\n<\/p>\n
In recent years, we have assiduously cataloged the problems the ad industry is facing (here’s a good place to start<\/a>.)<\/span><\/span> In Then we get the obligatory parade of <\/span>clich\u00e9s He starts by planting the seed that conference organizers sometimes have unwholesome ulterior motives… <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n“a conference sponsor\u2019s agenda will often come through, whether implicitly or overtly<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span>.”<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n He follows it up one paragraph later with… <\/p>\n \n“<\/i><\/span>I recently attended a small, private conference in San Francisco, where the tone wasn\u2019t even cautiously optimistic.”<\/span><\/span><\/i> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This These are three amazing, talented, and cheerful people who made me, The Another of Stern’s cheap shots made me sick. Stern characterized one of the talks as follows… <\/span>“one industry big thinker phoned in a presentation (literally)” <\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I’m Stern owes an apology to the organizers of the conference for implying that there was some kind of sinister “sponsor’s agenda” <\/i>lurking in the background. There most certainly was not.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n He also owes an apology to the speakers mentioned above for the nasty and condescending characterizations of their excellent and inspiring talks as “not being even cautiously optimistic.”<\/i> \n“The While I will gladly stipulate that no one in digital <\/span><\/span><\/span>advertising knows what the hell they\u2019re doing, this is a grossly inaccurate characterization of my talk.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In \n“Several But, Make It’s hardly fair to lay all the troubles of the ad However, mean-spirited, self-serving commentary should remain the purview of blogweasels like me. It doesn’t reflect well on the chair of the 4As.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greg Stern is Chair of the 4As. Unfortunately for Stern, his chairmanship has coincided with the most unsettling, corrupt, and damaging era in the history of the ad industry. In recent years, we have assiduously cataloged the problems the ad industry is facing (here’s a good place to start.) Earlier this week, Stern wrote a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12023],"tags":[14239,8397,27162,14214,17676,23688,8402,2485,12883,17677,5393],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-110073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advertising","tag-ads","tag-advertising","tag-apologize","tag-branding","tag-contrarian","tag-greg","tag-marketing","tag-online","tag-stern","tag-television","tag-web"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/span><\/span>
\nEarlier
\n this week, Stern wrote a piece for Campaign<\/i><\/a> in which he tried to frame the confused and weakened state of the agency business as a hopeful jumping-off point
\nfor “positive change.” That remains to be seen.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n the course of doing so, Stern took some ill-advised and unnecessary cheap shots at people who have done nothing but radiate credit on our industry.<\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span>
\nStern’s
\n article is framed as his reaction to presentations and comments he has
\nheard recently at industry conferences. He starts out by saying that the
\n “overriding messages have spanned from hopeful to dire.” <\/span><\/i>Fair enough.<\/span> <\/span><\/i>I attend lots of conferences, too, and I hear the same baloney.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nNext
\n he gives us his “real talk” outlook: Yeah, it’s tough out there but
\nthis is no time for negativity. OK, if we were in his shoes we’d do the same.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n about “transformation,”\u00a0 “disruption,” and “collaboration.” Once
\nagain, fair enough. In his position, I’d throw a coin in the jargon
\n jukebox, too.<\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span>
\nBut
\n then things go very wrong. Instead of honestly asserting that there are reasons to be concerned about the
\ndirection of the agency business — which is shocking news to absolutely no
\n one — he looks for scapegoats.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n is patently false. I spoke at that conference. It included some of the
\nmost upbeat and inspirational speakers you could hope for. It including
\nMargaret Johnson, Chief Creative Office and Partner at Goodby, Silverstein &
\n Partners, Sarah Mehler, CEO of Left Field Labs, and Mark Figliulo, founder of
\nFIG.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nand I’m sure everyone else in the room, proud to be in the
\nad business. I don’t know what presentations Stern was watching, but the assertions that the nature of these presentations “wasn’t even cautiously optimistic” <\/i>is beyond explanation. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n conference in question is nothing short of excellent. It has been so for 10 years in which time it has displayed the type of integrity that some of our advertising “leaders” could learn from.\u00a0 The implication that it was influenced by some treacherous “sponsor’s agenda”<\/i> is, there’s no other way to say this, simply truth challenged.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n not going to abuse anyone’s privacy by naming names, but the speaker in
\n question is a very brilliant person who’s had a stellar career in
\nadvertising. He made a phenomenal presentation despite terrible hardships. He could not come to the conference because of a heartbreaking illness to one of his children. Instead he
\ndid his presentation over the phone from London. I just hope for Stern’s sake that
\nhe never has to “phone in” a presentation for a similar reason.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ***<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n
But of course, since I was on the agenda, it wasn’t all lollipops and roses. Stern says…<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n Ad Contrarian delivered his usual rant, only somewhat paraphrased as
\n‘no one in digital advertising has any idea what the hell they\u2019re
\ndoing.’\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n fact the lead organizer of the event, one of the most highly respected
\nadvertising lawyers in the industry, wrote to me after the event to
\nsay…<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n of my colleagues who dropped in….told me you were the best, most
\nentertaining, and important speaker we\u2019ve had at the firm in anyone\u2019s
\nmemory.”<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n as we all know, you can never trust a lawyer. So judge for yourself. I am posting my entire talk<\/a> here<\/a>. Read it and see if the distinguished 4As Chair’s characterization of my talk is fair.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n no mistake, I was highly highly critical of the industry and I could
\nsee how it would make Stern squirm. But if he wanted to counter my
\nargument he had a perfect platform to do so in his article in Campaign<\/i>. Instead he
\nopted for an ad hominem<\/i> cheapshot.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nindustry at Stern’s feet. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>I
\n have no idea what the chair of the 4As is supposed to do other than go
\n around mumbling platitudes about transformation, disruption and
\ncollaboration. I understand why Stern wrote what he wrote. He’s
\nin the wrong place at the wrong time and he’s had a tough go. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n