Ok, here’s the first of a few book reviews this week. MadScam by George Parker. You know him, you love him, you can’t drop an F-bomb without him. (He writes both AdScam and AdHurl.) Since I already wrote up a long review at Amazon, I’ll spare you a complete rehash. Check out there if you’re so inclined though.After reading it, the main thing I took away from Madscam is that it feels very much like a business book written for creatives. Now I realize it’s meant for clients and small brands, but all creatives, especially those in school now and new to the job market should read it.
In school or out, we creatives spend most of our time hunting cool, from bands to obscure magazines so that we can use it in our work somehow. But among all those Mt. Dew-sponsored all-niters, taking a business class was the last thing on the brain. And that’s too bad because it’s not enough to focus on how cool you can make stuff if it doesn’t dovetail with the client’s needs. Because this is the business we’ve chosen. Business, ad bitches. The mere mention of the word though is kryptonite for some of us.
How many times have creatives, (especially juniors), gone off on the client because they wouldn’t know cool if it bit them in the ass. Maybe. But try walking a little in the client’s shoes and understand what it is they have to think about all day. Madscam helps you do that.
Things like manufacturing schedules, category competition, lagging sales, a boss breathing down their neck looking for results next quarter, etc. Understand what it is brand people have to do and it really will help how you approach problem solving in the long run.
Now, hopefully, the bloody fucking sequel will have more fucking cursewords and inside stories about BDAs.
Tags: advertising, MadScam, brands, George Parker
3 comments:
Hi,
This look like a good book - I hope I can lay my hands on it here in the UAE.
One the better books that included client personality tyoes - yes, in a funny way - was "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This".
I like the title of this book youhave reviewed - want to know why you say it is specially for new recruits - does it have basic stuff that one picks up anyway in a coupple of years - or is it about starting out on the right foot?
farrukh
Copywriter, journalist, advertising blogger
Curses, MTLB, you beat me to one of the points I was going to cover in my own impending review on this book, but it's nice to know two creative types had the same reaction. (Fortunately, I have some other positive reactions to draw on.) I surely do wish creatives knew enough to walk in the client's shoes a bit, and while most of the blame for failing to do so has to fall on the agency side, there are clients so muddled and bureaucratic, they're not even sure they're wearing shoes unless they have backup documentation. Generally, though -- what a joy to read a book confident enough in its message to salute common sense in plain English.
farrukh - while it does offer tips/ideas on crafting good copy and layout, the one thing it does that often takes years to discover is how companies and brands run their business.
Nobody really teaches creatives that side of the business. We learn everything else, but usually end up learning the business side only after being it in for a long time.
This just gives you a good head start.
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