Creative life outside of agency land.

I spend a fair bit of time catching up with old agency friends or at various industry events talking to creatives. Many express they are done/bored/over with agency life and are totally unaware that there is a whole creative (and suit) world beyond pure creative agencies. A question that is on the lips of many is "Is there a world for me out of agency land?"

And the answer is a big YES!

Since making the move myself, there is a lot going for working outside agency land. After finishing my last role at McCann Melbourne, I put a few needs at the top of my 'next company requirements' list - I wanted to work on interesting and complex projects at an organisation that was making good money with smart, respectful and diverse people. And I did not want to be charged by the hour.

This led to exploring client-side opportunities in the tech/software space because, whilst many agencies can tick 1-2 off the list, very few, if any, hit all. Companies like Atlassian, Seek, Xero, REA, Canva, Envato, MYOB, Google immediately popped up. But scratch a little harder, that is, look at places like here and here (and not just Cannes Awards lists) and you will find hundreds of local companies smashing it on the world stage that are desperate for good creative talent including creative directors, art directors, writers, social media managers, content creators, marketing support, advertising managers etc ...

With this in mind, I think that good, progressive client opportunities are the biggest threat to great talent remaining in pure creative agencies right now. And even if these places have an external agency, more and more, clients are looking to develop in-house creative teams to work with and manage the agency relationship.

One thing is for sure. Your creative and client management skills are very transferrable and the demands of working in an agency environment have most likely turned you into a very valuable asset.

So, if incumbent agency makes you LOL-cry a little too hard and your Campaign Brief comments are getting on the bitter side, then maybe it's time for you to look past the awards filled entrance and explore a different direction.

The good thing is it's not a one-way move. Whilst some agencies are slowly changing, they only know what they know. Working outside agency land and then returning will influence the way you work and could bring some refreshing ways to how an agency should function. By doing so, you will also come back with an extremely insightful and valuable understanding of what is important to clients, how they work and what really gets them excited. This will only help you better sell your creative thinking to clients down the track.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the body of work you do and as a senior CD recently said to me, "... if you are not adding 2-3 things to your folio a year, then maybe it's time to try somewhere else" There is no reason you can't achieve this client-side.

The thing I think most creatives fear over making this sort of move is the belief that their work will lack variety. Whilst you will still jump around from brief to brief, you won't be doing frozen peas in the morning and insurance work in the afternoon. That said, there is still a heap of scope within the space. There are always new products, features, tradeshows, campaigns and a brand that needs to stay relevant. I guess it's no different to being assigned to the one big client. And focussing on a single (and always evolving) problem for a long time should lead to better creative and business outcomes. It gives you the opportunity to try things, to fail, to learn, to try again and to take risks. So what a digital product may appear to lack in variety, it well and truly makes up for in other ways.

These businesses get down to the business of creating and doing. Most of the people in our office think Rosé is a flower and Cannes Festival of Creativity is a film festival. Yes, whilst we don't often hunt awards or recognition, I believe the work that comes from this side of the fence could find it.

And by the way, if you are looking for something new, I'm looking for a new digital designer. We also will be expanding roles in the new year across UX, Design, writing and social so feel free to connect.