Let us, for the purposes of this blog, begin by looking upward.

The heavens, as we know them, are populated by the stars and planets that encircle the earth. Many of the stars have been organized into recognizable constellations. But they are vulnerable. Stars are on fire, they flash, burn and sometimes explode and fall from the heavens, planets move serenely in their timeless, pre-ordained heavenly orbits.  And, that’s the way it was.

But now the industrial sky above us has changed once again. New to our solar system is the concept of rocket-driven spaceships, which can penetrate and probe the heavens and return to earth or be placed in long-term orbits.

Coming back to earth, we find that most advertising agencies have become stable planets, circling in serene orbits or meteors that flash and burn out.

Each agency makes a strategic choice—either to be aflame and as combustible as a star or find its place in the more stable solar system of our industry.

When I founded the company that bears my name, I set our orbital sights higher than those of the existing agencies. We launched, defined, and explored a completely new dimension that we named “Direct Marketing.”

I like to think of this agency as a cutting-edge probe that located and continues to explore a new constellation. But to my dismay, we soon found that many others began to settle in our new neighborhood. So we fired up again to explore the new and the as yet unknown.

Coming back down to earth, and our industry, the question arises, at some point or other, for each advertising agency as to whether they want to be stars or planets or probes? Are they aflame with talent, imagination and innovation or are they mired in a stagnant immutable orbit.  We have the choice of what we want to be…..Star, Planet, Probe or a combination of all of those.

I made my choice half a century ago and I have not changed my mind. Each generation at Wunderman has a choice. What’s yours?