How advertising ignores its past… and why it shouldn't

This article argues that the advertising industry needs a more balanced respect for the past to make sense of the present, rather than mythologising advertising heritage.

How advertising ignores its past… and why it shouldn't

Paul Feldwick

This article examines the stories that advertising people tell about the industry as a way of explaining and justifying the current period of upheaval. But the stories are only partial and we need a more balanced respect for the past to make sense of the present.

Advertising is apparently in a period of rapid and radical change. Yet I believe that the advertising industry can only deal with this volatile future intelligently if it also pays proper attention to its past, and this is what traditionally it does not...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands