creatives are considering switching career paths.
Artwork by Working Not Working Member Twisha Patni
We asked survey respondents why they were looking to switch careers. There were so many different reasons, and plenty of overlap. A lot of creatives cited “a lack of consistent work,” “a false promise of creativity,” and “burn out.” And just as many see a current model that is well beyond resuscitation.
In a recent WNW “Recruiter Roundtable,” Sophie Worth, Oatly’s Global Creative Talent Acquisition Partner, perfectly captured the current dilemma:
“A lot of people have reassessed what's important for them… ‘Is this a good relationship with my work or is this a toxic relationship with my work? What's important to me? What matters?’ On the one hand, there's a lot of fear because it was fear of layoff or, ‘Oh my goodness. I've been laid off. What's going to happen to me?’
And in that same moment, there's a lot of fearlessness that's been happening as well because people have started to think, ‘Well, hang on a minute. Am I happy? Is this good for me? If the world's coming to an end, is this where I want to be? And is this what I want to do?’ That's going to be something that we need to understand and think about as recruiters and as companies, because the talent is going to be expecting something else.”
Those who put their dreams on hold feel compelled to chart a new course in their post-pandemic clarity.
Artwork by Working Not Working Member Twisha Patni
When we asked where they think the most opportunity is for creative work in the next 5 years, 26.3% answered “freelance projects” and an additional 21% responded “starting my own small business.” That means that for future creative opportunities, nearly half of the industry are betting on themselves more than the current model.
37% see true creativity finding a home in-house at brands, evenly split between large brands and small brands. Only 10.8% think there will be the most creative opportunities at agencies.
The Elephant Not in the Room
The conversation around remote work is central to how employers will support their creatives going forward. Creatives see it as one of the most positive changes in the advertising industry in the past two years.
“Working from home got rid of the average 9-5 and gave us freedom to work when it suited us. Early risers, parents, and night owls could flex their schedule to fit their needs, and the work was always done on time. (We won agency of the year--it works).”
- Art Director at The Martin Agency in Richmond, VA
50% of creatives want to stay fully remote, while 46% would embrace a hybrid of remote and in-office. The sentiment toward fully remote work has only increased since we last asked our community in January. In that earlier survey, only 38% wanted to continue working from home, while 58% embraced a hybrid workstyle. In both surveys, just under 4% want to return to the office full-time.
“I live in Brazil. In the past two years I've seen more and more agencies willing to work with pros living in any country because of the rise of remote work. The ratio of international clients has increased a lot.”
- Senior Animator at a studio in Sao Paulo
Artwork by Working Not Working Member Twisha Patni
Double Down on What Is Working
If the ad industry wants to right this ship and nurture a creative home for its workforce, listen to the creatives. Our survey respondents sounded off on plenty of positive changes beyond remote work that they've witnessed and experienced firsthand over the past two years.
First, they’re finally seeing inclusive hiring. They note increased diversity in the creative department and in casting, and more conversations around the role of media representation of people and communities.
Conversations that once would have been confined to coffee breaks, if had with coworkers at all, are now evolving in interagency discourse, and disseminated through creative marketing. And how are these topics gaining traction?
“I've definitely seen more support groups surrounding representation, DEI, and just finding work. All (most) of these seem to come as extra-curricular projects from creatives.”
- Art Director at a big agency in Los Angeles
These supportive conversations aren’t only gaining steam around equity and within the confines of peer-to-peer dynamics. In positive workplaces, employer engagement is on the rise.
“The biggest takeaway I've noticed is an increased shift in getting employee feedback. It seems like the last two agencies I've worked for have made an increased effort in hearing from their employees what's working and what is not.”
- Senior Art Director at a big agency
The ad industry is collectively flexing its empathy muscles, and in the process breaking down the barriers to more open lines of communication. There’s increased camaraderie.
“I’ve seen a more human side to this entire industry.”
- Senior Copywriter at a big agency
Although people running agencies might feel hopeless in juggling the demands of keeping the business afloat, they're not helpless. They have creativity at their disposal. Use it. Take a step back and see what the talent you worked so hard to attract and grow really wants. You have the best creative thinkers under your roofs (even if only metaphorically at this moment). Talk to them and listen to them. They’ll help you see your way through.
We root for agencies to become idea companies and not just service businesses that do ad work for clients. There’s a path forward where agencies can create their own IP and their own companies, and recognize that their talent can create anything and dictate the future of the economy.
Just as creatives have reassessed their priorities and purpose over these past two years, there are plenty of opportunities for agencies to do the same. In a modern culture that has more screens, eyes, and possibilities for connection than ever before, what do we want our roles in this world to be?
About The Adland Survey
The “Adland Careers Now and in the Future” survey data was derived from over 800 creatives from the Working Not Working community across the globe who have worked within the advertising industry in the last two years.
About Working Not Working
Working Not Working is a curated community of the best creative talent. The company’s mission is to eliminate the obstacles between creative people and opportunity. WNW helps the most innovative brands in the world hire freelance and full-time creatives. And that’s not hyperbole. Companies like Apple, Google, Wieden+Kennedy, Netflix, TikTok, Airbnb, COLLINS, and The New York Times trust the platform. You can learn more on our website workingnotworking.com.