This Thursday, I attended Andy Nathan’s Lessons Learned from an Advertising Journeyman. Walking into the auditorium that night, I expected to sit there completely disinterested throughout the entire presentation. Being a magazine journalism major, a lecture on advertising seemed like a painful way to spend my evening. However, looking past the inital introduction and typcial ‘here’s how to be succesful in my business,’ I learned there is much more to the industry than I originally thought. It goes beyond ‘here is our product and we want you to buy it.’ It is almost an art form, a new outlet for entertainment. At one point in the presentation, Nathan actually stated “If you’re not entertaining people, you haven’t done your job.” This statement is what finally reeled me into the lecture, what made me lean forward in my seat, rather than sit back in a daze as I had previously planned.
Throughout the presentation, Nathan showed a variety of advertisements he has worked on over the years. Every single one of them captured my attention, entertained me. They were all campaigns that were known nationwide, videos that had gone viral; an advertisers greatest success as he put it. But the reason these advertisments were such a success were because they were so outrageously different. People seem to strive of that which is eccentric and unique. Advertising is an industry in which you have to break the mold, defy the rules, test the limits, etc. in order to survive.
Overall, I was generally surprised by the presentation. While I don’t plan on switching my major to advertising, I have a newfound repsect for those entering the field. You truly have to be a creative and distinct indivudual to take on this ‘world.’ It is more than just selling a product; it is selling a product without the consumer knowing they just bought it, it is creating new phenomenons, it is entertaining a population whose interests are constantly changing. And lastly it is always being an advertiser, even when you are giving a presentation to room full of college students, selling your industry as well as the compnay you currently work for.
