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(by Richard Bram)
Little Wisdom
I don't know anything.
I don't blog as much as I used to. I am a number of things, father, friend, ex this, ex that and partner. I'm proud of my work, my friends, my lady, my kids. I'm head of digital at Good Creative but in no way do my views reflect the people that pay me. I make Andy Gray look like a girl scout.
twitter.com/steelso
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What makes a great agency? Curiosity
The great thing about being a kid is that everything is new, it’s so freaking fresh. The two favourite phrases that I’ve learned from kids are “What’s that?” and “Why?”. Without asks this thousands of times then they wouldn’t learn the big stuff.
I bring those questions into work everyday. I use them even if I think I know the answer and in the past few weeks I’ve used them more than ever. To get to the bottom of a client’s problem you need to ask the stupid questions, you need to set yourself up as an idiot so that you can allow yourself to ask the stupid, obvious questions.
Then, when you get the answer, you need to ask, “Why?”. You need to get deeper.
Curiosity, that’s what it is about. Getting really, insanely curious on what the client may seem is so obvious is what I love about trying to learn more. It’s trying to glean that little known fact that may inspire that one simple idea that starts to create a campaign. I love it.
Curiosity is one of the most important elements that can define an agency. Curious about everything, about the how and the why. It makes you learn, that makes you great.
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What makes a great agency? Clients
While doing some research for a tourism pitch I came across this quote:
We still have an essentially conflicted attitude to visitors – needing their money but finding their actual presence a nuisance. Virtual visitors would be ideal for many.
This kind of thinking, this kind of looking at your life blood as a necessary evil, can raise it’s ugly head in all walks of life. When I was a lighting designer it was in vogue to hate actors as they spoiled the sets. No, really. That happened.
However without clients an agency has nothing. That’s obvious.
An agency can survive with bad clients. A great agency can’t grow without great clients. Clients that push and stretch and challenge you. Clients that appreciate their agency not sitting back nodding at every brief that comes in, that look forward to the agency challenging them. The best clients give the agency enough rope to hang themselves.
I totally beleive the old saying that the public get the politicians they deserve and that goes double for us. I think that the measure of a great agency is by judging yourself on the quality of your clients. How are you doing?
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What makes a great agency? People
In my wonderful, hilarious life I’ve worked full time in five places. The Village Theatre, the Tron Theatre, Biscuit, GRP, Equator and now here at Good. Ok. Six
Each one of these places have made me a better person both personally and professionally. The one thing that all these things had in common though was the people who worked in them.
The most interesting thing about all these places was the mixture of people. Theatres are structured like hotels, you have the front of house, back stage, bar staff, a whole range of people to bounce off and learn from. The variety of people and the life that they bring into yours is what enriched each one of the places I’ve worked at.
For me this is what has made agency life so fulfilling. I’ve worked in four agencies and I’ve never met someone that has really ripped my knitting. Of course you get the odd moment of difference between people, that’s to be expected. But to have a great agency you need that mixture of people that can compliment each other’s shortfalls and push each other’s abilities.
I love the moment when an idea pops up then gets passed around us all and with each person that gets it then it starts to become a stronger, more clever, more simple and more compelling idea. I love that. That only comes from the people who work with you. And that’s one of the things that makes a great agency. Ideal.
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Great
Four years ago I wrote a few posts about what makes a great agency. Looking back I don’t think that too much has changed in what creates a great agency but I do think my thoughts have matured a wee bit on them. We’ve been going through our own brand positioning process at Good, one that has been harder than we probably originally thought. What we’ve come up with is bang on but it is sometimes hard to articulate something that you just “do”.
But I do think it is important to refresh yourself in what makes the place you work great. That, to me, is the main reasons that clients come to you and, more importantly, stay.
So. The first thing I’ll be talking about what makes a great agency is probably the most obvious. So obvious in fact that I missed it the first time round. People.
"Well Liked" by Peter Vidani. For Tumblr.
© 2011–2012 Little Wisdom
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