THE GATE LONDON \\ WALK THROUGH WALLS

Our CEO, Jamie Elliott, took part in a debate at The IPA's Talent and Diversity conference 2023.

He was opposing the motion "This house believes that adland is in danger of losing its mojo to young people.’

This is the argument he made .

(A reminder that this is a debating argument not an entirely personal view: although here is plenty in here he does agree with, there is also plenty that the industry needs to do better to attract and retain young talent.)

One evening after school, eating beans on toast in front of the telly in the sleepy Lancashire seaside town of my teenage years … I had a revelation:

A young man stripped to his boxer shorts in a packed launderette to Marvin Gaye’s ‘I heard it through the grapevine’ - it was an ad for Levis 501s. The shrink to fit jeans.

Ludicrously cool, it became famous, talked about … and I knew, right then, that that was the industry for me. Its mojo was clear, it was cool and glamorous – cool people, images, films, brands.

Despite being desperately uncool, that’s the industry that I joined in 1998. And, it looks nothing like the industry we’re debating now. Massive technological change has seen to that. What was simple is now complex and in constant flux:

- A telly in every sitting room has become a 4G phone in every hand;

- 6 analogue channels has become 100s of digital ones;

- Output that was static, broadcast is now dynamic, immersive and ever more personalised

What used to be creative, media, PR and direct agencies, is now also comms planning, performance, social, influencer, deep digital and tech companies, purpose agencies, digital transformation shops, shopper, CX and UX specialists and studios for this, that and the other.

Where the industry was one thing. It now contains multitudes … and attracts them too, contrary to the motion.

Despite uncompetitive pay and sporadic recruitment drives, this industry has never attracted more young people. Fact.

What was once the preserve of English Lit and Art School grads, now houses a diverse gang of mathematicians, data and computer scientists, tech geeks, folk with marketing or advertising degrees, designers skilled in all sorts of media as well as the liberal and fine artists.

This expanding industry has never appealed to more young people. Fact. And, why won’t that change … why is there no danger of it losing its mojo to young people?

Well, one evening after work last week, eating beans on toast with – this is 20 years of progress, a dash of tabasco sauce - I had a revelation (seemz beanz meanz revelationz).

Two things about this industry – it struck me - endure through all the change and drive its timeless appeal.

The first is the magical, wonderful space it occupies at the intersection of culture and commerce.

This magical space constantly morphs, reflecting the culture of the day and its interplay with the ever-changing commercial entities that want to be a part of it – what was the concept of cool - film, image and music - for one generation becomes Tik Tok influenced video, AR, tackling societies taboos and finding purpose for another.

The intersection of culture and commerce will always be a place of thrilling variety and involvement in the big conversations of the time.

The second enduring quality is that this is unequivocally a young person’s industry. Though it has nearly doubled in size in the past 15 years, it has remained steadfastly young in profile, consistently just 6% are - like me - over 50 and a whopping 40% are under 30.

This means that what young people want is what this industry becomes, much more quickly than in other industries. And, as long as young people, the dominant force within this industry, keep driving change in line with their generation’s values and as long as it keeps its place at the intersection of culture and commerce, there is no danger of this industry losing that appeal; that all important mojo.