SCABs

The swing of things – By Max Lom Bor

Max Lom-Bor

By Max Lom-Bor

 

The swing of things

Just when you think you’ve got it, you don’t. And here’s why.

There is absolutely no definitive formula to advertising. It is ever changing, it grows, waxes and wanes. It is a teenager. Uncontrollable, with the occasional tantrum. It changes it’s mind about what it wants every five minutes. It’s scared of the future and cuddles it’s mum for fear of entering the unknown. Its indecisive, seeks clarity and direction.

Every single day for the last twelve weeks a working professional in the career I aspire to be in sits me down and tells me precisely, categorically, for certain, how things work. They tell me what it means to be a creative, how to think, how to plan, approach a brief, think different, think smart, gain insights, get out there, learn from the best, study the best, so I can be the best.

(Believe me, I’m grateful for this)

However, every speaker has a very different take on it all. Because advertising is subjective. There is no ‘getting into the swing of things’. There is no answer. 

It seems that every speaker that comes into SCA is in a completely different career to the next guy. They’ve all got varying ideologies, different predictions for the future and very opposing advice. 

A large majority consider themselves failures, because they are still striving for better. 

Because, advertising is one massive teenager. 

Of course it’s not satisfied. Of course it lacks direction. Of course it is constantly yearning for affirmation.

Arguably, advertising at its core, is a psychological craft. It cannot have rules. The mind doesn’t have rules, the mind changes and adapts daily, as do consumers, as should advertising. But the mind of a teenager? That’s a much more volatile and confused creature, it will be a long time before it has a clear idea of what it is, and where it’s going.

Rules, structure and mental stability do not exist in this world, and if it does, it would require noise cancelling headphones for every other conversation. So I am gradually learning to filter information. 

I tended, at the start of this course, to preach the last opinion I heard. I took each sentence as gospel. This is wrong. No one is right. 

Imagine a board room of 1000 people telling you about how to do the same thing, chaos.

They say ‘the camel is the horse designed by committee’. Well advertising is a fuckugly camel with 400 humps and 16 legs. It can still function but it needs help.

That’s where simplicity comes in. The one things all ad creatives believe in, the best ideas are simple. But there are even thousands of variants of what constitutes simple too. Madness.

You know what’s great though? I love it. I love the confusion, it means my life will be filled with debate, and I will never be right. I’ll never decide on one meaning of anything. Because, just when you think you’ve got it, you don’t.

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