The more things change, the more they stay the same...

There was a time when the world of advertising used to be a big place.?

Big Personalities.

Big Talent.

Big Egos.?

Big Excitement.

Big Budgets.?

Big Campaigns.?

Big Accounts.?

Big Pitches.?

Big Bullshit.

Big Lunches.?

The problem was results.?

They never seemed to have the same sort of bigness as everything else. They were very often big-free zones.

Lots of the time they had a medium kinda feel to them. And sometimes, they had a damned unimpressively small feel to them.?

This led to clients having a decidedly frustrated feel to them. Which, in turn, led to marketing budgets having an alarmingly reduced feel to them. This led to something agencies hadn't experienced in a while.?

Big Change.?

They changed the way they thought. Changed the way they worked. Changed their expectations. Their priorities. Even their language.?

And one of the words that barged its way into their new language was Digital.?

It was accompanied by two more words that promptly kicked seven kinds of shit out of anything that even remotely resembled creativity with no damned proof to back it up.

Big Data.?

Some creatives experienced palpitations and thought seriously about jumping ship.?

A few unfortunate ones with iffy bladder control thought about something else. Very quickly.

But the majority secretly smiled.?

This was a Big Opportunity, they thought.?

This was the road to Big Results, they thought.

This was the chance to show the world that Big Advertising wasn't dead. It had just been resting.?

All it needed was a swift digital kick up the arse.

There's a French saying that goes like this:?

Plus ?a change, plus c'est la même chose.?

You might have heard of it.

Loosely translated, it means: The more things change, the more they stay the same.?

Very loosely translated into advertising lingo, it means: You can change what you do...you can change how you do it...you can change what you say...and how you say it...but a big idea will still be a big idea. So bugger off.

On June 23rd 1911, in West Horsley, England, a bouncing baby boy was born. His father's name was John. His mother's name was Dorothy.?

At some point between then and July 21st, 1999, he wrote this:?

"Unless your campaign has a Big Idea, it will pass like a ship in the night."

His name was David Mackenzie Ogilvy.??

You might have heard of him...

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Above is an excerpt from my book Ad Hoc.?

All my books are available separately and unblocked from those nice people at Amazon…right here

Ad Interruptus (NEW):?https://amzn.to/3AmkfjQ

Ad Infinitum:?https://amzn.to/3pof7Uq

Ad Lib: https://amzn.to/2kd4LKf.

Ad Hoc:?https://amzn.to/2Nx8GL8

Love & Coffee:?https://amzn.to/28IWaHq

Heaven Help Us:?https://amzn.to/2nkQ1Jk

Or…you can pop along to brycemain.co.uk and have a sneaky peek at them all together in the one place.

See you there…