“The difference between the forgettable and the enduring is artistry.”
— Bill Bernbach, Co-Founder of Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), 1911–1982
Creativity, that enigmatic force, is the foundation upon which the advertising business is built. It's the precious commodity that agencies offer their clients. Product benefits, unique selling propositions, brand extensions: All those factors, all those buzzwords don't mean anything to real people. But the right creative strategy can make them accessible and relevant to their lives.
In advertising, creative directors, art directors and writers are the translators. They find ways to make soda sing. They make deodorant sexy. They convince us that we'll never be our best without the right running shoe. If you think about it, these ad folks are astoundingly good at what they do. They help us make decisions, form opinions and develop habits with a level of skill and authority commonly associated with parents, priests or police officers. Let's be honest: We'd rather hear “Just do it” from Nike.
Advertising, at its best, can be artful. It can be smart, educational and responsible — a wonder to behold. People in this business are masterful problem solvers. Their ideas can be potent. (“Yes we can!”) Their work can shape culture. (“Whassup?”) It's not hard to see why some of the brightest minds in the world are attracted to this industry.
As professors of advertising, we've had the privilege of working with brilliant young people on a daily basis, and we're constantly amazed by their optimism, energy and capacity for innovation. Year after year, our students win prestigious awards, display their work in elite exhibitions and continue to re-imagine the role that advertising can play in society. Alums are working for agencies around the world. We're watching them raise the bar, armed with the conviction that great ideas are powerful and transformative.
But how do great ideas happen?
As mentors to aspiring art directors and writers, we spend a lot of time helping people understand how to develop and leverage their natural creative ability. We know that the ability to think creatively is something innate; our students have decided to channel it into a career. They come to us with an agenda: Help me figure out how my brain works and how I can use it better to do something I love. The journey will be unique for each student, because no two brains are exactly alike. Each brings a different rhythm, perspective and personality to the exercise. We offer tools and feedback. We offer advice. We talk people off the ledge in the wake of failure. We celebrate triumphs! And all along the way, we never cease to be amazed by the beauty and diversity of each individual's creative process. That's the delicious spot where we live as teachers. Yes, it's important to build a smart portfolio of work as a credential for employment. We help kids do that. But from our perspective (and inevitably one day, our students'), understanding one's own mind and how it can be most creatively productive is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
The creative process is bigger than a profession. It's transcendent. People who truly understand and embrace their creative ability live fuller, happier lives. And the fact that a lot of them work in advertising shouldn't surprise anyone. We'd argue it's one of the most enjoyable ways to spend an eighty-hour workweek.
As you might expect, we're a couple of advertising junkies. We thrive upon listening to, reading, watching, clicking, experiencing and (sorry, Mr. Whipple) squeezing it. Did you see those gorgeous watercolor illustrations in the ads for Bell Canoes? The music in the Target commercials just makes us happy. How do they keep turning dog food into poetry for Pedigree? It can be a lovefest. We can get mushy.
Of course, we're also passionate enough to get angry when we see ugly stuff (sadly, there's so much of it out there). Yes, we've written letters. We've thrown fits in class and told our students, “Don't you ever do that!”
But loving advertising, like loving anything or anyone, means believing in how good it can be and always hoping the best expectations will be fulfilled. For our part, we've always wished that the world could understand and appreciate more of the humanity that's invested in the ads they love. We know the people behind the best work that our industry has to offer (many of them personally, the rest of them spiritually), and we consider them heroes. And in a business that takes (and, let's face it, sometimes earns) a lot of criticism, perhaps it's time for a fresh perspective.
It's time to think about thinking. It's time to appreciate the development of advertising as a fascinatingly interesting intellectual pursuit. It's time to see the faces and hear the stories of men and women who could've done any number of meaningful things with their lives, but chose to do this (and to do it so well!). This book is a tribute to their professionalism, their achievements and their struggles. It's also a wonderful testimony to the unique and wonderful brain each of them uses to earn a living. It will, we hope, inspire more smart, optimistic and ambitious people to follow in their footsteps.
Most importantly, we'd like for this book to serve as documentation that creative directors, art directors and writers in advertising are some of the great artists and thinkers of our time. Considering the scope and power of their influence in our culture, that's not such a crazy idea.
— W. Glenn Griffin and Deborah Morrison