As I get older, I understandably have a different perspective on the wisdom of age than I did when I was younger. I will honestly admit I looked at folk my age (71) as dinosaurs when I began my marketing career. There was a strong youth bias to the marketing industry, then and now, some understandable but often misplaced. In my advertising career which began in NY in 1976, there were no people in their 70s in management roles at ad agencies other than a person whose title was Chairman, or more likely Chairman Emeritus. Virtually every product was positioned against an 18-49 demo (there was no drug advertising back then) and even those in their 50s were viewed as old-timers in the ad business. Boomers (born between 1946-1964), the largest demographic segment, were in their 20s & 30s. Average life expectancy in the US was 72 back in the mid-70s and now it’s 79, and some of those same Boomers are the ones are now approaching 80.
I am proud of what I accomplished in my ad career in New York as a rising account manager in the 80s and later in Philadelphia, where I was the head of two of the market’s largest ad agencies in the 90s. But I chose to exit the industry in 1999 at the ripe old age of 46. I was thrilled back then that I was making the right decision. My “second half” has been different but still a variation of the “first half” as I launched the Strum Consulting Group marketing consultancy in the fall of 1999, a business that I still run 25 years later. But there are significant differences in the ad business and the consulting business. In the ad business, my clients were largely senior marketing directors. The clients had the same age bias as I had and also the same self-inflated opinion of the importance of marketing. There has always been a dollop of bravado and superficiality in the marketing business. But that’s actually decreased over time (for the better) as accountability is now critical. But the reality is that marketing is not an end but merely a means to business success. The metrics of marketing which were based on measuring the effectiveness of marketing in my youth are now geared to what really matters—revenue and profit.
In terms of my business style as an ad agency head in the 90s, I needed to lead with likeability, collaboration, and compromise with our clients. That’s what “ad guys” did. My business style in my consulting career leads with unvarnished truth, candor and yet a far deeper commitment to the success of my clients, on a business and personal basis. My consulting clients are business owners, not marketing directors. Owners have business issues, not marketing issues. And my skills have evolved over time as well. While I am current on new technology and its impact on marketing (and I am fascinated by AI and believe the marketing world will be rocked by AI and is already showed fissures) my role with my clients has been more business consultation and coaching than ever. My buddy and fellow 5 MOUNTAIN® Advisor & Coach, Dave Griffith, calls this “scar tissue” in his latest post from his long-running blog, Muddy Boots.
Which brings me back to the importance of experience. My current age (71), which my younger self believed would make me a dinosaur, now allows me to see situations with far greater clarity. And I provide solutions which experience helps deliver. Experience provides the basis of truly helping business at a level from beyond a sharp marketing program. Often business issues are one of adapting to a changing business landscape. Or the issues might be helping a business organize itself better for success. Another tier of issues that I find fascinating are family business issues. These are thorny, fraught with family dynamics, and are potentially combustible if not managed forthrightly. And every business has needs and every business needs an end plan whether that end is evolution to a next generation, outright sale to outsiders or to the current employees or management team.
No, 70 is not the new anything. It’s 70. There are many miles on my business tires (but lots of mental tread left too). Age is the basis of experience and lots of scar tissue, as Dave Griffith says. I wish I appreciated that more when I was younger, when I was (foolishly) more self assured, yet far less wise. But I know now, and that’s what matters.
Lonny serves as a 5 MOUNTAIN® Advisor here at DVFBC. This article is reposted from his blog, Strummings.