I think therefore I advertise

My gosh, 2022 was brutal! I thought 2018 was a stinker, then 2019 came around and started klapping boets around like it was in a Fourways nightclub at 2am. We thought that was bad. No, 2020 asked 2019 to hold its beer and gave the entire world a 2-year wakeup call that has forever changed the way we live, work, play and plan for the future. Looking back on 2022, I can’t help wondering whether 2023 is going to realise that we’re all pretty damn spent…

Important canaries in the coal mine

South Africans are pretty good at dealing with change (just look at what we’ve absorbed into our collective consciousness over the last 10 years) but we’ve always made a plan and hustled, no matter the circumstances. In the midst of all of this, advertising agencies are one of the important canaries in the coal mine of any economy.

As consumer confidence and disposable income have shrunk, people have simply stopped spending. CEOs, desperate to make the quarterly profits, look around in their organisations and cut the variable costs — marketing is at the top of that pile. Agency CEOs get the call the very next day. Twenty more agency people jump onto the new-business hamster wheel to close the gap and everyone in the industry starts shouting “we need to do more with less”.

It. Is. Relentless.

And 2023 will not be any different, unless our economy gets a massive boost of confidence, investment and jobs?[don’t forget electricity — but load shedding deserves an entire discussion on its own]?where the average South African can start paying down their debt obligations and start opening their purses at the till point again. I was discussing this very point with someone the other day, lamenting how relentless and stressful everything has been and the response was, “But what’s your purpose?”

“Yarrrra, boet, hold my beer; things are about to get heavy.”

I know brands and people have fixated on articulating some version of a purpose, which is great. Purpose isn’t wrong and, if you’ve defined yours, you’re definitely winning at life. Keep going. I’m just not sure it’s a useful question to be asking all the time in a work environment; after all,?Joseph Campbell?was quoted as saying, “If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s.”

I mean, if I had to ask you, “What is the true purpose of your life?”, you and some of the 6.5bn people who exist on this very planet today would look at me in a highly perplexed way and say, “I actually have no bloody idea, but I did once spend two weeks thinking about which jeans to buy.” And that’s OK; it’s a pursuit that has perplexed humanity for as long as we’ve been around. “Why am I here? What am I here to do? How will I know when I have done it?” Every religion, every great civilization, every philosopher has wrestled with it.

Purpose vs perspective

While we’re working it all out, perhaps it would be more useful at the end of this particularly trying year to focus less on the heaviness of purpose and more on the lightness of perspective.

I love this?definition of perspective: “a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view”. Perspective is a powerful tool, because it may be applied by anyone on earth. You don’t need a degree; you don’t need to be able to write; you don’t need to be deeply enlightened.

So, without this turning into a?#ImStaying?extravaganza or a motivational speaker’s view on changing your perspective with all the “get into nature/eat healthy/exercise/have more fun/focus on yourself/the power is within you” mantras, I thought I would outline three points of view as we head off into the holidays for a period of rest and reflection.

1. It’s ok to be frustrated

Being a brilliant suit is tough. You’re always in-between immovable forces. You’re always on. You deal with problems every single second. You have to make it happen. You never get enough thanks. So, it’s natural to get frustrated or angry or feel, “FML, is this it?”

Here’s the perspective: You’re an indispensable cog in making an agency truly brilliant. The way you think, the way you solve, the way you “join the dots”, the way you sell, the way you build relationships are what makes an agency.

A truism of any agency is that we don’t get paid for having ideas; we get paid for making them. That’s where the magic happens. Never forget your magic.

2.?????Throw away the magnifying glass

Playing with a magnifying glass as a kid, you always got to see everything in exquisite macro detail. It was fascinating: everything became so big and bright and high definition. It’s no doubt been the same for you at work: everything has seemed bigger than it is. Especially deadlines! Your lens has been so close to the subject that you’ve forgotten this isn’t the real world.

Here’s the perspective: Step back from it all and you will see you’ve achieved far more than you ever could have imagined. You’ve created tangible things of intangible value. These beautiful and fragile things are called brands. And you’ve helped build some big, bright and truly-high definition ones. They will live on long after anything that kept you awake at 3am. Be proud.

3.?????Take the time

For something that’s been precisely the same for billions of years, time is the one thing that can seem impossibly long or impossibly short depending on your perspective in an agency. It sometimes feels as if we’re living in dog years (and, er, working like ones… who’s a good boy, then?). The pace is relentless in the rush to get it out on time, to make it better, faster and cheaper.

Here’s the perspective: Time is the most-powerful tool to actually create perspective. So, take the time to think back to all you’ve achieved with all the amazing people you work with. Cement those happy times deep into your memory banks because, when all’s said and done, those memories will be what you actually remember and laugh about the most in your career. So have a laugh. You deserve it.

PS I’ll see you at Fourways at 12 o’clock sharp on 31 December for a quick game of Boet Fighter. I’ll be the one wrestling 2023 into a nice, tight, submissive headlock – unless we have loadshedding, then I will just be at home having a braai.

The last few years have klapped us all – hard. In 2023, it’s ok to not be ok. But it is important to always remember your magic and no matter what is thrown at us, bringing that magic out will be your – and you client’s – saving grace. It may seem like you’ve been lost in the blur of lockdowns and shut downs, but take a step back and look. I’ll bet you’ve achieved more than you even realised.

2023 may feel daunting – I’m nervous as hell. But take some time to get perspective on the past and the future. Focus less on the heaviness of finding some purpose in it all and more on the lightness of perspective. You’ll be surprised at the new energy this will unleash.

Jason Harrison is M&C Group South Africa’s?Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer.?

If you had to ask him what he believes makes for a great Suit, he’ll probably tell you it’s a combination of bit of logic, a whole lot of magic, and someone who can find clarity even in the most complicated briefs. With more than 20 years of experience suiting on some of the biggest and most well-known clients both locally and internationally, Jason knows what it takes to create client partnerships that endure not just the good times, but those times when that job is just not going to plan. The Suit is Jason’s years of experiences distilled into bite-sized pieces of magical logic from which any veteran or intern suit can take the career – and life – lessons needed to become the ultimate Suit.