Obsession With Brilliance: Masculinities And Creativity In Transnational Advertising Agencies

Abstract

There is unprecedented interest in the construction and practice of gender in the workplace. In men’s studies, transnational business as an institutional location is recognized as important for understanding masculinities. On average, eighty per cent of the creative personnel in transnational advertising agencies are men. At the level of creative directors on average ninety percent are male. In this thesis I provide an empirically based description of how three cohorts of male advertising practitioners in Sydney, Delhi and Shanghai construct and practice a style of creative masculinity that gives their identities legitimacy and authenticity. I contend that creative masculinity is not hegemonic but is a form of maverick masculinity indexed to creativity. My empirical research consists of ethnographic observation in the M&C Saatchi (Sydney), McCann (Sydney), McCann (Delhi), Ogilvy (Shanghai) advertising agencies and in-depth interviews with male advertising creatives, and the women who work in the same agencies – the latter provide alternative perspectives on male advertising creatives’ identities and practices. It becomes clear that the creative department is a hierarchical ‘men’s club’ that through masculine cultural capital sanctions masculine privilege whilst collapsing traditional notions of class. My analysis identifies advertising as an always already male gendered occupation that is an intensely aggressive and competitive workplace where fluid power relations are used to define the rules of the game and the importance of winning. There is a professional expectation for advertising creatives to consistently produce authentic and award-winning work. This study identifies the persistent and personal state of anxiety that accompanies male advertising creatives as they seek acceptance for their work alongside the conflicting experience of rejection. A close examination of the relationship between creative labour and creative product reveals the importance of the visible display of creative work and the public recognition and endorsement of it. The five chapters, Manspace, Manbrand, Manpower, Manxiety and Manmade, provide an in-depth analysis of advertising as an ‘obsession with brilliance’.