Thanksgiving Supper

Thanksgiving, Thursday 24 November we invited some influential creatives from around the city to join us at St Claude’s in Woollahra for an open discussion ‘the creative department of now’. The night was filled with excellent food, French wines and engaging conversation. It served as the perfect opportunity for our industry leaders to discuss the issues they face, and to share Insights into how we can help them overcome these issues.

Some interesting points from the evenings discussions included:

In relation to loyalty from creatives, longevity at an agency has its positives and negatives. It is important to look at what has actually been achieved by an individual during their time at a certain agency. Loyalty is a two-way street, if a Creative Director or agency can’t give the opportunities and environment a creative wants then it is inevitable that they might look for new opportunities. Furthermore, sometimes fluidity can be important in a creative department as it can keep things fresh. As long as the creative is moving to bigger and better things, the CD is happy to see that person has grown and is ready for something more than their current opportunity.
With the increased speed of turnover in the industry it is up to Creative Directors to help young creatives develop their craft. You won’t always get the chance to spend as much time as you might like on a project. But if you love your idea and love what you are doing, you will find the time to get the job done on time and looking beautiful. As John Hegarty used to say; "It's 80% idea and 80% execution!"
It’s very difficult to find people who are pure “hybrid” creatives and if you do happen to have somebody who can do everything, it’s important not to over work them. More important than having hybrids is having a great team, where everyone is good at what they do and good at collaborating. Sometimes it’s better to be a specialist than a generalist.
When bringing new people into an agency culture is number 1. You can teach skills, but you can’t teach culture. It is so important for the recruiter to understand an agency’s culture.
Finding work life balance can be difficult. But when working you should love what you are doing, so it doesn’t feel like work.
Whilst new channels of communication have created new ways to reach people the basics remain the same. You have to create something special, no matter the medium. These days, it is difficult to reach people on just one channel.