Many think of advertising people as hustlers. A few voice their opinions with wit; for example, the comedian Steven Wright said, “I saw a subliminal advertising executive, but only for a second. ”
Those of us in advertising know that the average advertising man is only as unscrupulous as the average human being.
There are many reasons for the societal image of advertising people. Though advertising, by and large, plays a valuable role in society as a source of helpful information and entertainment, most people, at one time or another, have been seared by it at the personal level, consciously through the post-purchase dissonance that they blame at advertising’s door. And subconsciously because the lifestyle much of the advertising portrays makes them dissatisfied with their circumstances.
Another reason was the glamour associated with advertising a few decades ago. Advertising no longer has that problem as it has shifted from brand custodians peopled by stars to quotidian vendors largely peopled by drones.
Beyond the general populace’s extant image of advertising people, the pertinent issue is the advertising profession’s societal responsibility. At its core, advertising is a profession with highly specialised skills as much as the practice of medicine and the law are professions. I would even include politics as a profession. The issue is that the professions of medicine, law, accounting, architecture and engineering are codified and guided by a stated or unstated set of rules; soft professions like politics, advertising and management are not. The harm done to societies worldwide by having the profession of politics open to all and governed only by the mandate of “anything goes in politics” is evident.
Management and advertising, on the other hand, are answerable to stakeholders and the rigours of the market, and even without codification, a relatively tight set of rules and guidelines has evolved.
What, then, are advertising’s societal responsibilities? Mark Twain once said in jest (I hope) that advertising is legalised lying. Anyone who has been in advertising knows that consumers and markets are brutal masters and will weed out those who think advertising works because it fools people. Advertising works because it is based on the consumer’s deeply held conscious and subconscious attitudes and beliefs and seeks to effect behaviour aligning with these beliefs.
The advertising profession’s speciality is in unearthing beliefs and attitudes and crafting arresting messages that align with these beliefs and attitudes in suggesting or reinforcing an action.
Commercial advertising does not attempt to change underlying beliefs and attitudes because doing so would require budgets far beyond the commercially viable range. Instead, it addresses an existing set of beliefs and attitudes most conducive to its commercial objectives.
Advertising, in its commercial sense, is value-agnostic. If a deeply held belief in a vital section of the audience that driving a fast car is a symbol of sexual potency, then advertising will run with it. If being woke about gender equality or secular values is a strong belief in another section, advertising will run it no matter whether it is for a detergent or jewellery brand.
Advertising plays a societal role in enabling a consumerist society, a central pillar of modern economies. It also subsidises media – mass, digital and social – and thus enables the cultural and communication milieu of societies.
However, the advertising profession can go beyond its commercial role and use its unique skills to do good to society more directly.
Advertising can do in the societal space what it is wrongly accused of doing in the commercial space. It can zero in on beliefs and attitudes that harm individuals and societies and change them with the right messaging and level of persistent exposure.
Such advertising, blandly known as Public Service Advertising (PSA), is currently reduced to a hoax category at advertising award functions. Advertising that juiced up creatives let rip on issues and causes they barely understand.
Decades ago, when advertising agencies sat at the business and marketing high tables and had a different image of themselves, the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAA of I) devoted some of their resources to creating effective PSA campaigns and persuaded the media to give them meaningful exposure. One worthy recently told me that they could not think of such activities nowadays as the agencies fight for their existence in the age of Google, Facebook, ad tech, and now, God forbid AI.
Au contraire, wouldn’t creating powerful PSA campaigns that improve societies’ dynamics be the best way to revive recognition of the high art of advertising and, thus, the prestige and influence of advertising agencies? Wouldn’t traditional and digital media wholeheartedly support such an effort because they, too, are under existential pressure?
Time was when Doordarshan was the only TV channel in the country, Kailash Surendranath and Suresh Mallik got together to create the inimitable “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” campaign – the ultimate PSA for its time.
The world is much more complex today, so PSAs must dig deeper. My decades of campaign planning experience have taught me that the more complicated the problem and the deeper you dig, you come up with a startlingly simple solution. For example, one of the critical problems facing societies today is increasing tribalism, the deep division of societies into “Us and Them” factions based on politics, religion, ethnicity, age and class. At the surface level, the reasons are complex, and tackling each cause of division individually is intractable. But dig deeper; the core cause is losing the ability to listen universally and without a filter. To do so would not just create a lowering of barriers between individuals but would make life richer and more meaningful for each individual. The advertising planners and creatives will dive deep and unearth those beliefs and attitudes that prevent listening and those latent ones that can support listening and create messaging that negates one set and reinforces the other.
The above is just one illustrative example of how deep a PSA can go.
To reassert, advertising agencies can find the high table again if they deploy their unique skills to address society’s urgent psychographic needs. Let’s think of this as a core business development strategy.