I don't want to be a salesman.
I want to be an artist. I know it's not easy, but it's what I want.
If I can't be an artist, at least I want to be helpful. I want to change things.
I've seen the damage that crass consumerism can do. I don't want to be a peddler. I am nobler than that.
You know what I mean, right? You agree, right?
Well, here's the thing. If you're in advertising, you're a salesman. It doesn't matter what you think you are or what you want to be. You're a salesman. I don't like it either.
One of the problems advertising has always faced is that there are a lot of people in the business who don't want to be salespeople.
They have a vested interested -- a personal, self-image interest -- in not thinking of themselves as salespeople. And today they have more opportunity than ever to act on this illusion.
They have convinced themselves, and many others in the marketing industry, that selling is not the purpose of advertising.
They go to conferences and write books and make presentations that tell us that the nature of consumer behavior has changed. That selling is no longer our raison d'etre. That the purpose of advertising is to co-create, or to have conversations, or to build relationships or communities.
They don't want to make ads. Ads are too graceless, too direct, and too transparently commercial. Everyone knows the motives behind ads.
They'd rather do their work behind an opaque curtain. They'd rather create content and pretend they're not making advertising. You see, they're being helpful.
They'd rather make believe that what they're doing is a form of social intercourse. It makes them feel better. They're not here to sell you something. They just want to have a conversation and build a relationship.
I'm afraid not.
They can cling to their timid, anemic illusions all they want but in the end they will be judged on how good they are at selling.
Sorry, amigo, that's business.
