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<p>I would have actually used the advertising industry as a prime example to support my point. True, I agree that you have to meet deadlines, but who’s to say that you’re actually meeting those deadlines with high-quality (as opposed to shoddy) work? Far more importantly, what does it even mean for advertising work to be high-quality in the first place? The only metric that ultimately matters from an advertising standpoint is whether a particular campaign ultimately increases sales. Yet the relation between sales and the creative content of any particular campaign is indirect and difficult to determine. A gorgeously designed and flawless magazine spread might draw no additional customers, whereas a simplistic and error-ridden might draw plenty. </p>
<p>This problem is particularly acute in the case of luxury goods where most advertising campaigns are rarely designed to spur sales directly and immediately, but rather to build overall brand ‘image’ to ultimately one day result in increased sales - but which serves only to attenuate the link between any one campaign and sales even further. If Prada runs a new campaign in Vogue, does that actually boost the Prada brand and generate greater additional future sales? How do you measure that reliably? After all, we will never know what would have happened if Prada had decided not to run that campaign. </p>
<p>John Wanamaker once famously proclaimed that half of all advertising expenditures is wasted, the problem being that nobody knows which half it is. And since nobody can reliably measure how any particular marketing campaign is going to affect future sales, which therefore means that nobody can ever reliably distinguish between who’s truly a great marketer and who isn’t, that’s when schmoozing and office politicking start coming into play. </p>
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<p>Yes, but schmoozing happens far more readily when you already share a bond with the schmoozee…such as a common university affiliation. For example, whether we like it or not, it is no secret that a disproportionate percentage of top business positions - particularly in the glamorous industries such as investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, and strategy consulting - are held by alumni of Harvard. Hence, if you want to Harvard yourself, you can quickly break the ice by starting a conversation with them by reminiscing about the old days at the Yard. </p>
<p>Furthermore, Harvard has an extensive and powerful alumni association with unprecedented worldwide reach. Practically every major city in the world has a Harvard Alumni Club that runs social events with which you can schmooze with other, often times, highly powerful people. Alumni of other schools are (almost) never invited to these events, so they don’t even have the chance to schmooze.</p>
<p>As a case in point, I know of a guy in Hong Kong who just got a far better job than his prior one, based on connections he made at the Harvard Club of Hong Kong. If he had not gone to Harvard himself, he would not have been a club member and so would never have met the people who ultimately helped him obtain the job he wanted. Very few other schools have alumni club chapters in Hong Kong. {It should also be said that this is a white guy who speaks no Chinese. How else was a guy like that going to make connections in the Hong Kong business society?} </p>
<p>To paraphrase Woody Allen, 99% of life is just showing up. But many important social events don’t allow just anybody to show up. Furthermore, the vast majority of available jobs are never publicly posted, but are obtainable only through networking and schmoozing. If you don’t have the right social connections, you will never even know about those jobs.</p>