September Meeting Recap

ABOUT OUR LAST MEETING:
SURVIVING THE ADVERTISING APOCALYPSE

How can we survive when the four horsemen of the ad apocalypse are decapitating our jobs, laying waste to our option plans, and savaging our resources? Jack Feuer, Adweek National News Editor, pulled no punches in describing our job market when he addressed the September meeting of the APALA: they cut the fat. Then they cut the bone. Then they cut the flesh. Then they amputated limbs and they’re not growing back

Feuer defined four macro issues that are decimating our industry: the economy, consolidation, technology, and consumer branding. The first of these four horsemen is the economy. Feuer quoted U.S. Labor Board statistics that advertising agency job loss was 12% from 2000-2002. He predicted that the economy will never return to normal as we’ve defined normal in the past. It's time to accept reality, he said. We need to rethink what we do and how.

Consolidation is the second cause of job loss defined by Feuer. He pointed out that four global communication companies now control 80% of all the marketing dollars spent on the planet. A dozen media agencies now collect the income that went to individual advertising firms in the past. Creative agencies fall by the wayside as they focus on making the numbers for the quarterly stockholders report. These economies of scale mean fewer jobs.
Technology is, in Feuer's opinion, the most devious and skinniest and most powerful of the four housemen. It makes possible one-on-one, efficient, targeted marketing. With the dark humor that permeated his presentation, Feuer predicted that soon, Commercial viruses would be inserted into our bodies!
Consumer branding what we used to call product placement's the fourth apocalyptic change defined by Feuer: Branded entertainment is inevitable. He who controls branding is he who survives.

Feuer left APALA members with four strategies for living through the ad apocalypse. First, Be elemental. Life is about the basics: relationships, honor, integrity, hard work and initiative. Second, Embrace boutiques. You can survive in the creative cracks. Clients are starving for ideas they can't find in the four mega-conglomerates. Third, Don't make any sudden moves, neither from job-to-job nor within your company. Finally, Feuer suggested that we Go Zen. Wring enjoyment out of every second of life. The trip is the meaning.
The Program Committee would like to thank Ron Caldwell of Sandy Alexander for organizing the September meeting and arranging for Feuer to be our guest speaker.

--Dayla McDonald