Embracing Diversity of Thought

It seems like a lifetime ago that I scraped through university with a degree in Marketing. And whilst most of my memories of that time are pretty fuzzy, some of my studies have stuck with me. Remarkably, they’ve even served me well when it comes to understanding the fundamentals of business strategy, brand building, consumer psychology and communication, particularly when it comes to cracking the briefs of the clients I’ve been fortunate to work with over the years.

But whilst these fundamentals help provide direction to my thinking, the ever-changing nature of the challenges that brands face today to remain distinctive and inspiring (Unforgettable, if you will) mean that thinking beyond the conventional is required.

One of the challenges of running a small (but might I add, perfectly formed) strategy department is ensuring that we can not only meet the needs of current client briefs, but we inspire new thinking. For a number of years now, embracing ‘Diversity of Thought’ has become a philosophy that has shaped my approach to recruitment, briefs, and Taxi Studio 's partner network.

From the Semioticians with a deep knowledge of Sichuan culture, to the interns who provide a completely different perspective on the connection between modern brands and cultural anthropology (I’m looking at you Isabel Halpin ), and the Speech and Language Therapists who tell you what it really feels like to live with a life-altering medical condition, each alternative point of view not only provides you with brief-altering insights, but it also fuels a personal curiosity to learn more and take myself beyond my own comfort zone.

Unsurprisingly some of the best people I’ve worked with have followed a path into industry far less conventional than mine. In actual fact, a business qualification makes me a bit of an outlier amongst the Political Diplomats, Economists, Teachers, Mathematicians and Social Anthropologists I’ve had the pleasure of calling Strategy Kin.

So whilst in the day-to-day, we continue to seek out the extraordinary and inject originality into our approaches and thinking, the next task for the industry is look even further beyond the convention for inspiration.?

Tilly Scott gave a kick-ass presentation at the recent West of England Design Forum Fresh Event (expertly curated by one of my own Diversity of Thought rockstars Emma Hopton , herself an ex-Design Academic, turned Designer, turned razor-sharp Strategist) in which she - amongst other things - highlighted the disparity in race and gender equality.

Tilly rightly pointed out that this disparity was all a bit shit. So we as an industry must try harder. We must go beyond traditional talent pools. Revel in the removal of geographic barriers. And make it a reality for those who would otherwise be precluded because of their background, gender, race, or education, to have access to roles within the creative industry.

On education, since joining the industry I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve encountered who’ve not had the benefit of graduating from a University. So where are the apprenticeships and vocational courses? Who’s visiting inner-city secondary schools to sell the dream of Agency life (I did recently. Year 10 students looking for work experience. To the one student who asked me a question, I salute you!)?

Diversity of Thought is one of the things that makes the creative industry what it is. Whether it’s at a project or industry level, stymying it through a lack of willingness to embrace new thinking will only serve to hold us all back.