VIEWPOINT: The ad industry is a great place to be; now let's tell everyone else

<p>Many of these highly desirable people are not even bothering to </p><p>make the detour into the advertising industry at all. What we are seeing </p><p>is that many young people are simply going straight into the new media </p><p>arena, making it increasingly difficult for the ad industry to recruit </p><p>fresh, raw talent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It may be a whole new millennium, but some things never change. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The issue of how to find and retain skilled, talented staff has been </p><p>discussed to death over at least the last two decades, but has any </p><p>progress been made? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It seems not, going by some of the concerns raised by regional agency </p><p>chiefs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Worse, where in the past the primary worries centred around poaching of </p><p>existing staff by rival agencies, the advertising industry is now facing </p><p>a new threat: that of the Internet and the booming dotcom companies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As MEDIA has reported over the last couple of months, the influx of </p><p>these dotcom organisations into Asia has seen a steady stream of highly </p><p>skilled, talented people leave the ad industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Whether lured by the idea of a new challenge, or by the large sums of </p><p>money being thrown around by the dotcoms, the fact of the matter is that </p><p>the talent pool, already critically shallow in the twilight years of the </p><p>last millennium, has shrunk even further. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now it looks as if many of these highly desirable people are not even </p><p>bothering to make the detour into the advertising industry at all. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Once upon a time, advertising was perhaps the only option for those who </p><p>wished to exercise their creativity in a business environment. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now, dotcoms and the Internet offer the same opportunity, spiced up with </p><p>the excitement of the new and the promise of huge rewards - God and the </p><p>dotcom stock boom willing, of course. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What we are seeing is that many young people are simply going straight </p><p>into the new media arena, making it increasingly difficult for the ad </p><p>industry to recruit fresh, raw talent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This will inevitably mean that poaching is likely to become more </p><p>intense, as agencies fight to find and obtain the best among a </p><p>diminishing supply of talent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For those who choose to remain in advertising, this is good news. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Demand will exceed supply, which will drive prices - read, salaries - </p><p>up. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But for the industry at large, the signs are not good. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Struggling as it is to recover from the hammering taken over the last </p><p>two years, with the recession still lingering, the ad business faces a </p><p>crunch. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And with mergers along the lines of the AOL-Time Warner deal taking </p><p>place, the pressure will intensify. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Let's not kid ourselves: this problem is not going to go away. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But what we should be doing is finding real, lasting solutions - </p><p>training is one thing, but that only works if you can get your hands on </p><p>people worth that investment. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And the better trained and skilled your staff are, the bigger the risk </p><p>of poaching. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Perhaps what the ad industry needs to do now is to reinvent itself - </p><p>convince people it is still the sexiest, most glamorous and exciting </p><p>business to be in. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>