In this opinion piece, freelance creative Dustin Lane ponders whether the SS Adland is charting a smooth course or whether it is in danger of running aground on the rocks of new challenges.
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about change in the industry due to a number of factors — the advent of new AI not least among them.
That brings to mind a couple of stories (please bear with me here — there is a point. If it helps, maybe imagine me sitting on a rocking chair, wearing a cowboy hat while I peel a piece of fruit and eat the pieces straight off the knife).
Story 1: The Boat
A few years ago, my daughter took Philosophy as a subject at school. I was happy about that, as it would teach her to contemplate and consider things — essentially, to ‘think,’ rather than simply memorise and regurgitate information.
Anyway, she would sometimes share with me the content of a particular lesson or an anecdote the students had been given.
One such discussion was this:
Imagine you’re on a boat.
The boat leaves Port A, destined for Port B.
Throughout the journey, parts of the boat are replaced — a new plank of wood here, a new fitting there, a new sail and so forth.
Ultimately, we get to a stage where every single piece of that boat has been replaced. Every plank. Every fitting. Every sail.
The boat arrives at Port B.
Is the boat that arrived at Port B the same boat that departed from Port A?
It’s certainly something to consider. Now, for shits and giggles, let’s call that boat ‘The advertising industry’.
While you ponder that, let’s continue.
Story 2: The Paper
In a previous life, prior to being an advertising creative, one of the jobs I had was working for a regional newspaper. That newspaper was owned by a media company that owned around 29 other newspapers, all based in different towns spread throughout the state.
Of course, the bean counters at the parent company soon realised they could centralise their printing for all the different newspapers rather than maintain a number of costly printing presses. So, they did and all 30 mastheads were printed at one location, using one printing press.
Now, there were people who used to work on the other 29 printing presses, so the parent company sought to find them other jobs within each location.
My particular location was not the one that now did all the printing, so I got to see first-hand people who had worked on the printing press now placed in jobs working as graphic designers, laying out ads by desktop publishing on a computer. This was quite a different role than working on the printing press and, with all respect to those people, graphic design was probably not their forte.
Sure, taking a very primitive view, one might say ‘both jobs involve pushing buttons with the aim of creating a printed item,’ but beneath that, there are a myriad of differences. Knowledge or skill in things such as operating printing machinery, printing blocks, and print runs, does not translate into designing layouts, visual communication and artwork.
While the outcome is the same — a published ad — the job to get there is miles apart.
It’s kind of like someone who loves horses being approached by Henry Ford saying, “Hey, you work in transport. How about coming over to my factory and helping put car engines together?”
Why am I telling you this?
Both these stories land in the same place, — at what point does something evolve so much that it becomes something completely new?
There has been plenty written about A.I. platforms such as Midjourney and ChatGPT.
Depending on where you read it, and who it’s written or promoted by, opinions range from point A to point C, below:
A) “Everyone’s job is f*cked”
Some think A.I. will make many people’s jobs redundant.
For example, is it really that difficult to envisage a world where ChatGPT writes a script that then progresses into a later version of Midjourney to produce a finished ad, film, or TV show?
B) “This is a kick-ass tool”
Some think that A.I. will be a great ‘assistant,’ effectively looking after the more tedious chores within a project so they can get on with the bigger thinking.
C) “A.I. produces crap”
Others think that there is nothing to be worried about because the output of A.I. isn’t great (yet!).
But let me ask you this, how many clients are actually buying ‘great?’ Once reviewed by a committee and researched, greatness is easily undone. In some cases, clients don’t even care for ‘good.’ Often it just needs to be ‘good enough’. This is why there’s so much rubbish out there.
So, whichever school of thought you belong to – A, B, or C – the two stories above tell us three things:
Stand back and have a close look at how much your boat has changed. If you’re not on the boat that suits you, it might be worth jumping to a new one or, better yet, building your own.
Whether something is an evolution or a revolution comes down to your perspective.
There will always be a need to ponder and think. How that actually manifests itself or pays the bills in the future is up to you. Essentially, that’s your brief.
Oh, and speaking of briefs, if you have one, or a project you’d like me to work on with you, let’s chat: [email protected].
