My journey in the digital marketing industry of Bangladesh is near its end. I started out as a fresh eyed intern stalking the footsteps of someone once near and dear, then being thrust into the deep end of writing copy, promptly making cold calls to many of you who’ll read this article and figuring out the finicky core of my creative potential. It’s been one heck of a four year ride, and maybe it’s too soon, but maybe the time is right to call it quits.
I will never regret the longs hours or the longer climb up the ladder, often being cold shouldered out of the way in the competitive slump for greatness. It taught me a lot about work and gave me a kick down the road to know how to bring myself up. Every egotistic creative (or artists, as we often bemuse ourselves to be) needs the jarring reality check to thrive. Did I thrive? No. Rather, I became a “replaceable” employee that served no greater purpose than the day to day assigned ones. To the people who read this, be warned, the true copywriter deals in words and not numbers.
Kill digital marketing. We have no need for it because digital is the norm now, not a “trend”. The term “digital marketing” is functional, objective and consequently useless. What we need is marketing in a connected world. Marketing that makes sense of people, designed for people and their volatile needs and emotions where global connections (of both the wireless and veiny kind) run thicker than blood. My blood is tainted now, and I say this for the benefit of a market that is quickly tiring of the digital decade, you are still marketing to people in the internet, not robots, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
If you happen to know a doctor who can heal me, or better yet the wounds of the digital marketing industry, let them know a market is ready for them. The general symptoms of the disease that has called my untimely demise in this field include the work culture that seeks to stifle “abnormalities” like me, pinch our pay till our bellies shrivel up, indoctrinate us with work ethics that leave us a hazard for professionalism - late, uninspired and uncompassionate tools of the trade.
I was plagued by the greatest illness - the creative block. Working in CoDesign, within it’s minimal, clinical and oddly peaceful white walls, is treating me quite well. Our culture makes one curious - most of my conversations begin with explaining why we’re a human-centered company and not, I repeat, a typical agency.
Last month, I celebrated my first year here. This time taught me a crucial fact of having a creative career- we can all rise early, finish our work early, be paid on time and be a little less selfish with work - create and think more for people while becoming better versions of ourselves. This sealed my fate and was the final nail in the coffin - I no longer dream of a career in digital marketing.
So what will I do? I was born to write. I’ll craft words to make people laugh and cry, to make them think, to make them get off their sloppy behinds to jump into the front of battle, and if need be, pinch the money out of their pockets, a dollar bill at a time. I’ll die writing and whether I’m good or bad at it, words will be the death of me.
