All you wanted to know about advertising, but were afraid to ask. Part 2
Now that you know that about which we talked last time, you might as well know about this. This is the AGENCY LIFE. The life that has so many people hooked on to a constant vegetable like status.
But before you do go away, I might as well say that the vegetables like freeze is just what we creatives put on to escape deadlines, dead meat and the wrath of our boss. We actually lead a pretty wild life, (albeit underground) and there is no greater ecstasy than living the life of an agency hand.
Before I scandalise you with all the dirty details a little primer on the structure of the agency.
Most self-respecting agencies have two major departments and a few general and lieutenant general departments.
The two Big Brass departments are (Fan Fare folks and drums beating)
The Creatives are the people (me, inclusive) who actually create (as the name implies) the ad or the commercial you see. And the radio spot you hear and the posters you stare at.
That is to say, the creatives are the people who think of something worthwhile to tell you about the product under discussion and if there actually is something to be said, go about saying it in a way you might, just possibly might, understand. (In case you are wondering what happens when theres nothing to be said, the Creatives create an absolutely plausible, but totally non-existent feature of the product. For example, contrary to popular imagination, chocolates are not, repeat, not sweet. Years of mass hypnosis by ads have lead unsuspecting public to buy chocolates thinking they are sweet.)
The creatives are further divided into two main categories. The Art guys (GOD) and the Copy guys (menial labour). As the name implies, the art guys are those who decide how an ad will look, what images it needs to carry. These are the people who design the ads, workout the layout of the ad and choose fonts and type faces to use.
The copywriters were once upon a time, the brains behind the ads. These (I am a copy guy) people think of a concept to base the ads on, work out what needs to be said, what words to use. And when this phase is done, they sit and write the ads or the scripts for the TV commercials and let the art guys to take over.
But in many agencies, this distinction between the art and copy departments is rather thin.
The other, rather brainless department is the Client Servicing. These people are also called Account Executives and more often, the idiots. These people are the ones who go out, market the agency to other companies and bring us creatives some unnecessary work, set deadlines and expect it to be followed.
Other flotsam and jetsam in the agency are the research department, the media buying department and the admin departments. More about them, later.
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May 28th, 2004 at 2:59 am
so.. u wanted comments..eh??
May 28th, 2004 at 4:00 am
Chakra, yes. Valid ones. [In my book, the one you have left is valid too ;o)]