Adland_ Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet - James P. Othmer [133]
During my time on the road I spoke with hundreds of people at dozens of agencies. Creatives. Planners. Account execs. Digital wizards. CEOs. Consultants. I sat at conference tables, looked at reels, and stared into speakerphones as people pitched and bitched, getting excited and frustrated by ideas in real time. “Embedded” is a word I’d taken to using to impress people, if only because it made me feel Anderson Cooper–ish.
I was fascinated by what they do and, more important, why they did it. Why do any of us do what we do, and is it a job, a profession, or a vocation?
Is it a calling, or a finding?
At first, when I tried to wrap my head around the entire advertising industry, it made my brain hurt. The mere thought of the myriad possible futures for digital advertising or media tended to make me curl up in the fetal position in a dark, brand-free room. I felt under-qualified, inadequate, analog. But when I approached the business one conversation at a time, one campaign or agency visit at a time, it made me feel somewhat better, if only because I came to realize that most of us don’t have it all figured out yet—the industry or our vocation—either.
Is this book comprehensive? Hardly. It is simply an attempt to better understand something that has been such a large part of my life, and our culture, for so long.
One impression at a time.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to everyone in adland who gave me their time, insights, guidance, and support, including Ann Hayden, Ernie Schenck, and Roy Elvolve; to David Granger and Ryan D’Agostino at Esquire; to Jacob Lewis and Jeff Garigliano at Condé Nast Portfolio; to Mark Stein at Portfolio.com; to Elisabeth Eaves and Hana Alberts at Forbes.com; to all of my former creative partners, especially Kenny Evans, Jeff Griffith, Aaron Smith, Corey Rakowski, and Kleber Menezes; to Joey Spallina at Tone Farmer; to Ben Goldhirsh and Zach Miller at Reason Pictures; to the Williams brothers, Tom and Dave; to Sylvie Rabineau at Rabineau Wachter and Sanford; to Bill Thomas, John Pitts, Alison Rich, and Melissa Ann Danaczko at Doubleday; to David Gernert, Erika Storella, Courtney Gatewood, Stephanie Cabot, Will Roberts, and everyone at the Gernert Company.
The events in this book are real. In some instances certain individuals have been given fictitious names and identifying characteristics.
Copyright © 2009 by James Othmer
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.doubleday.com
Doubleday and the DD colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Othmer, James P.
Adland : searching for the meaning of life on a branded planet / by
James P. Othmer
p. cm.
1. Advertising. 2. Internet advertising. 3. Advertising agencies. I. Title.
HF5823.O83 2009
659.1092—dc22
[B]
2008046605
eISBN: 978-0-385-53213-6
v3.0