Question for ECDs/Managers, Is it weird to be putting new spec work in your portfolio as a senior?
The last two years have been a dud, lost our good clients and I've been doing nothing but product-claim-dominated spots. Our CD has given up on trying to pitch brave ideas because our client "doesn't care"... and my book is looking aged

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I get that. Better to spend your efforts on a side project vs spec work. If it feels spec, I’d probably skip it if you’re not a jr trying to get in

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Password protect it so no one can easily steal and produce it.

smart

Usually tell people if they're gonna put spec work in their book it should be for a client they currently or recently had. I wouldn't do it for a client that's not anywhere on your résumé or anywhere else in your book. This way, you can say that it was almost produced or that it was produced or whatever you're comfortable with.

Not weird at all. Storytime: moved to a new city and met with a famous ecd just to network. He told me the origin of all their award winning work was just to make it up and find a client, even inventing a pro bono client that didn’t exist prior to the ad.

Shhh, we all do it

Do passion personal projects that are creative and show your thinking, even if they’re not actual ads. I have an app that I developed with a friend and a product I designed. And yes, I also have the ad stuff, but the other stuff shows that my creative thinking is adaptable to other things as well.

I love seeing conceptual work but sometimes people are not ready to answer questions like “why?”. I would have a fake brief explaining what the problem was beforehand and how you are using your work to solve that problem.

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