Time to rename the ad business?

Does the word advertising sound old fashioned to you? Sometimes it does to me. And I know other people in the so-called “advertising industry” who are uncomfortable about using the word to describe what they do.

In these days of integration, we’re all doing a bit of advertising, some DM and an increasing amount of online. Can we still say we’re in the ad business?

Recently I heard the CEO of a London agency group say that they should, from now on, be thought of as a communications, as opposed to ad, agency.

So I now write marketing and advertising communications. Though I’d still rather say I write ads.