I was a bit disheartened when I saw the following headline in Advertising Age yesterday: “Marketers rate below politicians, bankers on respectably scale. Only 35% of marketing practitioners responding to Adobe study deemed their profession valuable.”
Now that’s a bit sobering. A career that I have dedicated the majority of my living years to is considered useless not only by the general public but apparently a good chunk of the people sitting down the hall from me.
In fairness, I think the headline is a bit misleading when you look at the way the survey question was asked: “Which profession provides the most value to society?” Is it any wonder that more people chose “Teacher” than “Advertising/Marketing?” Regardless, haven’t we all at one point in our career admitted that what we do doesn’t save lives?
So why do I do what I do?
As sometimes happens when you find yourself pondering life’s greatest questions a sign appears that captures your attention simply because it comes at exactly the right time. For me, that sign came in the form of a post on MediaPost today entitled: “TED: Story Key To ‘Ads Worth Spreading’” They link to a document that summarizes the TED initiative.
Take a read and then tell me you still question what you do for a living. Sure, most of us aren’t saving lives (although some of the examples contained in the article do in fact save lives.) But we do have the opportunity to create work that entertains people. Work that makes people laugh…or cry. Or get inspired to go out and do something positive for the planet.
Maybe I’m short-selling myself but that’s enough for me.
Northampton Consulting 