Academia meets Industry that is. 

I spent last Friday with a class of lovely Masters students at the University of Greenwich in London, they are all on the MA Strategic Marketing Communications course. I was asked by Phil Holden and Nick Wilde who teach the course (and are authors of Virtually Free Marketing..... and also write PleaseWalkOnTheGrass). The brief was to deliver a bit of inside industry insight, about how agencies work and an introduction to the dark arts (or should that be arse) of media planning. 

I also wrote their media planning brief for the term, asking the students to launch a fictitious cosmetics company in UK, with no budget. Should be interesting. 

I was very pleasantly surprised at their general level of understanding, in particular the daunting challenge these days of putting brands into the complicated context of media fragmentation. It was refreshing to spend time around a bunch of people excited about media (which is a bit rare these days, admit it) and also who have not been conditioned by existing agency practices. So called 'traditional' media is not a start point for them. They talk in terms of 'content' and you get a sense they really understand what it means, that's what its all about. They don't say 'content' as a euphemism for TV ads like many older people in the business do - not for them the need to hide their nervousness around the old language of advertising. For this old cynic it was invigorating to hear the way they talk about what we do for a living.  

We all know the business of communications will go through massive transformation in the coming few years (much blogged about by me and others) - but this class (and I assume many others around the world) have never worked in agencies and so don't display the cynicism we are all used to. They don't have this defeated air of resignation that pervades many an agency these days. They are full of opportunity and potential, seeing the beauty in the effective rather than the glamourous idea. They are hungry for the thrill of helping brands grow, still blissfully ignorant of the layers of processes, egos and politics that will eventually see their good intentions diluted in large agency frameworks. I urged them to set up their own companies, be guardians of their own ideas and ignore anyone who started a sentence with the words "how we usually do that here is...."

It was a good lesson - to see the future of the business. I contrast this with the mid nineties when I started at Ogilvy, we all joined these companies because we couldn't think of anything else better to do (and you got to go to the pub a fair bit). The apparent clarity with which these young people observe our business today is reassuring (if a little unnerving too).  

My main advice to them (which they probably knew already) was to believe that they could help the industry evolve, not to be overawed with the established way of doing things and not to be told what to do. Our business will thrive with their inputs. I urge any of you with traditional roles in large media and marketing companies to rub up against a few students now and then (but not like John Terry). We must all help protect and treasure their clarity of thought about our industry. 

I'll keep you updated on my work with them.