Fade to black. 2024. Tactics have overtaken strategies, the short term has swallowed the long term, urgencies have pushed brand building aside, and projects have displaced relationships.

I remember that my first issues of this magazine I would read standing up in Vips, which back then had a press section and let you browse it – or even read it until the end – without having to pay for it. As a student, I saved my money for other things, but occasionally I’d buy an issue to keep, like the one from the first Gran Prix in Spain in Cannes, or the special 10 years with the best advertising of the decade. At Vips, Anuncios shared the shelves with Fotogramas, Vogue, Súper Pop, and even ¡Hola!. There, alongside the sad face of Lady Di, smiled the happy rebels of the 80s with their grand lion, on the carousel next to the Palais, in the iconic photo by David Torrejón.

Anuncios was in Vips because advertising was on everyone's lips. It was a booming, attractive, and influential sector. In the best-sellers section of that same Vips, next to *Las edades de Lulú* and *El péndulo de Foucault*, you could find *Casi todo lo que sé de publicidad* by Joaquín Lorente and *Publicidad y yo* by David Ogilvy. They were there because, in addition to being an economically important sector, it was also culturally relevant. Advertising had weight in society and in companies. Lorente was even welcomed into the kitchen at Central Lechera Asturiana, where he was regarded as one of the key figures for the brand. And, like Lorente, many other names from various agencies sat at the highest level with decision-makers from their clients to collaboratively outline the strategies for their brands. In general, what agencies and the professionals working in them contributed was valued, respected, and paid for.

Fade to black. 2024. Tactics have overtaken strategies, the short term has swallowed the long term, urgencies have pushed brand building aside, and projects have displaced relationships. Advertising – or whatever we want to call it now – has atomized into nanoparticles. The dialogue has scattered, and the high level is becoming increasingly inaccessible in its castle. In conclusion, the consideration of what we do, our perceived value, and ultimately our compensation, have collapsed. And when that happens, everything enters a vicious cycle.

A few weeks ago, at the Jury Club of the Eficacia Awards, we recognized the career of a great representative of advertising in our country, Jordi Rosàs. In his beautiful thank-you speech, Jordi said that when he made the leap from Cassadeval Pedreño to founding his own agency, he had two main goals: first, to regain the prestige that the profession had in the 70s and 80s, when "advertising was more important than it is now"; and second, for his agency to be recognized for its strategic reputation and pursuit of excellence. Then he added, a bit proudly, a bit sadly: "The first, I haven't achieved." Recently, during the preparation for Día A at CdeC, the same debate spontaneously arose: why, as professionals, as companies, as a sector, have we lost so much economic and cultural relevance? And, more importantly, what can we do? Personally, I don't think it's healthy to fall into nostalgia like "it used to be different," because that leads to melancholia and Grandpa's tall tales, but I do think it deserves deep reflection. It's easy – and probably defensible – to blame many problems on external and circumstantial factors. But I also think we need to look at ourselves.

And I believe that the challenge for our sector is to prove its worth in today's world with today's circumstances, because today we add more value to brands and businesses, and also to society, than we are often recognized and compensated for. And to claim it, I believe we need to move and do some things differently, not alone, but together. I confess I don't know how to do it. I don't have the solution, I only have the need, but I believe we must try. Will we ever be able to regain, as a sector, as companies, as professionals, our lost relevance? Indiana Joneses are being sought. Many. And united.