There is a different balance between work and life today. When I first started in this industry we lived and breathed our jobs, easily going out twice a week with the media. It was work hard, play hard and not much of a life in-between but it was always fun.
Watching the new generation of graduates, their balance is work, life and extracurricular ‘work’ comes last. The number of times I have said to new entrants ‘you need to go to as many functions as you can to get to know people’. The level of interest is minimal until around the 12 month mark when they start to realise just how important relationships are.
With all the pay debates lately, we know we aren’t going to be millionaires, however what this industry does have is perks unlike most jobs. The parties we have the opportunity to attend - others would give their left arm for an invite ... and it’s ‘work’ for us. Entertaining is generally not possible without strong relationships which in turn leads to invites to the more fun events.
It’s not quite Mad Men anymore, however this TV programme has led to an influx of people studying advertising for the glamour the industry offers.
The more mature colleagues in our office have told me many stories about ‘the good old days’ where contracts were signed on coasters in pubs, Grange was drunk at lunch and multiple overseas trips were enjoyed. Relationships were key and everyone knew one another well ... sometimes a bit too well. They worked hard and played even harder.
So the question is, is there still fun in advertising?
The main reasons there is less fun in advertising may be:
1.Fringe benefit tax killed media entertaining budgets
2.People don’t have as much time to be out of the office anymore
3.Graduates are not building strong relationships early and are therefore invited to less functions, left feeling as though the perks don’t exist
4.Work/life priorities have changed
Sitting at lunch last week, each person left the table at least twice to take important calls or checked emails throughout the meal to action those Friday emergencies we all know well. This is what it has come to. With clients expecting more value for their money and resources stretched (post GFC) this is the new form of entertaining – the Blackberry lunch.
Even though there is still plenty of media entertainment in the industry today, it will never return to the ‘good old days’ as glamourised by shows such as Mad Men and other Hollywood films. Workloads, responsibilities and tighter deadlines mean less time out of the office to ‘network’. More work, less play.
Bonita Ebertsohn
OMD Brisbane