While septuagenarian Clems marks an impressive milestone, industry perception is largely negative, so who today will be around for another 70 years?
Time and age are funny things. Our cover story goes back in time with Clemenger, which is celebrating 70 years in the Australian market. It’s one of the few remaining Aussie advertising family names that remain, its reputation precedes it, and it has great standing. But is that enough to make it in the modern world of marketing and advertising?
Not by a long shot, and the agency doesn’t pretend it is.
I’ve been in Australia for three years and writing about marketing and advertising for eight. It’s not long at all, a drop in the ocean really, and in the constantly evolving industry we work in, on the surface nothing seems to stay the same for any length of time. So sitting down with Peter Clemenger, who has been in advertising several decades longer than I’ve been alive, let alone covering this industry, was revealing.
The agency isn’t really going to celebrate the 70 years in a big way, but it’s a huge milestone to mark. Clemenger has helped shape, not just its own business, but the Australian advertising scene and plays a huge part in the arts community in Melbourne. That history is important. You need to know where things came from to understand the present and, to a degree, the future.
One thing Peter Clemenger told me was that back at the beginning, the agency struggled to get people to want to come into advertising. It wasn’t sexy or glamorous at all – that didn’t kick in until the 80s.
Funny then that this is one of the biggest challenges that most agencies face today – finding the right people. Fundamentally, things haven’t changed that much in seven decades.
At our recent Media Summit, Danny Bass, IPG Mediabrands’ CEO, asked for a show of hands for who in the audience thought the general perception of our industry is negative. A lot of hands went up. Not so many went up when he asked who thought it was positive.
That’s concerning – and it plays into the same point that if outside this industry we can’t make a compelling story about all the genuinely amazing, groundbreaking, innovative things that go on, about the potential to change businesses and behaviours, we won’t attract the kind of smart thinkers, innovative minds and brilliant characters that we need to ensure the future is as strong as the past.
Advertising and media are competing with startups, banks that pay far higher salaries and with digital giants like Facebook. If we can’t tackle that then no one – Clemenger or otherwise – will last another 70 years.
Check out AdNews magazine for coverage of the Media Summit and you’ll also be able to watch video highlights from each of the sessions online.