Pot Noodles, Placements and Peer Regard: Creative Career Trajectories and Communities of Practice in the British Advertising Industry

Abstract

The increasingly unpredictable, individualized and short-term nature of the labour market is evident in the careers of advertising creatives. We explore the career trajectories of 48 creative professionals in the British advertising industry, using theories of situated learning and communities of practice to illustrate how the collective remains important to individuals' career prospects. Creatives learn their craft by becoming immersed in the multiple, inter-related communities that constitute the advertising world during the demanding 'pre-peripheral' and 'peripheral' stages of their career. Learning through immersion continues throughout the journey from the periphery to the centre, since creatives participate in a competitive, tight-knit creative community, actively engaged in social networking and constantly monitoring each others' creative output. Creatives' legitimacy (and power) is earned by winning peer regard for their work. The nature of the learning required changes as each stage of the creative trajectory brings different motivations and pressures, but the processes of learning, the mutual shaping of individual and community, and the identity work involved are evident throughout creative career trajectories.

Gender inequalities in the City of London advertising industry

“…Advertising-agency work is heavily dependent on this network sociality (McLeod et al 2011, Wittel, 2001, enacted in corporate, client-based and social spaces including bars, parties, launches and event awards where self-public relations, sociality and self-marketing holds particular prominence. The rhythms and spaces of such networks extend beyond the confines of the 9-5 regime and may pose particularly difficulties for workers with domestic caring responsibilities.…”

Is there gender bias when creative directors judge advertising? Name cue effect in ad evaluation

“…Secondly, replication of this study at a senior level would help to generalize findings, although at senior levels networking plays a key role (McLeod et al 2011). Finally, researching the presence of young women in junior awards and the reasons for job preferences among advertising students would help the industry to ascertain whether creative female talent is lost at universities, as previous research claims , and what should be done to keep it.…”

“…A portfolio is essential for young advertising students to access creative careers (McLeod et al 2011). Gender bias was evaluated through the factor of authorship (female, male and unknown gender).…”

“…A new element is the use of creative practitioners as evaluators of ads, as done in previous literature related to advertising creativity evaluation (Koslow et al 2003, Sasser & Koslow 2008. Having the opinions of authentic creatives is very important, since young newcomers applying for entry levels positions in creative departments, are judged by their creative portfolio (Slayden et al 1998;McLeod 2011) and not by university grades, selling experience or recommendation letters, as is the case within other departments and industries.…”

Empirical Evidence Illuminating Gendered Regimes in UK Higher Education: Developing a New Conceptual Framework

“…Table 2 details the title, content, approach and participation used for each of the three institution-based seminars as well as the final dissemination event held at the conclusion to the study. Interviews were guided by life history approaches, which sought to elicit accounts of working lives, career histories and future plans [29,48,[64][65][66] and included a discussion of both career barriers and success stories. Transcripts from all seminar events and individual interviews were analysed through immersion in the data involving close reading and re-readings, resulting in the emergence of several related themes.…”