Is Experience the Problem in Advertising?

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

There has been talk for a while now about the creativity and talent lull that the advertising industry is in. Some suggest that the talent pool is just isn't there; the smart and creative ones are being sucked up by the financial and tech industries. Others think that the type of talent agencies and marketers are looking for simply does not exist: the all-encompassing tech-savvy web coder and copywriter is a figment of HR's imagination. More still take the opinion that it is not the advertising industry's fault, but the culture of instant gratification in the corporate world. If the advertising campaign doesn't yield measurable results now, you're done. Could there be any other reason why it is taking the advertising industry so long to innovate?

Could all the experienced ones in the advertising world be to blame?

Ageists, calm down, we're not calling for everyone in the advertising industry over the age of 50 to retire. But perhaps it might do the advertising industry a little better to teach (or re-teach) these wise ones how to reinvigorate the environment in which we all dwell.

Bill Taylor from the Harvard Business Review blog network wrote an interesting piece about how experience may actually hurt growth and innovation rather than help it. Taylor explains Cynthia Rabe's book, The Innovation Killer, and how the "paradox of expertise" could make those leaders blind to innovation. She describes in detail how the depth of knowledge in a certain environment could make it harder for leaders to turn to what-if strategies, and concentrate on what's been done before, instead of what could be done.

Then the article talked about how leaders who innovate should possess the capacity for vuja dé. Vuja dé means that leaders could look at a familiar situation like they have never seen it before. Another way to think about it is Edward de Bono's method of provocation: taking a seemingly familiar object or concept and approaching it as if you've never seen it before.

In an industry that thrives on creativity and brainstorming, we believe that our thought leaders should not have a problem being innovative. However, with minor gains in mobile and social web and few advancements in the advertising campaign model, it seems that our beliefs should be challenged. Are the experienced leaders in the advertising industry really holding us all back? It's hard to wrap our minds around this observation, for if any industry is to be forward thinking, it should be advertising.

In our time in advertising, we have seen that there is an risk-adverse culture when it comes to trying something new. In the age of "measurable results" and "time-tested activities," it does make sense that the once-sexy flavor in advertising has turned bland. It is interesting, then, that our leaders are not pioneering to change or refresh the way we do things. Why are they so content with advertising as usual, yet pine that there is no talent out there to take them further?

As young ad pros jumping into the business, what is our call to action? Easy: demand and challenge more from our leaders. It is easy to simply follow the chain of commands. Protocol and standing operating procedures are probably not the reasons you fell in love with advertising. We are folks that play with ideas, creativity, and messages for a living. If our thought and industry leaders demand innovative stretches of creativity from us, why shouldn't we demand the same?

There are pockets of people trying to figure out how this industry is going to change, but in order to change this "safe" environment Corporate America seems to love, it must be a full-fledged organized effort. We must influence these people to look at more innovative, creative ways. If we do this for a living, why is it taking us so long? We're tired of the "Cobbler's children has no shoes" nonsense. We're better than that.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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