What every Advertising professional ought to know

With the on-going fascination of the world (ok, some parts of the world) with Mad Men TV series, I think Advertising may regain some of it's Glamour Quotient.

But for all we know, the new-found GQ will attract a whole new breed of airheads sporting suspenders and chewing a pipe. In my opinion, the real genius in Advertising - especially in Creative - usually enters its portals by accident!

More often than not, they come with a background rich in life experience - not hours in a classroom pouring over theories and case studies. One theory rarely fits more than one brand in Advertising. That's the fun of this business: The opportunity to continuously learn and re-invent what we think we know.

Advertising this Century has not been static. It may seem that Ads were all done a particular way during a particular time period, say before the 90s. But it has actually been changing constantly. And sometimes profoundly.

I found two wonderfully informative articles on the subject by two accomplished gentlement. And I'd like to share them.

1.) How Advertising has been changing in the latter-half of this Century (please click)

This article is by Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (the trade association for interactive marketing in the U.S). He was earlier, Senior Director of Intellectual Capital at Booz Allen Hamilton.

He had spent six years at The New York Times, as the technology editor and politics editor of the Sunday magazine, the daily advertising columnist, and a media and marketing reporter. And for 10 years prior to that, he was a marketing and media columnist for Advertising Age.

His blog is a treasure trove of insights.

2.) How changes in Advertising has mirrored, and sometimes instigated, profound changes in society and its mores (please click)

This article is by Adam Curtis, a documentary film maker, whose work includes The Power of Nightmares, The Century of the Self, The Mayfair Set, Pandora's Box, The Trap and The Living Dead.

I found Curtis' documentaries - especially 'The Century of the Self' to be extremely enlightening. It has clarified and changed much of my world-view. Yes, it's that good!

Adam Curtis has a very interesting and insightful blog as well.