The AdNews NGen Blog: It's a big pond, so learn to love swimming

4 March 2014

I love my job.  Its ups and downs, round and rounds, long days, shorts days, rainy days and sunny days. I’ve only been there five months, most suggest I’m still in the “honeymoon period”, but I beg to differ.

Like everyone, I have to start somewhere.  Throughout university I worked jobs in healthcare, retail and hospitality, along with internships in PR, events, advertising, magazines, social and digital media. Best advice so far: “you’ll learn more on the job then the classroom”.

This piece is not a regurgitation of my resume, a stab at my education or an attempt to obtain anyone’s pity. It’s simply an industry newbie’s attempt to verbalise what an incredible industry we work in and the privileged position I am in.

The way I see it, we agency folk, (whether it be media, creative, PR) are social gatekeepers.  Our job is to harness and exercise influence through an understanding of the ever-changing consumer/product relationship.  We birth and nurture ideas through briefs, creative process, late nights at the office, inter-agency misunderstandings and eventually execution.

But I, like most, don’t work across brands seen as “cool” or “hip”.  That doesn’t mean that I can’t bound into strategy sessions spitting the most outrageous, budget-splitting ideas on how to connect with my consumers - Yes, they are female GB’s 25-54 with kids, stable household incomes and good social awareness -  but toothpaste/laundry detergent/batteries can be fun to buy right?

We have leverage on social perspective; we can create connections between people, products, ideals, shopping habits and content consumption. We can make people laugh, annoy people with jingles and songs or bore people with bland, information heavy ads.

My point is, within every job, as you all know, publishers can’t always buy you lunch and Hugo doesn’t pick up the tab every Friday but it doesn’t mean every day has to be a struggle.  Like disgraced stockbroker/motivational speaker Jordan Belfort, I proudly own my equivalent “pond scum” status in my office but I see it as a foundation, the concrete on which I will build my career.

One day I may be head of strategy or editor of a publication, even founder of my own agency or a stay at home dad. In the meantime, there are Excel spreadsheets to be made, lunchtime reception covers to be endured, mistakes to be made and much to learn.

Forget phrases like “I’m alright for a Monday” and “Happy Hump Day”, even in jest because your consumers don’t and nor does the work load. Unless you’re the next Jobs or Branson, you’ve got to show up tomorrow.  

Approach every day as though it were Friday and the beer fridge is left unlocked.  Otherwise, you’ll look back in 15 years and be filled with anger and regret for the hours wasted liking pictures and sharing stupid quizzes as you sit, hunched over, hung and feeling wretched.

There is time for play but there is more time for work, find a balance that means you can enjoy Monday morning WIP just as much as you do your Saturday morning sleep-in.  Become job-loving pond scum too; you might find that you have more sunny days in a week.  

Ed Livesey
MEC
Digital Analyst

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