It is time for advertising to take a stand

Advertising is going through an identity crisis. Our way forward is to make use of the unique position of power our industry holds to influence public opinion, and to do meaningful work that stands for something.There isn’t a shortage of issues faced by the ad industry today, from eroding public trust, to brand safety concerns, viewability issues, and the imminent threat of attack from the consultancies. In a panic, we are treating every potential opportunity as the holy grail. While some of these efforts are yielding positive returns, from moving towards increasing business accountability to building capabilities in specialist areas such as data consulting and ecommerce, these are fragmented efforts that are doing little to resolve this identity crisis we find ourselves in. Each day strikes a little more fear into our collective hearts that the industry as a whole is beyond repair.To start resolving this crisis, we have to take a step back, dig deep into our roots, and re-evaluate what we stand for. Advertising has always stood at the intersection of business and creativity. This fundamental truth is what attracted me to the industry many years ago. Today, under pressure, we are in danger of skewing too far towards the business end of that spectrum.While the business aspect of our work is undeniably important (no inspiring campaign is a success without delivering bottom-line impact), the creativity is equally important, and more critically, what sets us apart. Research from BrandZ and Millward Brown has shown that valuable brands consistently outperform the markets, even during a recession. Investments in brand pay off in real dollars. It is with this mindset that Ogilvy’s Making Brands Matter was born. It is underpinned by the view that brand communications efforts today tend to focus on short-term returns driven by ROI pressures and this is happening at the cost of long-term brand building.The view that creativity is what sets agencies apart is not a radical one. But what does creativity mean in today’s context? Fundamentally, the role of art and creativity are to inspire, to get us thinking, and to influence culture. Today, humanity is experiencing a time of crisis and change, and arguably, needs such an influence more than ever. Pivotal issues that will define our future as a race are being debated heatedly. These range from the proliferation of fake news and (the lack of) gun control in the US to the ongoing wars in the Middle East and the refugee crisis in Europe.Elsewhere, global movements around women’s and LGBTQ+ rights continue to be waged as we have parallel discussions on AI and the threat of the singularity in the not-so-distant future or fret about the impending destruction of our planet due to human activity.And the amazing thing we don’t marvel at every single day is that advertising has the brilliant power to influence the culture and the thinking around these discussions, and even to start new ones. As an industry, it is time to pause and reflect on what our purpose is, what our values are, and the role that we want to play in influencing the direction that society goes in.With our clients as partners we can start conversations and push any one of many issues forward meaningfully. And the key word here is meaningfully. We must avoid tacky and insensitive depictions (cue Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner), or worse, ones that exploit real humanitarian issues simply to win awards (see "I Sea" app). Let us no longer be the industry that necessitates heart wrenching appeals such as this one.Instead, we can educate ourselves enough to have an opinion and have it show in the work we do. Ariel, an Indian detergent brand, launched a campaign that sought to break gender stereotypes in Indian society and encouraged men to do their share of housework with the #SharetheLoad campaign. Patagonia ran an ad in The New York Times on Black Friday telling readers “Don’t buy this jacket” with the intent of combating the runaway consumerism that the day encouraged and educating consumers on the environmental cost.At the same time it smartly weaved in the right reasons to buy the jacket by highlighting the environmental efforts of the company and how the jacket’s durability contributed to a reduced environmental footprint in the long run. How about simply reconsidering the boundaries of what is considered acceptable?Bodyform’s Blood Normal aims to normalise periods, a monthly fact of life for half the world’s population, yet one that nine out of 10 women attempt to hide. These are just a few of many such examples. Other notable ones include Ogilvy's bulletproof posters, Lacoste's "Save Our Species" campaign, REI stores closing on Black Friday for the third year running, the Refugee Nation flag created by Ogilvy, and the Make Love Not Scars campaign.Beyond marvelling at inspiring examples, there are concrete steps that we can take. Even if we aren’t reinventing the brand platform or launching big campaigns every day there are small ways in which to push forward. And we do not necessarily have to do more work. We can reconsider the lens through which we evaluate the success of our work whilst continuing to deliver business impact. This entails recognising that social good and commercial success are not mutually exclusive and could, in fact, be complementary. The former often influences the latter.What does this mean in practical terms? Strategists can consider powerful and relevant consumer movements for brands to tap into in an impactful way. Creatives can evaluate outputs with a critical eye, ensuring it does not propagate any stereotypes or myths, and even reinforcing "new normals". Account Management can find ways to present powerful ideas to clients in terms of business impact. Media can seek out placements and partnerships that associate the brand with the right values and messages. For advertising to survive, to regain trust, and to thrive, we need to do some soul searching. We have to start adding value – beyond our immediate clients, and to our societies as a whole.The writer is Trisha Santhanam, consultant at Ogilvy Singapore.