A Career in Review

December book review: Bronze Seeks Silver

Image courtesy of Mat Zucker

Bronze Seeks Silver: Lessons from a creative career in marketing, Mat Zucker, 2020: Cidiot

A book that combines memoir with an analysis of one’s resume? Let me double-click into that. The latter phrase is something I learnt when reading Mat Zucker’s book, Bronze Seeks Silver: Lessons from a creative career in marketing. This was a humorous read, detailing Zucker’s three-decades-long career in advertising and marketing.

So, let me double-click into it, which is management consultant speak for ‘let me talk in more depth about it’. Zucker started out with a portfolio presentation to a recruiter at the famous Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising in New York. Unfortunately, there was a misled metaphor regarding cleanliness and Dial soap that scuppered the presentation. However, Zucker was able to use it as a learning experience and, undeterred, pursued his goal of working in advertising, always focussing on success. He has worked at OgilvyOne New York, Razorfish, R/GA, and Agency.com, all of which is detailed in his memoir.

The book is structured in short chapters with intriguing titles (You Only Have to Walk This Pet Once, and How to Buy Girl Scout Cookies as two examples). Each chapter is generously sprinkled with humorous anecdotes, but also contains a message or a lesson…