Martin Sorrell and the death of big agencies.

With the sudden exit of Martin Sorrell from WPP could this signal the beginning of the end of the behemoth advertising holding companies? We can live in hope.

Big is not beautiful in the creative world, and the bigger the holding companies became the uglier the creative side of the business became.

A creative industry not led by creative figures makes very little sense. Yes I know it is a business, but creativity is at the core of that business. Heavyweight leaders of the holding companies are far removed from the creative process and have never held a creative position in their careers, their eye is on the bottom line and their incredibly high salaries. It seems some clients have woken up to this as per this article. While some holding company CEO's are paid in the double-digit millions the actual people creating the work for the client's brand my well be getting paid in the mid five figure range as there is a push to get younger and less experienced staff on-board to save costs.

When an agency starts to become like a factory, with hundreds of people all lined up at rows of identical desks tapping away at computers under unforgiving lighting the end 'creative' result cannot be expected to be great. Factories churn out the same thing over and over again, that's what they are designed for.

Clients and brands need ideas and the making of those ideas. You don't need a cast of thousands to make that happen today and you most certainly don't need a CEO on a $20 Million dollar salary either.

The creative communications industry needs to get back to its roots. Get back to the core of what it was all about in the first place - creating ideas for brands that would engage with the people they were created for. Pretty simple.

Think bigger. Stay smaller.

I've seen chihuahuas take on great danes at dog parks, I love their guts. We need more chihuahuas, more scrappy creative outfits willing to go toe-to-toe with the big players.

Small can now be the new big - technology enables this.

And forget the accolades and award shows, the slaps on the back at Cannes, the adulation of those who have more trophies on their shelves than their competitors. Instead, get back to what it was all about - creative ideas and the making of those ideas.

If you love creating ideas you shouldn't need a trophy, the work should be the trophy. I played the award game just like everyone else, it was de rigueur at the time, but I stopped in 2007. I found a new passion for the creative process and the work I wanted to do when I stopped worrying about wether or not it would get a Lion or a Pencil. They are just glorified bookends at the end of the day. My awards now sit in a box in a dusty storage unit.

If you want to enter contests, fine, but enter real creative contests such as film festivals, art shows, photography contests, and the like. That has more creative cred than winning a gold statue for a dishwashing liquid ad.

Imagine if a band tried to win a Grammy or get a gold record for every single song they wrote? They'd go nuts and the creative soul of what they are doing would be erased. I came from the music industry prior to advertising and I can swear that is not the mission of the majority of bands and muscians, aside from it being impossible it would take the joy out of creating, the heart and soul of the songwriting process would be destroyed. Yes there are song factories that churn out songs just for the purpose of making them hits, but they are not the normal. Also, imagine if every artist painted pictures hoping that every single one of them would be a huge money maker, they too would be taking the joy out of what they do.

The industry lost its way as the holding companies got bigger and the creative people were pushed aside as being just another line item on a spreadsheet.

There is a big opportunity today for old and new creative people alike to change the dynamic. Create new ways of working. Show clients/brands that they don't need the big factory machines, what they need is ideas and creative work that does their product/service/offering justice.

For me it's a simple three step belief:

1. Be small. Stay small.

2. Think big. Be global from wherever you are.

3. Put creativity first, always.

Rodd

I'm a Creative Director / Writer / Strategist / Thinker and a bit more. I work with clients/brands directly and with agencies and production companies. I also teach creative thinking and idea generation to groups and individuals. You can read more of my LinkedIn musings here. You can also find me on Twitter,  Instagram and on Facebook. Or drop me an email – [email protected]

Words (aside from credited quotes) Copyright Rodd Chant 2018

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