How Virtual Agencies are changing the rules of the Advertising game.

There is a new agency model in town, and they are paving a new path in the marketing world. Virtual Agencies have positioned themselves to be leaner, quicker, and more creatively focused than their traditional counterparts.

Maybe the Virtual Agency is an entirely distributed organization of independents, or maybe it has remote chapters globally. It could even be a network of smaller agencies working together utilizing cloud-based collaboration. In any case, the overall objective in this distributed approach to team-building is to be liberated from the restrictions of The Corporate Agency to fully focus on innovation through at will collaboration and partnerships.

Virtual agencies are generally comprised of top industry professionals who have taken their expertise out of the traditional model to be free from the weight and restrictions of the larger firms.

As highlighted by Nicolas Cole at Inc. Magazine, this is why some of the biggest, and most successful creative minds in the industry, like Mark Beeching, former Global Chief Officer of Digitas, are jumping overboard away from the current agency model in an effort to rescue creativity.

“The pioneers of the modern ad era like David Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, or Lester Wunderman were all idea guys. And business guys. They shaped the work and the industry. The business managers worked for them--not the other way around.”

Cutting the sludge, drudge, and bloat

Unlike traditional firms, Virtual Agencies have a singular focus: to find and develop the best creative. They’re not restrained by the typical hindrances of the large, corporate agency with their multiple departments, competing priorities, and internal politics.

What that means is that Virtual Agencies are unencumbered by the bloat that adds little value to the creative.

If you are outsourcing your creative, and spending big bucks on a creative partnership, examine what you’re getting. Are the results in-line with your expectations? If not, there may be a solution right in front of you. Switching models to a leaner, more creatively focused partner could be the answer.

Cutting edge, or cookie cutter?

Virtual Agencies can focus on personalized, well thought through content since there are few other objectives on the table. There are no backdoor limitations, fewer distractions, and greater freedom. The lack of appointed roles and positions managing ideas reduces the risk of stale content and creative burnout. This can make the difference between delivering tired ideas in the firm’s safety zone, and pushing the boundaries to create effective, cutting edge content.

Consistency and Efficiency

Since a Virtual Agency is comprised of distributed teams, modeled similar to a peer to peer network, where hierarchies and organizational politics aren’t involved, there is reduced reliance on specific team members. Talent sourcing, networking, and collaborative efforts are an ongoing part of the business, and unlike in a traditional firm, positions are never filled and departments never complete. There are no budgets to approve or politics to navigate. The scalability is limitless, and discovering untapped sources of talent around the world is a key differentiator. Virtual agencies are unencumbered by the limitations of distance, geography, language, culture, or national borders.

At-Will Collaboration

One fundamental tenet of Virtual Agencies, and why they have proven to be so successful thus far, is that collaborations are entirely self appointed and at will. In a traditional organizational structure,  coworkers don’t pick each other. Learning to work with different personalities and business styles is often a major hindrance to creativity and efficiency. In a Virtual Agency model, independents are working with other professionals of their own selection, and with whom they achieve optimal success; self appointed teams of other skilled people in the industry with mutually respectful relationships, who inspire one another and work successfully together.

Establishing successful working partnerships for each project is greatly simplified, which is a great value in and of itself. Unrestricted by internal budgets, layers of management, legal concerns, and geographical settings, at-will creative collaborations provide the opportunity industry leading innovation.

Reference

Nicolas, C. (2016, Sept. 21) How the Advertising Agency Model Is Killing Creativity (According to This Global Chief Creative Officer) Retrieved 2018, October 8. https://www.inc.com/nicolas-cole/how-the-advertising-agency-model-is-killing-creativity-according-to-this-global-.html?cid=search

The RFP debate: It's time to look in the mirror.

In the US exhibition industry, it's a regular occurrence for clients to invite several exhibit design/build firms to bid on a single project. The client writes up a multi-page RFP (Request For Proposal) outlining specific requirements, and then the exhibition companies are invited to design and quote specific, detailed solutions for free.

Wow! What a deal.

For the client, that is.

They get multiple ways to solve their specific problems, sometimes from up to 5-10 companies, for no cost or commitment (typically says so right in the RFP). All design costs are covered by the bidders and recouped only by the winner. Depending on the size of the project and number of bidders, the process could easily burn through $1M+ in labor time, 3D printing, VR walkthroughs, travel expenses, etc. On top of that, many times language in the RFP specifically states that the clients own any creative submitted, meaning they can then take a concept they like and have anyone they choose build it for them.

Which may or may not be the firm who just spent $500K designing it.

Understandably, the bidding companies who participate in this process might grumble about it, but ultimately accept the situation for what it is. After all, it is possible to make money this way, since typically clients do not go to RFP every year.

And it's also important to note that nobody is making anyone do anything. The players are voluntarily playing the game the way it's been set up.

It's interesting, though, to examine related industries and see what their practices are in comparison. If Company A wants to build a new building, do they approach 10 different architecture firms, ask for free designs, and then pay the one who designed their favorite?

No.

What about someone with a new product idea...do they get 5 different companies to make them free prototypes, choose their favorite, and tell the other 4 sorry, maybe next time?

Nope.

But who can blame the clients? Reputable companies are offering free services that are useful...why not take them up on it? There's no downside for the client. The issue is with the way the design/build exhibition companies are set up, and how that has influenced the expectations and standard practices that have become widespread within the industry.

The design/build business model is made of two parts (obviously). And therein lies the problem. Most design/build exhibition companies are truly production houses who have hired designers and now call themselves agencies. Unfortunately, calling yourself an agency doesn't make you one. From the client's perspective they're working with multiple potential production houses who make money by building things. Why would the client pay a production house if nothing gets built?

The design/build exhibition company is a production house with it's own add-on design department. The way to solve the grumblings about "giving away free design" is to split the two apart. Allow the Thinkers and the Makers to function independently. That way the client gets the best of both. The client picks their favorite agency to design their ideal experience (and pays for it). Then that agency contracts with whatever production houses are needed to execute the project.

This way, the client still has a single point of responsibility for their contract, minimizing their risk, and each party involved in the execution can focus on what they do best...doing their best work and getting paid for it. Everyone is fully committed to the task and nobody's time is wasted on projects that will never materialize.

And that's the true benefit. So much brainpower, so much time, so much effort of talented people is wasted on each RFP. It's truly a shame. Think of how much benefit there could be if all that effort was re-directed toward efforts that are truly meaningful.

The Big Move

We love the Czech land and people, and I'm very grateful for a family who is as open as I am to a crazy idea like let's sell all our stuff and move across the world. The transition, which is still ongoing, has been challenging but rewarding.

But Why?, people ask. Why move a family of 6 from sunny Orange County, CA to Brno, Czech Republic?

We want to live life, and experience new and different things together as a family. We want our kids to experience life outside of the Orange County bubble of luxury and privilege, and we want to enjoy a greater sense of adventure and discovery in a new land. We want our kids to know their extended family and speak the Czech language.

And professionally, the local market is full of highly skilled and reasonably priced artists and designers...people who will help us grow the agency into the future, and provide higher and higher levels of service to our clientele worldwide. Any creatives out there currently in Eastern Europe??? Use the contact form and get in touch...let's talk!

Ultimately, the magnitude of the change was a lot for our friends and family to envision when we first mentioned it, but by the time we told anyone, the plans were set. Now, even though the move is done, our adventures are only beginning.

To learn more, please visit www.theadventurehearts.com or follow us on instagram @theadventurehearts.

Time well spent: writing a good creative brief

As part of the creative process, the creative brief is arguably THE most important part. It's what defines the creative, what points efforts in the right direction, and makes success possible. It's definitely not a step that should be missed, rushed, or otherwise halfheartedly attempted.

Truly the time spent on writing a great creative brief pays dividends over the long term. It's both the foundation and the guiding light for the creative. It's what we test our ideas and our strategies against. Surely it's worth the time and effort to write a good one.

A creative brief is not a design request. It's not a laundry list of requirements transferred from client to creative team. It's not a vague description of 35 generic objectives.

A creative brief is focused, specific, and actionable. A good one is created when Account Managers lose the fear of irritating someone, and persistently dig and dig, looking for that pain point that's the root of the problem. Every client has pain points...not every client knows exactly how to articulate them. Sure, they know things on the surface level, but what's driving it? That's where a good account person can make the difference.

Any Google search for "how to write a good creative brief" will reveal plenty of relevant info about what to include, like target markets, demographics, objectives, tone, audience takeaway, etc. Rehashing that is not the point here. The point is to convince you of the importance of doing that Google search, studying the results, and then applying it to your workflow. Maybe not all at once, but bit-by-bit, in ways that make sense for you and your client.

From a creative standpoint, a well-researched, and well-written creative brief is like gold. Good ideas come fast because the objectives and target markets are specific and well understood. Decision making mid-stream in the creative process is streamlined because we have a solid road map to refer back to that everyone has agreed upon. In the meeting, when the client asks "why this?" then we point to the brief and explain.

Don't shortcut this step. You'll be surprised how some extra effort at the beginning of the process can produce a much quicker and easier client approval.