Challenges facing the profession of advertising in the digital age : An empirical study of Swedish advertising professionals

Abstract: This thesis investigates how Swedish advertising professionals experience their work in the digital age. Findings from semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with 15 people are organized using the concept of “media logic” re-interpreted by Mark Deuze, which covers four aspects of media work: institution, technology, organization and culture. The institution feature covers three developments occurring at the industry level, which are concentration, fragmentation and convergence. How these trends determine the way advertising professionals work is the main topic of this section. The findings show that especially due to extensive pressures from shifts of globalization and digitalization in recent years, an ongoing power struggle is taking place in all three institutional trends. The second feature is technology, in which the focus is to understand how technology shapes the way professionals interact with consumers. Interviewees were well aware of the increasing need to construct an interactive and participatory environment for brands and consumers. However, one should not be naïve and celebrate the powerful role of the consumers, nor assume that all advertising agencies are fully capable of harnessing digital technology. Organization is the third feature, where attention is paid to how professionals organize their projects and work styles. In advertising agencies, a major transformation was evident in the creative department where technologists who understand digital are becoming crucial assets next to art directors and copywriters. The last feature is culture, which examines how professionals perceive the cultures of production that influence the final advertising product. Many referred to positive aspects such as a flat and non- hierarchical culture promoting better collaboration. On the other hand, some interviewees indicated the misrepresentation of gender and ethnicity as problematic. These four features function to critically assess the challenges that lay ahead for Swedish advertising professionals in the digital age.