WW: How was the response to the call in the advertising week? Ursula Krebs: I was very pleased with the numerous and interesting responses. Fifty-seven people took part in the electronic survey and completed it in full. With 34 questions, that's a good "yield". The participants came from various communication disciplines, although I only evaluated the advertising agencies for the final paper.
In the advertisement in Advertising Week, you also invited people to take part in a personal interview. How much interest was there?
I was also very pleased with this response. Twenty-two people got in touch. There were also a few e-mails from people who wanted to share their thoughts on the subject with me. Many of them congratulated me on dealing with this topic. In the end, I conducted an interview with 10 people.
How motivated did you find the target group to take part in this survey?
It was interesting to note that in addition to the 57 fully completed dossiers, a further 181 people at least visited the survey but did not complete it. People were obviously interested in the topic. Basically, I can say that there were practically only affirmative and benevolent reactions. I think the topic is important. Many "know" about the difficulty of ageing well professionally in the industry. But there is no evidence, which is why it seemed to me that facts are wanted here.
You approached the study with a thesis or at least a preconception. Has your previous perception been confirmed or have you been surprised by new truths and findings that have come to light?
One remarkable finding of the study is the high motivation of older employees, even after decades of employment. However, I was surprised at how little thought people give to ageing at work and how they would like to shape their professional future. There is a great desire to work until retirement. But the idea of how such a desire should be managed was surprisingly vague for an industry where there is actually a great deal of "assumed knowledge" about the difficulty of ageing.
Is there too little awareness in the industry of future developments?
I was surprised that an industry that deals with trends gives little thought to shaping its own future and transfer services with regard to demographic change. Research shows that demographic developments mean that fewer well-qualified people are coming into the industry. Despite this, the agency has no strategy for shaping its own future. Of the 10 people interviewed, only one made a corresponding reference to the fact that a change could take place here in the future, and even spoke of advertising agencies becoming obsolete because the supply of young staff could fail.
What gender-specific findings have been made?
I am astonished by the fact that the female gender obviously leaves advertising agencies at some point, even though almost only women actually work in the lower and middle hierarchies - especially in consulting. Where do they go? That would be interesting new research ...
Were you also surprised by something completely unexpected in this survey?
Basically, I didn't really find anything groundbreakingly new. Older advertisers are predominantly in upper management, managing directors or agency owners. Those who have not reached this hierarchical level are often to be found in peripheral areas such as administration, production or finance. It is rare to find older employees in the middle hierarchies of the "core disciplines" of consulting and creation. With this work, I have confirmed the assumptions that have been mentioned in many cases: "It becomes more difficult to be accepted on the labor market with increasing age ..." The reality of the job market is in stark contrast to the desire to stay in the industry until retirement. One possible reason for this is the still prevalent stereotype that older employees can no longer keep up and are therefore rarely employed. This is despite the fact that recent research has shown that personal and professional biographies are relevant for maintaining the motivation of older employees. Chronological age, i.e. age in number of years, is absolutely no yardstick. This is once again confirmed by the present study. The respondents do not perceive any significant changes in their performance as a result of ageing.
What have you found out about customers?
The image of the client towards the advertising agencies plays a role. One interviewee told me that the client commissioned another agency with young employees for a youth campaign - she is the owner of an advertising agency and has the lead of the mandate - because this person was no longer trusted with the youth campaign at the age of 48. From this perspective, a survey on the client side would also be an interesting follow-up for the next study.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
