Who Killed the Adman? In October last year, Norman Tan asked this rhetorical question to his peers in the advertising industry; veterans like himself that have shaped the realm in China over the past thirty years. He has been in advertising for 37 years, was a chief creative officer at various 4A agencies, and recently founded his boutique branding agency, OnBrand. Along with his daughter, Lily Tan, he produced a short documentary to instigate reflection on the subject of creativity and survival of the “Adman” in the current state of advertising landscape.
谁杀死了广告人？去年10月，陈耀福向他的广告圈同行们抛出这个问题，包括他在内的那一批前辈在30年前塑造了当今的中国广告界。在广告业37年的陈耀福，曾任多个4A公司首席创意官，最近成立了自己的品牌咨询公司OnBrand。他与女儿陈思立共同制作了这个短片，鼓动大家思考在当前广告环境下创意的主旨是什么以及广告人的生存状况。
Last week, the father and daughter team released a sequel to their film. They’ve asked the same question to representatives of the younger generations of advertising creatives, many of them in leadership positions at independent agencies.
上周，陈氏父女二人又发布了《谁杀死了广告人？》的第二集，这次这个问题提给了那些年轻一代广告创意人的代表们，他们中有很多都在独立广告公司担任要职。
To watch with English subtitles go to YouTube @ https://youtu.be/RGrSKiV62YU
The idea for the follow-up came during the premiere of the first film: “You asked if there would be a second episode, but I told you that it was not in my plans. I was wrong,” Tan tells SHP+ when announcing the sequel.
拍摄第二集的想法诞生于第一集的首映活动上。“你问我是不是会有第二集，但当时我说没有计划。现在看来我错了。”陈耀福在发布第二集时对SHP+说。
“The online discussion around the first documentary was not as heated as expected, but the difference in opinion between those trained in the 4A global agency model and those outside was significant,” he says. Tan noticed huge marks of generational differences in the discussions; he felt like making another documentary to give voice to younger generation of creatives.
“网上对于第一集的讨论没有我期待中激烈，但经过国际4A体系培训和没经过培训的广告人，对这个课题的反应和观点有很大的区别。”他说。而且他注意到不同年代的人对这个讨论的反应也有巨大的差异，所以觉得这个纪录片要听听年轻一代创意人的声音。
Norman Tan 陈耀福 & Lili 陈思立
Indeed, the array of opinions in the first film was not balanced to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of the industry. Most arguments are fit, but they focus on changes with a melancholic negative undertone and nostalgia for the so-called “golden era” of advertising. Some interviewees even risk saying that creativity is dead when trying to answer Tan’s question and its metaphor.
的确，第一集中的各种观点无法综合代表当前广告业状况，虽然多数契合，但主要还是以忧郁的腔调看待变化，怀念所谓的广告“黄金时代”。有些受访者甚至在回答陈耀福的这个问题时大胆断言“创意已死”。
On the other hand, in the second part, we hear the other side of the industry: younger professionals working in independent agencies. The interviewees of the sequel express strong views:
但在第二集中，我们从独立广告公司的年轻创意人那里看到了行业的另一面。这些受访者表达了强烈的观点：
One of them perceives Tan’s question as cynical and pessimistic; another believes that someone who affirms the Adman is dead pays no attention to progress. Many of the interviewees believe that economic, social, and technological changes are the main factors for the disbelief in the almost mythical figure of the Adman and proclaim it’s now the best era for Chinese advertising. They affirm that there’s new and exceptional talent available and that the industry is working in inventive ways where creative spirit of Adman is well present.
其中一位受访者认为“谁杀死了广告人？”这个问题太负面了，还有人觉得说“杀死Adman”是不思进取。很多人都相信，经济、社会、技术的变化是Adman不备看好的主要因素，并且认为现在是中国广告业最好的时代。他们相信现在有很多出色的新人才，广告业在以新的方式前进，让Adman的创意精神得到了很好的体现。
As we can see, there’s a radical generational gap when it comes to advertising from the first film to the second. Nowadays, glorified international agencies are sometimes seen as ‘heavy dinosaurs,’ often failing to deliver high-grade work because of their difficulties in catching up with the ever-evolving technological and social landscapes. In parallel, we see the rise of independent creative agencies in China — a brilliant new generation of creatives attuned to their costumer’s needs and working in more innovative ways. Creativity is far from being dead; it’s on the rise.
从第一集到第二集可以看出，广告圈中有着很大的代沟。如今，那些受到吹捧国际广告公司有时候就像大恐龙，经常无法追赶不断变化的技术和社交环境，导致无法产出好作品。同时，中国独立创意机构崛起，其中的年轻一代出色创意人了解现在客户的需求，用更创新的方式工作。创意远没有死，而是正在崛起。
BAM Music Library Brings Edgy, Indie Sounds to Chinese Creatives
