Advertising - Art, Science, or Consulting?

The advertising major on my resume often brings up the same initial thought: Photoshop. 

The conversation never seems to get old, where I get to explain to a new colleague or a new introduction that Advertising is more than just a Don Draper-like setting where Design and Copy come together on a page, or an 1984-like advertisement gets made.

Advertising is Research, Strategy, Consulting, Executing, and Analyzing. All in one. 

Think of the last few campaigns you've seen and loved. Share a Coke. Dove's Real Beauty. P&G's Like a Girl. The McWhopper. REI's #OptOutside. Every campaign you've admired, shared, retweeted, favorited, and loved. It started long before you could estimate. It started with an idea that went through filter after filter before becoming the 30-second spot you see, or the product you hold in your hands. What's more? It never really stops there. That's when the second half comes in. How did the ad do? How many people did it reach? Did the ad even work? Are we getting our message across? 

Advertising is making people recognize a want they didn't even know they had. And that takes more than exceptional photoshop skills. Photoshop is necessary in the process, to help you visualize what life could be like, but it isn't the ethos of advertising. It's not what I do. And it's a part of a bigger picture. 

Me? I'm more the "Consulting" and "Big Idea" kind of guy. The work that you don't see in front of you. The braintsorming, the ideation, the countless back and forths in meeting rooms and open white spaces.

That's where I want to be, the intersection of Art & Science is where I want to live.