Will you still need me, will you still feed me?

In the 1960s, The Beatles sang, "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?" They thought 64 was impossibly old! Little did they know that one day, the US presidents would serve into their late 70s and early 80s. However, advertising has always been a young person's game.

In the TV series Mad Men, we rarely see the 60+ ad agency founder Bert Cooper, who controls things from behind the scenes in his huge office decorated with antique Japanese prints. Though partner Roger Sterling had grey hair, he wasn't old. From the early days of advertising, the average age of account executives, creative directors, and media planners has trended young. One of the ad industry’s top honours is to be named one of the ‘30 under 30’. Executives heading into their late 40s and 50s wear Warby Parker glasses, take Ozempic, dye their hair, say they have fewer years of experience than they actually do, and get online AI degrees to signal relevance.

Although these superficial efforts to hold back age can buy time, there is an inexorable bias against older people in our industry. Why? Here are my views.

First, brands want empathy with consumers. While an executive isn't a "focus group of one," who will better understand 35-year-old consumers: a 35-year-old or a 60-year-old? Even if older executives use research, data, and technology for insights, millennial natives run marketing now.

Also, success in advertising means pleasing clients (agency side) and navigating internal politics (client side), which can be easier when you're young, energetic, perhaps attractive, and have less to lose. Not fair, but true.

Being the best isn't always enough. What's your cultural fit with younger clients, vendors, media, and agency partners? The best executives become generous mentors to the next generation of talent, while others say things like "years ago, we did a similar campaign" and struggle to connect with those unborn when they became a VP.

Fundamentally, older people in advertising and their employers must figure out in which of two ways they add value: either contributing business acumen or professional skills.

Advertising's financial success relies on "leveraging its juniors" with senior people generating work for cheaper minions. The number of roles shrinks at the top of the pyramid, so unless you anchor key accounts employing profit-making teams, you are vulnerable during budget cuts.

If you’re not a 'suit' on the business side, as your level of experience rises, so does your cost. You need to pay for your mortgage, children’s educations, vacations, and retirement plans. Employers then seek talent that is 50% as good but 80% cheaper. Fair enough—that’s just business. However, by doing so, companies risk sacrificing their strength and their futures by phasing out the very seniority and credibility that made them successful.

So what's the answer?

Your career may have risen based on your professional skills but you won’t be retained unless you become a business person contributing to the growth and profitability of your firm. No one is going to pay you $200,000 to write elegant detergent commercials.

Start early in your career to build 'brand you' alongside anything else you do to advance or get promoted. Let your employer and the market know who you are, and what value you add.

Eventually, you need to become a shareholder, not a beholder. Negotiate performance-based stock options, join a start-up with equity, or start your own business. It’s harder to be fired when you’re an owner.

When the time comes for you to leave the corporate or agency world, become a portfolio person. Run your business or let clients and agencies retain you as a fractional CMO or subject matter expert. You will add more value in less time at lower cost, with more reward and less insecurity. You’ll stay fresh through interaction with multiple clients and they’ll reap the benefits of your experience.

Then, round out your portfolio by working with start-ups to stay connected with trends. Teach university classes (you’ll learn more than the students!). Give back with volunteer work to get personal satisfaction.

Instead of fighting age bias, embrace the economic value of your experience, whether you stay with a company or become an entrepreneur. The answer to The Beatles’ question: advertising still needs you when you’re 64, but you have to feed yourself!

David Ketchum is CEO at Current Asia.