The advertising industry, which has spent the better part of the last decade lamenting a talent shortage while simultaneously conducting rolling layoffs, is now offering some advice to those brave enough to seek entry-level positions: try social media and experiential marketing.
Agency executives, speaking to Ad Age, identified these areas as particularly suited for junior talent, though the reasoning behind such guidance was not elaborated upon in great detail. One might surmise that social media departments, which require an intuitive understanding of platforms that change their algorithms approximately every fifteen minutes, benefit from hiring people who grew up posting to them. (Whether this qualifies as a hiring strategy or an admission of defeat by anyone over thirty-five is left to the reader.)
The experiential side of the business — which encompasses events, activations and what used to be called "publicity stunts" before that term fell out of favor — has also been identified as friendly territory for those just starting out. Such work tends to require physical presence, long hours and a tolerance for logistical chaos, all qualities that young people are assumed to possess in abundance.
What remains unsaid, though not exactly hidden, is that these departments have historically been among the least prestigious within the agency hierarchy. The prestige accounts — the big brand campaigns, the Super Bowl spots, the work that wins Lions — remain populated by those who have already navigated the early years. The path from experiential assistant to executive creative director is not impossible, but neither is it a straight line.
Still, in an industry where the project-based model has increasingly replaced the comfortable certainties of the agency-of-record relationship, a foot in the door is a foot in the door.
The young people will figure out the rest.
Original story published in adage.com: "Top jobs and departments for junior advertisers - Ad Age"