Promo: The Accidental Profession

Here's the thing about people in promo (or entertainment advertising, if you will):  Nobody ever plans to be in promo.  We all fall into it.  Or discover it while pursuing something else.  Or even have it thrust upon us.

Nobody goes to school to learn it.  It's not a major in Radio-Television-Film departments.  Courses aren't even offered in it.  In fact, you can't even earn a certificate from an online pseudo-university in it.
 
It's a wonder, then, that so many of us have so much in common.

Promo people usually get their B.A. in liberal arts or communications, have a good sense of humor, share opinions about world events, follow politics, are cynical, know tons of useless facts, think they should be doing more with their lives, and love a good sandwich.

But there is something even greater that unites us:  We embrace constant stimulation.

And Promo World certainly complies - with short turnarounds (from one hour to one month), a constant stream of episodics/topicals, and revisions as far as the eye can see.  If you're done with those, there are always last-minute emergencies, programming notes, and scheduling changes.

Still have time on your hands?  Let's get going on ideas for the next sweeps, start laying out next week's shoot, and do cut-downs.  Then there are the big projects:  Come up with concepts for the new image campaign, explore new formats for those episodics/topicals, and experiment with new color palettes.

And we love it.

The constant stimulation keeps our juices going, always ready to tackle a new challenge right around the corner.  Being plugged into the world outside of promo provides us with a never-ending parade of catalysts.

This space consists of world events, music, art, literature, politics, retro TV, sports, food, family, the Internet...  the list goes on and on.

And being in promo gives us the outlet.  In no other profession is it considered beneficial to know that Ann Sothern was the voice of the car in "My Mother, the Car," Elvis' "It's Now or Never" is really "O Sole Mio," Rihanna is back with Chris Brown, AND the difference between "its," "it's," and "its'."

So when we finally stumble into promo, we know we're in the right place.  There's an immediate rapport, we speak the same language, and we all feel fortunate to have found each other.

Most importantly, we all agree: We've got to find a new place for lunch.

-Ed
 


   

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