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COLUMN | BY CHRISTOPHER LUKACH, APR

(Too) much ado about millennials

CHRISTOPHER LUKACHIS PRESIDENT OF ANNE KLEIN COMMUNICATIONS GROUP. AKCG IS THE PHILADELPHIA OFFICE OF IPREX GLOBAL PUBLIC RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATION.

moniker if it meant shedding the expectations those four syllables seems to carry … like the expectation that all millennials are social media experts. While it is true that many millennials in the workforce have an innate fl uency with the technology, it does not necessarily mean they have the ability to apply it for business purposes. Some more seasoned practitioners tend to hand the social-media keys to the millennials as soon as they walk in the door, mistaking youth for profi ciency. Moreover, focusing on broad generational stereotypes overlooks far more meaningful realities about professionals who have entered the marketing and communications workforce in the past decade or so. Here’s one — many millennials entered the workforce at the peak of the recession. As young professionals, many of these millennials have never had the freedom or blessing to approach a communications program with the appropriate level of strategic foresight and planning. Now entering decision-maker positions at a rapid rate, how can millennials expand their planning windows and make sure what they are doing is goal-oriented and bottom-line driven? How can they un-learn and re-learn? Here’s another — millennials approach our business much differently than our predecessors, not only because of our generational traits, but also because we took different paths to get where we are. My company, Anne Klein Communications Group, recently hosted a roundtable discussion for senior PR practitioners, and I found myself one of two millennials in the room. As we went around the room introducing ourselves, everyone shared a background far more interesting than

CONTINUED ON P. 26

Recently, as I thumbed through a pamphlet advertising an upcoming industry conference, I had to pause and check what year it was. I couldn’t believe that, smack in the mid-point of the 2010s, a professional conference needed to devote multiple development sessions to the resoundingly overhyped topic of “managing millennials.” Ah, millennials. The passionate, cause-minded, experience-seeking, hard-working, impulsive, job-hopping, trophy-waving, pampered, helicoptered, gratifi cation-demanding, best/worst thing to happen to our profession, depending on whom you ask. Some revere working alongside millennials; others detest it. One thing is universal — we can’t seem to stop talking about them. I know generational assessments are meaningful. Millennials have an ever-increasing presence and signifi cant spending power. Savvy marketers need to understand the millennial mindset to do their jobs effectively. But all this chatter about managing millennials in the workforce is missing the mark. Depending on whose research you cite, some millennials are now as old as 35. Millennials are not just on their way; they have arrived and are fi rmly entrenched in the workforce. They are our clients. They are our bosses. Increasingly, they are decision makers. This concept of “the next generation of industry leaders” is outmoded thinking. That next generation is here — now. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a millennial. You won’t see me at those meetings, though; I no more let my generational identity inform my professional endeavors than I do being a Leo or being tall. And I’m not alone. Many of my millennial brethren would be just as happy to shed the

MILLENNIALS ARE NOT JUST ON THEIR

WAY; THEY HAVE ARRIVED AND ARE

FIRMLY ENTRENCHED IN THE WORKFORCE. THEY

ARE OUR CLIENTS. THEY ARE OUR BOSSES.

INCREASINGLY, THEY ARE DECISION MAKERS.

26

PHILLY AD NEWS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015

guardian angels for their partners. You’ll only achieve that level of respect if you are militant about learning. Be a vigilant hoarder of industry/client knowledge.

The most successful work that breeds long term client relationships have at their core a level of trust — trust in competence and expertise; trust that you can be nimble, fl exible and adaptable; trust that you are always learning on their behalf and with them; trust that your advice is given with a commitment to their best interest and success. Trust builds a brighter future for the long term success of any agency and service provider. Trust me.

WHY TRUST IS KEY TO YOUR FUTURECONTINUED FROM P. 14

slow death and often its remnants are “sold” at pennies on the dollar to another fi rm. The slow decline is diffi cult to reverse since momentum has a way of carrying agencies forward or backward. In the end, a successful, well-run ad agency is one led by skilled management and combines energized, talented professionals and a diversifi ed portfolio of good clients who compensate the agency fairly and for whom the agency achieves excellent results. When this equilibrium is disturbed, the agency house can tumble. Alas there are many instances when this has been the case. If you are a wise agency owner, it’s your job to ensure this never happens. Beyond the original 7 reasons, here are yet 3 more reasons why ad agencies fail (Gratefully, this will be the last Struming in this series, lest I be seen as “Debbie Downer”).

1. LACK OF MARKETINGI’m always surprised that marketing fi rms are weak marketers, but sadly this is often the case. Obviously the lack of marketing doesn’t create a fast demise, but as accounts are lost over time (and yes they all go at some point—for whatever reason) that’s when agencies get religion and want to accelerate their marketing. Alas, since professional services marketing is a marathon and not a sprint, the agency is in no position to reap the benefi ts of past efforts. Agencies which market themselves proactively over time most often succeed. Those that don’t, often fail.

2. BUY. BUY. BUY. LOTS OF ILL THOUGHT THROUGH ACQUISITIONSI’ve seen this fi rst hand. More is not better. Many agencies look at an acquisition through the happy lens thinking that 1+1=3. They look at only the supposed additional services, clients, and economies. The pro forma P&L of the combined business looks great. Then whammy. People leave, clients leave, effi ciencies are not gained and 1+1=1.5, or less. Whatever you assume you’ll be gaining should be reduced, and you’ll need time focus, and great sensitivity to work an acquisition

WHY AD AGENCIES FAILCONTINUED FROM P. 17

through. In the end, advertising is a people sensitive business. Greedy agencies often forget this.

3. TECHNOLOGY LAGGARDSThose that look at digital marketing as a grudging “capability” are sure to be left for dust in the future. Underlying their bravado of “leading edge” capabilities, many agencies are in fact very resistant to change. And there’s no time that change has impacted the industry more than the present.

installations which Philadelphia City Council recently approved will be in unique commercial corridors within the Urban Core of Philadelphia with the fi rst location being installed in 2016. The company is now in the design review phase of each location which requires Civic Design Review, Planning Board Review and Art Commission review ensuring that only the highest quality implementation is installed. Operating a network of sophisticated displays that has been undergoing such rapid growth is no small feat. Catalyst Outdoor is redefi ning Philadelphia’s Outdoor Market. Catalyst is led by Founding Partners Thaddeus, Crystal and Patrick Wolfi ngton. The most recent addition to the Catalyst team is Anthony Fuscaldo as VP of sales and marketing For full details about Catalyst’s UED project: catalystoutdoor.com/philadelphia-ueds

CATALYST OUTDOOR ADDS EXPERIMENTAL DISPLAYS TO PHILLY DMACONTINUED FROM P. 9

mine — former journalists; “recovering” lawyers; English majors and the like. It was eye-opening to see I was the only person in the room who took a straight line to my profession, studying public relations in college. By sheer nature of our industry’s evolving and expanding academic basis, most millennials will have arrived at our profession in a way much different from their predecessors. So how can we be expected to have the same worldview? More than a blending of ages, we have been experiencing and will continue to experience a blending of frameworks — the theoretical, text-book-driven framework and the experiential, “how-I-got-here” framework. Each has much to learn from the other. So, read up about millennials, even attend a conference session or two. But use this information sparingly. Avoid the stereotypes and generalizations. Don’t presume to know what makes someone tick. After all, we don’t hire a generation, we hire a person. While a group may demonstrate trends

(TOO) MUCH ADO ABOUT MILLENNIALSCONTINUED FROM P. 18

and data points, each individual is an endless series of exceptions. Want to know what motivates your millennial employees? Ask them.

the local economy. Our economic impact across the region is substantial and growing! (Thank you, former President Mary Meder, for leading the initiative that revealed our impact!) Through a strategic communications initiative, we will convey our success stories and the wealth of talent, programming, professional development and charitable initiatives represented by the Philly Ad Club. None of this would be possible without the insight and devotion of our volunteers and corporate sponsors. Thank you for all your contributions to the Philly Ad Club! Your ideas, endless energy and dedication inspire us all! We are the largest American Advertising Federation-affi liated ad club in the country with more than 85 corporate affi liates, represented by almost 2,600 members. This powerful fact is not surprising to anyone from the Greater Philadelphia region. We are Philly strong!

JILL DEARDORFF SHARES PHILLY AD CLUB’S VISION OF A STRONG FUTURE!CONTINUED FROM P. 5

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