Last week, a few of us from MediaCom went to the NABs fund-raiser at the plush home of The Royal Institute of British Architects, a fitting environment for the advertising and Conservative grandee, Lord Saatchi. In his talk he set out to answer his own question: “What should we believe in the advertising industry?” I went along hoping he would renew my faith but, more practically, equip me with a few choice but robust words I could use as a default response to occasional critical questions I receive from my more advertising-sceptical friends.

He started by pointing out that “Priests believe in God. Bankers believe in money. Journalists believe in scoops”. He regaled the audience with a bravura performance, full of Saatchi chutzpah, peppered with high-minded quotes from Churchill to Marx, followed by high-minded talk of the mix of art and commerce. And what was his message to rally the troops – what should we – advertising people – really believe in? A moment of bathos ensued. Unlike, priests, bankers, and journalists, we get 3 things to believe in, they are…..drum roll….

1. BELIEF

2. SIMPLICITY

3. LANGUAGE

Let’s just consider those briefly one by one: 1. “BELIEF” seemed momentarily lofty-minded, maybe inspiring….but really just hollow – isn’t it a tautology, and a rather empty one at that? Moving onto SIMPLICITY, this did sound initially more promising but hardly galvanizing or true (clutter, pop-ups, line extensions?) and actually, in this context, contradictory: wouldn’t an industry that believed in simplicity only have one guiding belief? And finally, LANGUAGE. In today’s visual age it seems an outdated notion. So, although Saatchi made a terrific impact on the evening itself, but he delivered very little substance – perhaps a fitting conclusion for a famous ad man.

Do we have anything better to offer the industry about what we should believe in, especially those entering the industry in 2010? What do we mean by advertising anyway – as in what should “advertising people” believe in? Would somebody from a media / digital perspective believe in something different? Answers on a postcard…