InspiRAYtion: Schrodinger’s Agency
"If you were somewhat awake through school, you’d know about Schrodinger’s Cat. Advertising being at the intersection of Commerce and Art, renders all agencies Schrodinger’s Agencies," writes Rayomand J Patell in this week's InspiRAYtion.
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Welcome back dear reader (said in James May’s voice). It’s been a nice month, outlining how Advertising is a discipline, not a medium, then a piece for baby Suits, a piece for baby Creative on finding inspiration and for this Sunday, the conflict that is inherent in any agency at the best of times and how to manage it beautifully.
If you were somewhat awake through school, you’d know about Schrodinger’s Cat. Advertising being at the intersection of Commerce and Art, renders all agencies Schrodinger’s Agencies.
Why you ask? Because the tangibles of this business are the things that don’t bear measuring. And the intangibles of this business, simply can’t be measured. You just gotta have faith that they’re there and they’ll come through for you. In fact, the very act of trying to observe the intangibles of this business, makes the whole thing fall apart.
So here’s the thing. In the best creative agencies, it’s been agreed that stifling processes impede the best work and so they’ve been done away with. It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken they said, it takes a fantastic Suit to create an atmosphere where the Creatives get the most time within which to create, the most budgets with which to execute and the absolute most support should they ask for it. This partnership, is the only way. Faith in each other, is what makes agencies leap beyond the boundaries of linear logic into quantum magic.
What happens in places this partnership isn’t balanced?
In the usual suspects, the agency becomes a hotbed of presenteeism. You have to land up at a certain time, you have to fill in absurd timesheets to satisfy the conceit that our time is the measurement by which our revenues should be costed for. You have to work from the office because you will only ever have an idea there, rather than in a coffee shop, or while driving or hell, even while shaving. Then, if that’s not enough to make you scream with the futility of it all, there are meetings, about the meetings, that would not need meetings if the Creatives would be simply allowed to get on with the work quietly with a well stocked supply of Jim Jams and endless coffees.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have agencies breeding prima donnas. They increasingly make themselves irrelevant to the real world and unlike Steve Jobs, cannot come up with the goods required to win over clients. These prima donnas can be both Suits and Creatives, handle them with abundant care lest you be collateral damage during one of their hissy fits.
What happens in places this partnership is balanced though?
You get people running in to work on Monday morning simply because the agency is the place they want to be at. You get this electric atmosphere, of minds that are simply ‘on’. No idea is too audacious, no idea is received with a, ‘they’ll never buy it!” Above all else, great ideas come from anywhere in such an environment and they’re built up by everyone in the room, to a point of chiselled perfection. I believe, the Gorilla Cadbury ad came from an intern who walked into the CDs room late one evening and said… what if.. and the rest is history. Now that’s the sort of magic you want firing on all cylinders in your hot shop.
Make no mistake, creativity is like watching for a ship at night. If you look for it dead ahead, you will never spot it. But if you’re relaxed and looking sideways, you’ll catch it. The best agencies are the ones where your days and nights merge into one happy blur of pure energy. It’s a form of meditation to be in the zone for years sometimes decades on end. It’s why some agencies come out of nowhere, rise rapidly in money, fame and respect and then a few years later simply collapse when that delicate equilibrium is disturbed. The bean counters have this particular anathema towards any indulgence of creativity and yet, this whole business is predicated on how your people feel on a Sunday night.
That which can be measured can be controlled. But it is my submission, that it is that which should not be measured, that will lead directly to the happiest possible outcomes at work. Disband the stifling processes today and see what old fashioned faith and respect for each other brings to the table. There’s no timesheet entry for corridor conversations that have lead to a Cannes Gold. There’s no appraisal sheet on the planet that can predict a Suit’s ability to inspire a team into stardom. How do you measure the value of a dream someone had where a script arrived, fully formed? Let go of all this absurd control freakism and allow the fragrance of creativity to permeate your halls. You may not know how much time your people are spending on things but the client’s cash registers will be singing non stop. As will the awards rolling in.
Till we meet again next Sunday, you can follow for more inspiration daily on @rayomand.j.patell on the gram.
Rayomand J Patell is an advertising veteran and InspiRAYtion is a weekly column on everything about advertising and marketing.
