It’s so. Damn. True.
It is something I have consistently called-out, and it really strikes a nerve if you work on any NGO/ cause projects.
The shaming of our industry’s process when it comes to ‘cause-related’ work is well-deserved. Thankfully, there are also many in the business committed to truly disrupting the model and changing things.
There is a big difference between Doing and Looking like you’re Doing. It’s something we must be highly critical of, because there are extremely important issues at stake.
Does most of this work achieve anything? Help solve real-world problems?
Business (and socially-beneficial/ sustainable capitalism) can affect the world in ways that are positive, beneficial to both profit and society (and environment) – or at the very least – neutral. But how we do that, and how we communicate it, requires transparency and real commitment. So, first…
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As an industry, we have to look in the mirror.
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When we look at so many agency’s client rosters…we should ask…how many ‘awareness’ campaigns do we really need to raise 'awareness’ of the same issues we may also help cause or enable?
Think about this: All of the clever 'World Wild Life Fund’ awareness ads made for award shows?
I’ve seen about 1,900 of them, I think. I’ve never donated one damn dollar to the World Wildlife Fund. I’ve supported other causes, yes…but shouldn’t I have been persuaded by award-winning ads, if they’re really made to have an effect?
They’re clever. They’re powerful visuals. But they’re not solutions. And that goes with so much ‘award winning’ cause-related work.
People are already very well AWARE of the issues plaguing this world.
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What’s needed is utility, facility, inspiration - much more difficult to create and to implement.
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For example…there are good odds that, on many agency roster, there are brands that directly or indirectly benefit from destruction of indonesian rainforests for palm oil plantations.
Odds are are also good that almost all of us, as consumers, purchase many of those products.
So any inch gained from running a single ad in some newspaper, that wins a ‘gold whatever’..is erased by the 30 acres that will burn overnight.
Your work essentially does nothing then, but benefit yourself. In fact, it is even worse, because it creates the appearance that something is being done.
ie; “Greenwashing” (and “Goodwashing.”)
In 50 years, at the current rate of development, there will be no virgin rainforests left on earth. None. Zero. Zilch. Nil. Nada. 0.
“Cancer awareness…?”
Guess where so many of the most promising cancer drugs have been found, and are quickly disappearing? Rainforests. Meanwhile, we get more varieties of “new and improved 30x the cleansing power microbread bodywashes” thanks to all that palm oil.
”Ocean awareness…?“
All those microbeads? They’re plastic. And they’ve been allowed to wash down the drain for years because they were labelled as ‘ethelyne’ on the ingredients list, and few people realized – or cared – what it was.
Now they are disrupting the endocrine systems of sea life, affecting entire ecosystems all the way up to predators. Brands plan to ‘phase’ microbeads out now that there’s so much outside pressure. But it’s still an issue. In so many ways, the ocean is now suffering 'irrevocable damage’, according to every scientist studying it.
“Air pollution awareness…?”
That haze wafting over your city from Indonesia is about 2 or 3 links down the chain from some of the very same multinationals that absolve themselves of responsibility but who use the cheap palm oil – with brands that your agency probably make (real) ads for.
The list goes on and on…and it’s all interconnected.
It’s not all your fault. If you’re in the business and not running your own agency or are not the CEO or CMO – it’s the process and the entire system we’ve all been handed. You’re simply building your career, just like everyone else, in every industry. It’s the game, and so people play it.
Most of the fault for pushing this is on the leadership. Some markets really work the game in a “scam ad”-fueled award practice. That’s so well-known that it’s not even a question – and it often does much more harm than good. The agencies attract fecund talent by offering the salaries but also the opportunity to stroke the ego with awards. So it’s like a little carrot dangling in front, to get them churning.
But the real, major business problems? Most are not even close to as creative and that’s the real loss and shame. People can change that system - they can call it out. They can make coordinated efforts and refuse to play the game and to instead create real solutions.
When the talent pool refuses to play – and the rest of the industry (as is happening in much of America now) – moves on, the structure will then have to change.
It’s in the best interest of every agency and client because you can bet there are plenty of other peripheral clients and industries already eating their lunch because a) they don’t give a shit about awards or any other arbitrary and subjective schemes, and b) they provide actual utility and solutions. Every middle, of every industry, is always disrupted by a more efficient outsider and that middle disintegrates – along with those in the middle.
We can change this game, even if only in our small role.
We need to change it.
Maybe you don’t have the power, in your role, to change actual businesses themselves. Often, that is not the charge of an advertising agency if it doesn’t provide solutions over simply 'ads’.
But advertising IS the persuasion business. So that’s why we should write an invisible brief – HOW do we not only make our clients more successful, and even ourselves more successful…but try to change the world for the better in the process?
Impossible? No, but maybe we just need to "Make it Epic” (as the deliverables in any brief would probably say). Because it would be epic – if we could actually have some real positive effect.
We’re all tied to this system.
We all benefit from the economic system that marketing promotes in this world. Every one of us – if you’re reading this on a computer – you also play a role. So no one is laying blame. But while it’s the only model we have known for growth, we also now know it is completely unsustainable.
The Friedman Doctrine is dead. Many industries are quickly realizing this; so we all have responsibility to adjust the sails. To not act on it, will bring down this system in the end. So that’s an investment in our own best interest.
The persuasive and systemic change and the effects that we could create upstream, internally, in what we do every day, in how tackle any problem – could be profoundly more constructive and beneficial than any pro-bono award show campaign.
That should be recognized and awarded. Creative recognition can be a great motivator and we shouldn’t deny that. The act of creating and sharing would never happen if we had nothing to say or to prove. Business is competitive because money is also a great motivator.
Some creative awards could continue help the business - if they’re revamped. But their value only comes down to the integrity of the judges and awareness, and tied to actual solutions. Otherwise, if awards hold any influence whatsoever, it’s all just based on parlor tricks (toeing close to the line of actual fraud in some cases). Worse though - it drains the money and energy that could be aimed at these issues.
So rather than lament and be cynical about the industry’s 'need for approval’ or 'fame’ or our 'petty jealousy’ or 'greed’ – let’s embrace it – yes, embrace it. But with a key twist…to harness the energies that drive us at the most basic level.
Let’s try giving a shit first. Let’s attempt, at least, to address and solve real problems first on both the agency and client side.
Then, maybe a self-serving pat on the back won’t be so hollow and there wouldn’t be a (much needed) article like this to make us cringe.
This is what we need to do:
1. Actually care about the cause.
(You know…care, as a real human being…should be a given.)
Because then, you might make a real difference in those causes. You should be awarded for that. It’s not…“seem to care.” If we’re profiting – even if only in professional recognition – off of a cause…then damn, we’d better be committed to helping that cause.
Otherwise, I can’t really convince people on the need to have a soul. That’s above my own pay grade.
2. Create real, lasting cultural change, platforms, effective tools.
If creative industry awards are to have any relevance whatsoever, all the 'Good’ categories should be heavily scrutinized (just as all 'innovation’ awards should be stress-tested + verified). Only real, constructive solutions-based work should be recognized.
If people are driven by recognition, let’s not deny that – let’s harness this energy to make a real difference – not stroke our own egos and only fill our pockets.
It’s good business to do so. Because creativity is worthless without effectiveness (real effect, not ‘case study’-dramatized effect).
Also - I am not is saying anyone should bring their own personal agendas to the table. But we should align what we do with one hand directly with the other hand.
Transparency, after all, is the future in this business, and having our purpose aligned with what we create is much more beneficial for all.
There are also plenty of companies filled with people who do not want to simply exploit or destroy for the sake of profit.
But the only way for the them to change things – to really have an effect – is to DO more than we’re saying. (After all, that’s the constant refrain isn’t it?).
DO things that make a difference…while also doing whatever it is we already do in the capacity we’re in. And only recognize the inspiring solutions that DO help change things, even if incrementally.
That starts by looking at ourselves, honestly, as an industry – and that means saying exactly what it is…how it is…and why it needs to change.
That is the ultimate awareness campaign.
It starts with doing.
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(Pro Bono work is great. But also, seriously).
