One of the most annoying things about people in advertising is it’s like they stop being human when they come to work. As soon as they walk through the office door they forget about examining what drives their own purchasing decisions when planning the process for others and start talking about “consumers” and “demographics” like test subjects in some experimental medication test — as though they aren’t consumers themselves!

It’s the communications industry, and yet so many of the “communicators” forget whatever it is they may have learned in that immersive language course they’ve been taking all their lives, and opt instead for an online translator. Which is what drives the point home in this great article from San Francisco Magazine about Goodby, Silverstein & Partners — an agency that obviously takes the process of being human along with them on their travels into advertising land — when their media strategist, Hashem Bajwa, says, “This is about brands releasing some control to the consumer, and that’s really cool. Brands that won’t start a relationship with us aren’t going to be as successful.” It’s not about those “consumers;” it’s about “us.”

Plus, the article is filled with both articulate insights:

The change involves no less than a fundamental shift in the relationship between advertiser and audience. No longer at the mercy of what a network beams into their TVs, people have morphed from passive watchers into active agents with the power to seek out and view whatever they want, whenever they want. As a result, the very notion of what makes an ad appealing has changed. Now that people are choosing to hang out with an ad the same way they choose to watch a show or play a video game, pushing a product—or at least pushing it explicitly—has become less important than creating an experience that’s fun, addictive, helpful, and even communal (since people pass word of these ads to their friends). In many respects, advertisers—and hence the agencies they hire—are becoming more like content providers whose main goal is to entertain.

And fascinating predictions:

Goodby and Silverstein predict that brands will become the new networks, making advertising agencies more like Hollywood producers.

How many directors of traditional agencies have you heard lately proclaiming that the internet’s making them feel younger? “Are you kidding?” Silverstien says, “I love this stuff. It’s even better than television.”

…. As smart as Goodby and Silverstein are, they come off more as artists than tech geeks. Silverstein still loves to draw. Goodby paints and writes poetry in his spare time. Hanging out with them, you wonder how they keep up with hyperspeed technological changes. “We hire freaks,” says Goodby, laughing.

Bonus track: one of my favorite freaks in general, Zach Canfield, is also a Goodby Silverstien freak–as their creative recruiter, and part of the team responsible for, among other things, the most amazing spoof of R. Kelly’s “Trapped In The Closet” saga EVER:

(You MUST watch!)

Trapped in the Clauset pt. 1:

Trapped in the Clauset pt. 2:

Trapped in the Clauset pt. 3:

Being human helps, but being a freak don’t hurt none either.