Eons ago I worked with an Art Director (when I was still a copywriter). He was in his late 40’s, while I was in my 20’s. He was getting too old to become Creative Director and he wasn’t really interested in climbing the career ladder while I was more busy climbing than creating amazing work.
His designs didn’t change the world, didn’t revolutionize anything. They were very solid, always on time, never forgot an assignment. Clients loved him, co-workers respected him. And all these traits were his big problem: We took him for granted.
He was the equivalent of a plastic water bottle.
But everybody wanted a champagne bottle.
The advertising industry undervalues dependable.
We always look for the crazy ideas, the super-innovators. I’ve worked with some of them. They had fantastic ideas but they needed the dependable co-workers to execute and deliver. While we tend to focus on the great ideas, the small jobs make up the bulk of agency work. We should take some of that spotlight away form the superstars and celebrate the dependable people.
For every amazing commercial or print ad, there are tons of B2B ads that do the same job but are never mentioned by anyone. Or SEM ads that perform better than any fancy, glossy work.
Too often, the advertising industry acts like a girl who wants to be with the dangerous guy and ends up heartbroken over and over again. When are we going to reach out and give our heart to the dependable ones?
uwehook 
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