Editor
I wish I’d made that’ is one of the biggest compliments in the industry. You rarely hear it, but when you do it’s almost always strained out between clenched teeth.
Some might say the industry’s difficulty in giving what is essentially a simple compliment to good work is just another example of jealousy leading to tall poppies being chopped down. But I beg to differ.
If anything, the comment ‘I wish I’d made that’ is the green juice that feeds the poppies growing across marketing and advertising. This necessary—yes, necessary—envy drives the creative process forward, and causes people to do things differently, to push a little harder.
Inherent jealousy isn’t unique to advertising. You see it in almost any creative art. And perhaps it’s a sentiment best captured by…
