I love New York and L.A., that’s why I live and work in Austin, Texas. Does that sound like a contradiction? Well, let me explain. I misspent my professional youth in L.A. trying to make it in the entertainment world like every other yokel with a dream and a Trailways ticket
I love the glam restaurants in New York and the pretty gals on skates in Venice. And the opportunity to work with high-octane creative minds. Absorbing all the cultural offerings of the bicoastal metropolises has always charged me up. But I’d burn out if I were there all the time. Now I enjoy my business trips to the coasts, and come back to recharge in the mellow, but smart and sexy landscape, here in the middle.
I think a lot of other folks in our business are beginning to realize that there are great alternatives to the Big Apple and Hollywood. I’m here to report that there is life outside our bi-polar production disorder and I found it here in Austin. Everybody loves the luxury junket to do their project in a fun place to stay, but without sounding like the Chamber of Commerce, I’d say next to N.Y. and L.A., Austin stacks up.
You like Lutece? Well, you might bump into President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at Jeffrey’s or Shoreline Grill, where I’d say the dinners are comparable. And we’ve got the Salt Lick barbecue in the Hill Country and some hot Tex-Mex at Guerro’s that just happens to be next door to one of Austin’s choicest night spots, Hotel San Jose, a place that ups the avant-garde ante for Ian Schraeger’s hip hotels. You like music? I’d say we’ve got more than each coast put together, and much cozier to boot, with blues at Antone’s, rockabilly at the Continental Club and about every alternative in dozens of venues.
The SXSW Music and Film festivals are booming and a real comer is the new Austin City Limits music festival and the screenwriter’s Austin Film Festival.
Okay, I do sound like a booster but let me get to the point. As the economy continues to batter the advertising industry, I’m sure companies forced to close, and those barely hanging on, need ways to survive and change to meet the fast-evolving advertising scene.
One thing to consider is that being a regional shop no longer means you can’t be a player in the national league. Just look at the work done in places like Minneapolis, Atlanta or Miami, which constantly break new creative ground.
Here in Austin the lifestyle is great, and with agencies like GSD&M, McGarrah/Jessee, and T3, to name drop a little, we’ll put our creative up against the best that’s out there. We may not get the volume of business we could on either coast, but we don’t have to have as much to prosper.
We’ve found a niche, too, in the burgeoning Latino market. Working with another Austin powerhouse, Latinworks, we’re mining another business area ripe for development, as the Latino culture takes hold of more of the consumer market. And this niche advertising is targeting a culture that really responds to creative work. From music to casting, concepts to, yes, editing, the recognition of a need to reach Spanish-speaking consumers out there has led to a burst of spot production with an award-winning flavor.
The lesson here is that in these harsh competitive times, you better be creative in finding new areas of opportunity to grow your business and feed your talent.
So sure, some the best and brightest minds need to run off to the big city to find fame and fortune, but a lot of us who trod that path have stopped to consider our lifestyle preferences. Many mid-career pros are reexamining where they want to go now, and I can say from personal experience that choosing the road less traveled has its rewards.
What I love about Austin is its youth-driven, music-driven, creative, vibrant climate. It’s also one of the most intellectual cities in the country, and while it’s not a real big city, we don’t have to spend 60 hours a week working to make things happen.
Lifestyle’s very important to creatives. Austin is a real attraction to people who put lifestyle first. As a result, we get transplants from places like New York, San Francisco, and L.A., as well as Argentina and Venezuela. And we have these people at our fingertips, so you can get the same creative expertise, and don’t have to wait in line for your cafe latte, or suffocate on the freeway.
One thing’s for sure, there are creative talents everywhere and if we nourish that ability and provide a fun place to live we can contribute to the strong diversification in our industry.
Off to roll up another softshell taco or some other Austin, Texas specialty. Come see us!
