Warren G Harding ran for president for promising a “return to normalcy.” The word normalcy didn’t sound normal back then either. But his slogan did tap into the uncertainty and rapid change of the time.

They’d just gone through a war in which the rules had changed thanks to a technological transformation. The whole country had just been connected by a transcontinental telephone line. And mass production and a changing labor market made products radically cheaper but also caused uncertainty and resentment from workers. Sounds kinda like the world today except back then they hadn’t yet plunged into to their economic crisis.

Nowhere is the world more uncertain today than in marketing and advertising. Will we return to a sense of normalcy in this industry?

That depends on what you mean. Will the pace of change get back to a slower rate and will we get our lunch hour back? Nah.

But those that do accept that we’re now living in a state of constant change where we are 24/7 connected to our work may find a new normal.

Let’s face it. This has always been a brutal business. It chews people up and spits them out. It used to chew people up for not being creative enough, hip enough, smart enough, or connected enough. Currently it is chewing up and spitting outdated business and career plans. Plans that aren’t adaptable to change.

Don’t worry, this business will chew you, but you can survive the mauling and get a little “normalcy” back to your marketing career if you adapt to the constant change. So go ahead and skip all that denial and resentment stuff and go ahead with acceptance. And get a Twitter account while your at it, for crying out loud.

Posted on: October 20, 2009, by : Jimmy Gilmore