The global trend of moving from agencies to tech companies is starting to be felt for the first time in this region. Why? And what can agencies do to stop it, asks Seyoan Vela
It has been said that what keeps Sir Martin Sorrell awake at night is the old Ogilvy adage that his ‘assets go up and down the elevator every day’. Now I am not sure if that is completely true. I am sure having shareholders revolting over your record salary and working with the French are just some of the other issues that are keeping Sir Martin counting sheep. But, it is true that his assets are going down the elevator every night. And not all of them are coming back up it the next morning. WPP is not the only one facing this issue. The advertising industry globally is haemorrhaging top-tier talent.
Has it not always been this way I hear you say. Well no. It has not.
Of course, for years people moved between agencies. The odd few account handlers or planners decided to become clients. The odd few creatives decided to direct. And the odd few decided to open a cake shop or live on an ashram.
The difference now is that the digital revolution has introduced a new threat. Bob Jeffrey, non-executive chairman of JWT, told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year that “the competition has stepped up and is growing. Not just other agencies like Crispin Porter and BBDO but now it is also Facebook, Google, Vice, Make Studios and other content players”.
When a valued employee threatens to leave an agency, usually a counter offer is made. Which for all the fluffy talk, in this region means more money. But as Jessie J concluded: “It’s not about the money, money, money.” Jeffrey is brutally to the point when he says “there is just this pop-culture cachet that some of these new players can offer, which is attractive to people in their 20s and 30s”.
When researching this article, I found myself in the awkward position of having to ask people: “So exactly why did you leave your job in advertising for a role at a globally-recognised brand that doubles your salary, gives you stock options, guaranteed bonuses, less hours, more respect among friends and family, world travel and free lunches?” However, surprisingly it turns out these reasons are only half the story. They are undoubtedly pull factors that very few industries or companies can compete with. But the push factors out of advertising were also overwhelmingly cited. There was an inherent dissatisfaction with the industry as a place for career growth. Holly Day (yes, that is her real name), one of London’s top recruiters identified “the decline in the quality of the creative work and its place in popular culture, over-pitching and the inequality in pay between top and bottom as reasons why the industry is struggling globally to attract and retain top talent”.
The first comment about the work is a continual theme. Deutsch interviewed over 1,500 ad people for their Cannes talk ‘Ending the Agency Talent Rotisserie’. And one of the startling conclusions was that advertising was not such a creative place anymore. When respondents were asked to name creative companies, Apple was deemed number one. Google came second. Not one ad agency made the list.
This global trend for moving from agencies to tech companies is now starting to be felt for the first time in this region. Alex Brunori left Publicis to become head of agencies for MENA at Google; Y&R Dubai lost Safiyyah Abu-Hulayel to Apple, where she is now the creative director; JWT Dubai’s head of digital, Tony Massih, also joined Apple; and Sameh George (the creative who with his partner Youssef Gadallah was behind the grand prix-winning Vodafone Fakka campaign at JWT) is now the creative strategist at Facebook for MENA. These are all huge talents that have left an industry that, frankly unlike some other regions, was not bursting with talent to begin with. More than that, these are all huge talents who seem unlikely to return.
George is brutally honest when he says has “been surprised by all the positives of Facebook for it was originally push not pull factors that sought him to seek a change”. Some of the interesting points he makes are about the lack of humanity in the ad industry. “Facebook is a massive company but encourages you to be an individual. Agencies are full of hierarchy that limit your creative freedom,” he says. At Facebook, meanwhile: “I craft this job the way I see it right. I own it and am judged on impact.” Whereas in advertising, he tellingly says: “There are the same expectations of all creative people.” He feels creatives in agencies in the region are judged mainly on awards. “But the award shows were one of my worst nightmares. It made me feel fake.” Whereas the criteria at Facebook to judge performance is simply asking the employee the question: ‘How much time do you get to do the things you love to do?’
Is there anything agencies can do about this trend? Regardless of external factors and remuneration, there is a feeling agencies can still do much more to retain talent. Time and again the same suggestions are mentioned. A better work/life balance. A clearer career path. More personal responsibility. Less time spent on scam work and pointless pitches. More credit. More innovation and encouraging of personal projects. And finally, buy better equipment.
Now only time will tell if agencies have the appetite for change – changes that will bring them more in line with the culture of tech and media companies. But, as Jack Welch famously said: “If the change outside your business is faster than the change inside your business then you are only heading for extinction.”