It is no secret to anyone that the industry is going through great changes; It is common to hear in the different interviews that are made to agency presidents and creative directors, stories of talented millennials who decide to fulfill their dreams, dreams that move away from the rain of luminaries and recognition and involve traveling the world or living in the beach. Perhaps this facet is just a generational change that, as always, is difficult to assimilate. But at PVS we wanted to address this issue and speak directly with those involved, so today we bring you a conversation between a digital native and an ATL native. Our community interviewed the strategic director, Francisco “Pacho” Serrano, join us and read what conclusions emerged from this dialogue.
Tell me a little about the moment you entered the world of advertising.
In 1989 (mocking calculations welcome) he was already seduced by the glamor of the big agencies. I started my studies at the Tadeo and at the same time I gave myself to work as a «training» (or pig) in teaching agencies of the U.
I glued final arts with rubber, cut out newspapers and magazines for competition studies, corrected spelling of directories and catalogs, organized slide carousels for campaign presentations and typed in linotypes the texts for final arts of printed pieces (more than one will have to enter Google to find out what the heck is or was a linotype)
Nothing compares with that addiction to understand what such “creatives” did, when I half understood it I tried my luck sending a “Due Sheet” to the three most important agencies at the time, they called me at 3 but McCann made me the first real job offer, there I began to write advertising messages and write this story.
Between that boy who entered advertising at that time and a boy who enters advertising today, what differences do you see?
The landscape is very different, technology did its homework. Comparing the tools makes me feel old, but comparing the ability to be unhappy with the first ideas makes me feel stripped down.
I (humbly) consider that having so much information at hand, so easily and quickly, clouds the new generation of the ability to investigate, know and explore with greater passion.
I think that sometimes too much responsibility is delegated to computing devices and platforms, too much form with little background, a lot of clicks and little pencil, a lot of trend tracking and little ability to generate new ones … to close the idea, and without fear of sounding redundant, It bothers me how easy it seems to take the easy way out.
But there is an admirable difference: they are generous, very much, to the point that they never tire of teaching pseudo-analog dinosaurs like me how the world is moving.
How do you see the agencies today, in this change of the digital age?
Taking the step. I insist a lot that the tools are amazing, the possibilities of segmenting audiences are increasingly precise, the habits of information consumption are fluctuating but almost predictable, which allows us to generate new methods to minimize the gap between brands and consumers.
Immersion in digital is essential for the evolution of agencies, but what is really vital is understanding its usefulness to do what we have always done: seduce and persuade.
The town criers did not disappear with the arrival of the press, nor the press with the radio, nor the radio with the cinema, nor the cinema with the television, so no medium will be extinct due to the arrival of the internet, social networks or applications .
The magic will continue to be in the strategy, in the creativity, in sending the right message, to the right person, at the right time and through the right medium … and the digital age brings with it new of these media.
How do you personally experience the changes of this new era?
The new era brings me closer to what I want and what I want. I respect her, I accept that I am dependent on her, however, there is nothing I enjoy more than those moments of rebellion in which I experience the enormous power of seduction with a handwritten message.
Oh God … that question is a mirror where I discover new wrinkles. But hey, let’s say that even though I’m going faster now, I worry more than yesterday about keeping the good lyrics.
AUGUST 4, 2017