It’s raining designations in advertising

Dearth of talent and the challenge of retaining existing talent are compelling the advertising industry to offer higher designations to young, relatively inexperienced people

In the early 1980s, HTA had just three account directors in its Mumbai office, and each of them had more than eight years of experience. But that was then. Things have changed dramatically now.

Till a few years ago, a young advertising professional who started his career as a trainee copywriter would take at least 10-12 years to become a creative director. Things were the same on the business side, where a young professional would start his advertising career as an account executive and take a minimum of 10-12 years to reach the position of client services director or vice-president, client servicing.

However, today, the trainee copywriter can become a creative director and the account executive can become a client services director in just half that time or even less.

Experts observe that young professionals, irrespective of the industry they are in, are experiencing accelerated growth because of the economic growth in the country. However, the growth trajectory in the advertising industry seems to be much steeper than in the other industries.

Advertising industry stalwarts say one reason for this trend is lack of talent. In a desperate attempt to retain the existing talent, professionals are being offered out of turn promotions and roles and responsibilities that were unheard of earlier. Similarly, fancy senior designations are being offered to prospective employees to bring them on board.

Rohit Ohri, managing partner, JWT Delhi, agrees and says, “Designations are being thrown at people ahead of time. Basically, there is a shrinking of the talent pool and, at the same time, there is a shortage of funds. So, when it comes to awarding increments, agencies tend to compensate by offering higher designations and less money.”

He says, “The advertising industry is losing its servicing professionals to the clients, while creative professionals are moving to other media. This has led to a situation where the mediocre is rising to the top.”

Ohri feels that this trend is creating a vicious circle, which is not healthy for the industry. According to him, a large number of agencies are beset by the problem and, eventually, the person at the top will not have the desired expertise and experience.

Satbir Singh, chief creative officer, Euro RSCG, says, “Accelerated growth in advertising is the new reality.” Singh offers his rationale for the trend: The advertising industry is unable to offer money at par with other sectors, so it has opted for the next big thing that it can offer to its professionals – newer visiting cards. “This is why today there are group heads without groups, presidents and chairmen for North, South and West India. Plus, there are more and more verticals within the traditional agency setups to accommodate people,” he says.

Rajesh Aggarwal, executive director and head, Dentsu Marcom, is of the opinion that this trend is also a result of changing mindsets. “In previous years, individuals joined the advertising industry because of their passion for the industry, the craving to learn, and the challenge the industry offered.” But he finds that the number of people who are in love with the profession has reduced drastically over the years. This is why designation and money rule the choice. Aggarwal agrees that mediocre talent is being retained or circulated among agencies. As a result, the quality of work has gone down and even senior ad professionals are unable to deliver value.

Ohri, Singh and Aggarwal can be considered to be new age managers, but older advertising professionals, who are at the pinnacle of their careers and have spent decades in the industry, agree with them about this unhealthy trend.

Arvind Sharma, managing director, Leo Burnett India, who joined the advertising industry in 1979, says the scenario was totally different back then. “The thinking was more conservative and we believed in batches and age groups. That philosophy does not work any more,” he says.

His contemporary, the executive director and CEO of Draft-FCB-Ulka, MG Parameswaran, also blames the talent crunch for this trend. He says some agencies may be throwing money and designations to attract and retain talent, but just banking on those to attract and retain talent is like mistaking the wood for the forest.

Ambi, as Parameswaran is known in the industry, feels strongly that the better run agencies have a talent hiring and retention plan which starts with where and how you hire fresh talent, how you nurture and train them, and how you retain them. He believes people still work for people, not just for money and titles.

Some other senior industry professionals feel that the way forward for agencies is to evaluate people before hiring them. As Sandeep Vij, president, North and East, Mudra Communications, says, “Previously, there were prerequisite qualities and requirements for a position. But today, that has changed. Nowadays, it is not about the number of years in the resume, but more about who can do a particular job.”

Vij explains that there have been a number of cases at his agency when young people have been hired and given responsibility and money that was unheard of earlier. Naturally, the paucity of talent has forced agencies to work in a system in which anyone who can deliver, irrespective of age and experience, will be given the responsibility and the reward.

Vij also raises the issue of mediocre talent and says that retaining it is easier; the real challenge is to hold on to those who are really bright.

However, ask today’s young professionals who have themselves moved up the ladder quite fast, and they disagree that this is a new trend. Amber Aftab, brand associate, Rediffusion DY&R, says, “Accelerated growth is not a new trend and it is all about the power of the idea. India has moved ahead with consumerism. Now, anyone who has the potential can climb up the ladder. There is no need to spend three years or maybe more to move up. The power of ideas, backed with the relevant experience, is what matters the most for positive growth. Or else, accelerated growth by switching frequently marks the individual as well as the agency’s growth.”