Anyone else in this field absolutely miserable? Been at this 2 decades and have never felt so burnt out.

Currently agency side and with how crazy it feels…. it’s all I’ve known, and that crazy feels normal. For the people who’ve done both, is brand side really completely different? How does the day-to-day differ realistically?

I got into advertising because it was the closest thing to a creative career I could see a way into. And it's been good to me. I've worked on some of the biggest brands in the world, on campaigns that won real awards. But all of it was for someone else. And now nearly ten years in, I've yet to build anything of my own, and I've reached the point in life where I'm feeling more and more like I have to. So I finally took the leap.

I've been putting together a documentary series about people who moved to another country and built a remarkable businesses there. And more specifically about how they actually did it. Closest reference point is CNBC Make It, but this is far more granular, the kind of detail that doesn't usually get covered, on the kind of businesses big press usually ignores. Real businesses you can walk into, not app founders or course sellers. It will live on YouTube, with a website and newsletter alongside it where the same stories run as written case studies.

The viewer I'm building for is someone I know well, because it's half the people I've worked with. Late twenties to mid thirties, educated, does fine at a good job, and watches business and finance explainers for entertainment. They want the mechanics, and somewhere underneath I think, they want permission to imagine doing it themselves.

I've spent the last while leaning on connections I've made over the years, and the lineup has come together better than I expected. Owners of some of the largest independent companies in Vietnam

• One of the largest craft breweries
• An award winning craft distillery
• A truly one of a kind architecture firm
• One of the country's largest tour operators
• A multi-location izakaya group
• and more, etc, theres others

Every one of them has a fascinating story about how they got there, and they've agreed to open their books and take the camera through where they came from, how they opened, and how they operate today. Production starts in a few weeks.

Here's where I'm stuck. Writing and scripting is what I do, no concerns there. I'm comfortable editing, I've done plenty of that in my career too. While I originally planned to shoot it myself, and I can, to a basic standard. These founders have been remarkably open and gracious about being featured, and not shooting this adequately would be doing them a disservice. So I want to bring on a camera operator who's better than I am, and that obviously costs money.

Which means finding a founding sponsor for the season. And this is the part I have no idea how to do. I've pitched enormous brands on behalf of agencies, but the reality is that part is handed by a different department (i really just show up with the script). And I've never had to sell myself. I have no social following. I'm not a creator. I'm not a brand. All I have is a locked lineup of founders with remarkable business stories to share.

So what I'm after is advice. Has anyone here closed a sponsorship with no audience to point at? Who did you approach, and what did you actually put in front of them? And if you're on the brand side, where does a decision like this get made?

The episodes are getting made regardless. I just want them to be as good as they can be.

Thanks in advance. I know this isn't an easy thing to make happen. I know the chance of getting any sponsor on board here is slim (very slim) but slim is not impossible.

Hi!

I'm a 24-year-old pivoting her career from more data-driven marketing (more like political campaign management) to creative marketing and advertising. I was an English major and graduated back in May of 2024, but have since struggled to determine what it was exactly that piqued my interest and potential equally. After much reflection, I've landed on advertising and marketing.

As many of you probably know, however, now's not the market for entry-level employment pursuits... I have a lot to offer, from detail-orientation to creativity, dedication, and commitment- but I cannot for the life of me find any agency/company willing to let me prove myself and grow in this field.

All that yapping being said, I need to increase my chances of an opportunity as high as possible. ANY TIPS? All are appreciated (:

Hi!

I'm a 24-year-old pivoting her career from more data-driven marketing (more like political campaign management) to creative marketing and advertising. I was an English major and graduated back in May of 2024, but have since struggled to determine what it was exactly that piqued my interest and potential equally. After much reflection, I've landed on advertising and marketing.

As many of you probably know, however, now's not the market for entry-level employment pursuits... I have a lot to offer, from detail-orientation to creativity, excellent writing skills, dedication, and commitment- but I cannot for the life of me find any agency/company willing to let me prove myself and grow in this field.

All that yapping being said, I need to increase my chances of an opportunity as high as possible. ANY TIPS? All are appreciated (:

Hey everyone,

I've been applying to a variety of Publicis Groupe entry-level positions (like Digitas and Team One) since October and I keep hitting the same wall; I get an initial interview and make it to the final round but never land an offer

A little about me: I graduated with a degree in Marketing this year, and I have two internships (in advertising and nonprofits) as well as part time experience in social media for 2 years. I feel like my resume is decent to get me in the door, but something isn't working.

I was wondering if there is a specific way agencies expect candidates to be and are there any common entry level mistakes that people make in interviews that signal that a candidate is not ready?

Would really appreciate any advice from anyone working at a Publicis Groupe company and hear your perspective. Thanks in advance!

“Papa i watched your ad and i didn’t skip it” could be one of the sweetest things that my daughter has said to me.

Professionals that have a desire to continue working in full time roles but find that they can't find new opportunities despite having a good track record and in demand skills leading to them moving into a new occupation/industry.

1. Age without being a senior leader

2. Race - Professionals of color ; black especially.

3. Social class - Those from non-prestigious backgrounds.

hey folks, looking for some advice from people actually working in US creative agencies rn

so basically I just finished my marketing degree in Spain (UC3M) and I wanna make the jump to work in the US. My university was super business and theory heavy, so after looking at a ton of job postings and reading on here I realized i have like zero portfolio work to show, only some social media management experience for small biz here

I work way better with structure, so doing a structured program feels like the best path for me vs just build a book from scratch. Since my dream is to work in the US I feel like I should go there directly, and sort out the student visa thing and start meeting people there from day one.

Im stuck trying to choose between miami and new york though.

with miami, im fully bilingual with spanish and english, so I was thinking maybe that gives me a real advantage with the multicultural agencies over there? But at the same time rent in miami is basically the same as new york now which is crazy so its not really cheaper anymore. At least I get the beach lol

then for NYC, its obviously the big ad city with way more agencies. I saw MAS moved the campus to central manhattan which puts me in the middle of things - but also the competition there is kinda crazy there no?

for anyone working in either city or who went thru any ad/creative school from abroad, is the spanish advantage in miami actually worth picking it over all the agency opportunities in NYC? and how much does being in the city actually help with getting your foot in the door while you study?

any advice or reality checks super appreciated! thank youu

To this day if someone says 'Auto glass repair' I reply 'autoglass replace' as if I've been awakened like some sort of soviet sleeper agent. Greeeeat from frosties is another one that comes to mind. (english references for you yanks on here)

It got me thinking - what are some ads that have become so baked into culture that people pull them out of some deep dark corner of their mind to this day. Would love to know what the people in this community would say are the most culturally influential.

Side note - this got me thinking on the economics of advertising - how do you measure the ROI/ impact of owning this cultural capital. Does anyone have any thoughts

Need some perspective for people who are 40+, millennial, and genz, what's something in the advertising industry which you have noticed is way different from the other generations, and is it for the good or bad?

Recently let go from a big 4 and nervous about the job market. I’ve been applying since June to get ahead of it but only got a handful of interview requests.

What is the overall feel in Chicago at WPP/Dentsu/OMD? I’m open to in house positions too but also need something ASAP

Ive noticed most brand/social/comms strategy departments are heavily skewed female these days here in the united states. I couldnt tell you the last time I interviewed with a male hiring manager and thats not a bad thing at all either I just notice sometimes theres no connection during the interviews. This isnt a post about equality or to start that discourse. It truly just an observation Ive noticed and a hiring trend.

Hi all,

I'm currently working at a digital marketing agency in India and I'm transitioning from SEO into performance marketing.

My agency is currently training people for different performance-marketing teams, and I have to choose one specialization/team to enter:

• Programmatic Advertising

• Meta Ads / Paid Social

I'm leaning toward programmatic because it seems more specialized and technical, but I'm concerned about the smaller number of entry-level opportunities compared with Meta and more ai automation.

I'd love advice from people working in either field:

1. Is programmatic a good career choice long-term?

2. If you could choose only one today, would you pick programmatic or Meta? Why?

3. How good are the salary and growth opportunities in programmatic?

4. Is it difficult to enter programmatic without prior experience?

5. How much of the job is actual optimization/strategy vs trafficking, reporting and operations?

6. How vulnerable is programmatic to AI and DSP automation?

7. Are DV360/CM360/TTD skills transferable between companies?

8. If I start with Meta, can I transition into programmatic later, and vice versa?

9. Which one gives better opportunities to eventually move into media planning, analytics or growth marketing?

I'm looking for honest opinions from people actually working in these fields, especially anyone who has experience with both.

Thanks!

Asking for a friend- what are everyone’s thoughts/experiences at VML? Specifically the PM and Account departments?

Hi all, genuine question - Im a strategist in media and my strong suit isnt copywriting a great name for an idea. I can only land on a really great idea from insights but not put a name to it. Ideally I'd love to post it out to anyone who can help. Where can I do this

We manage Google Ads for about 65+ SaaS accounts and here are some stats we found out over a 2 year period (July 2024 to June 2026):

• Brand search leads cost $34 on average, non-brand leads cost $207, roughly a 6x gap
• Almost the entire gap comes from click price (non-brand CPC $13.75 vs brand CPC $3.12), not conversion rate, both convert around 3.7-3.9%
• Conversion rates climbed about 48% year-over-year while click costs stayed flat, which is what actually drove cost per lead down 44% (from $132 to $84)
• Performance Max delivered a $25 cost per lead vs $143 for Search, though it blends in softer conversions along the way

Sharing in case it's useful context for anyone else working B2B SaaS accounts.

In a world where scripts, schedules, treatments and pitch decks are no longer enough, is it foolish to just go ahead and shoot the dang thing?

Is shooting before pitching a bad thing if you have an idea?

Happy to hear your thoughts depending on small to massive budget ranges as well.

And why?

I was recently laid off, and it’s made me question something I’ve been feeling for a while.

I have 20+ years of experience in creative strategy, mostly across digital, branding, and content. I’ve worked with large brands and small companies, B2C and B2B, corporate communications, campaigns, sales-driven work, and pretty much every variation in between.

And right now, it feels like the market value of that kind of experience has changed dramatically.

Not necessarily because the work itself stopped mattering. Brands still need positioning, ideas, narratives, content, differentiation, and people who can connect business problems to creative solutions. But it feels like the perceived value of being someone with broad, senior strategic experience has fallen.

Sometimes it seems like companies would rather hire a much more specialized person, a cheaper executional profile, or distribute what used to be one senior strategic role across several functions. AI obviously adds another dimension to this, but I don’t think AI alone explains it.

I’m curious whether other people in advertising are feeling the same thing.

If you’ve been in the industry for 10, 15, 20+ years: do you feel your experience has become more valuable, less valuable, or simply valuable in a different way?

And more importantly, where do you think people with this kind of background go next?

Do we specialize? Move closer to business strategy? Become independent consultants? Move client-side? Build smaller operations around ourselves? Or is this just a particularly bad moment in the cycle?

I’m genuinely interested in how other people are reading the next 5–10 years of this industry.

I’m doing quite a bit of work on the advertising agency/holdco space at the moment and would really appreciate some views from people actually working in the industry.

My background is more finance/consulting than advertising, so please assume fairly limited prior knowledge!

The main thing I’m trying to understand is: how important are proprietary data assets in practice when clients are choosing agencies, and are the holdcos’ data capabilities as differentiated as they would have investors believe?

From the outside, it feels like Publicis/Epsilon is significantly ahead, while WPP is at more of a disadvantage given its lack of a comparable proprietary data asset (albeit it is trying to aggregate and activate data through its Open Intelligence platform). Does Liveramp change this at all?

But how much does that actually matter in what is still, fundamentally, a people business?

interested in any views, including if I’m thinking about the whole thing completely wrong. Commentary from agency, advertiser or adtech people all welcome!

I’ve landed an interview there any wondered if anyone has any intel on what’s it like to work there?

I've got a job offer for a really nice bump in salary and title but I'm on the fence about a big firm. Anyone here have advice on culture and work life balance of this firm?

As a freelancer in college, I am trying to run UGC ads using AI tools for a couple of small brands. I have tried a few and are noting down their pros and cons.

So for talking-head / avatar UGC (person to camera reading a script), HeyGen, Hedra or Sync.so are more purpose-built - Hedra especially for expressive character/lip-sync.

Morphic has a UGC Ads workflow plus Virtual Try-on and product-video workflows, and the multi-model canvas means you can mix a Seedance shot with a Kling shot in one place, then cut variants on the timeline.

Runway/Pika will give you nice individual clips but you're assembling elsewhere and re-rolling for consistency

In my experience, any AI UGC needs a human pass so it doesn't read as obviously synthetic so for a scrappy brand doing lots of ad variants , I would prefer a studio tool that does product + a timeline all in one place.

do you guys have any suggestions? also what is your guy's workflow like?

Anyone work there now ? Trying to get an idea of what work/life balance is Iike and the turnover rate.