My two cents on the credit crunch and the role for creative companies

At this year's Olympics, Usain Bolt blew away the competition and became the fastest man on earth. Michael Phelps became the most successful Olympian of all time. Apart from being the quickest in their disciplines, what do these two athletes have in common? They're different, they're extraordinary, Usain Bolt is 6ft 5ins, dwarfing most stocky powerhouse sprinters. Michael Phelps has size 14 feet, his arm span is disproportionately large. In short, they're completely adapted to what they're doing. That's all well and good, but how does this relate to marketing....?

In the wake of the announcement by Martin Sorrell I read yesterday saying that there are planned redundancies for WPP in the UK and US in 2009. It's often been said that in recessions, the more creative advertising ideas get relegated for more solid proven money drivers. But I've been thinking that this time, it's going to be the agencies that are nimble, reactive and quick on their feet and the ones that can prove that they can lead the field in terms of innovation that will succeed.

When massive Comms groups like WPP announce that there are recruitment freezes, that restricts the extent to which the operating companies can manouevre themselves. When client budget belts are tightening and when they need to grab market share with quick, headline grabbing, innovative campaigns, I reckon small, independent agencies are better placed to do this. These are the companies that don't have to abide by recruitment freezes and can make audacious pitches for client business against larger agencies, in the knowledge that those larger agencies may be struggling for resource. With the staff turnover in some large media and creative agencies so high and their lack of ability to hire new people to replace those leaving, surely it won't be long before large clients start to notice a drop in service levels?

Along with this uncertainty comes the possibility that talent, trained in the big agencies, will go with these clients to smaller agencies, looking for more creative roles and higher salaries.

A company like Ideo, while not being a media or ad agency, by being renowned for it's innovation capabilities is gaining media coverage and paper headlines. In the Guardian recently, Mat Hunter, partner at Ideo is quoted as saying that in sluggish times "you have to respond to rapidly changing consumer sentiment and this should prompt rapid innovation". It's this innovation that will make brands stand out and steal a march on their competition.

Brands like Innocent, have taken this to heart, launching new products when traditional thinking would dictate that high end, premium products like theirs would suffer in a recession. It's their guess that people still think good, healthy food is worth paying that bit extra for. So they've launched Veg Pots, find more here - they look pretty tasty!

It's these companies, the Usains and Michaels of their field, that will break records and post their personal bests over the next few years.

Playtime - live a kidulthood

Just watched a couple of programmes which have made me think about creativity and how we approach it as adults.

The first of these programmes was a 3 Minute Wonder on Channel 4 in which children from a primary school in London were given free reign to give their ideas on the potential future developments and uses for various household appliances and fixtures. Among the ideas they came up with were interactive wallpapers to fit your mood, operated by a microphone implanted in your living room wall, fridges which selected healthy food for you from the shelves and beds which respond to body temperature and make sure that the lucky person sleeping on them is at the most comfortable temperature.

The second programme which got me thinking was a TED talk by Tim Brown, co founder of design and innovation firm Ideo around the idea that by embracing the idea of creative playtime, getting over our adult inhibitions, we can often come up with our most inspiring ideas. The talk formed part of The Art Center Serious Play Design Conference earlier this year.

Tim Brown's argument is that many good ideas never get voiced by their owners as they are scared that they will be immediately dismissed.He points to the layouts and designs of the offices of companies which aspire to provide their clients with creative solutions to their problems, the Google Zurich office complete with slides, fireman poles and T-rex skeletons, being just one example.

It's something which I am a firm believer in, and no it's not because I am a lazy person, I just believe that as the saying goes, "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". It's in this spirit that I have been mucking around with my camera recently. I'm not saying that I've created anything fantastic, it just felt quite liberating to play around and take photos of nothing much! One of the results is below


If I can find the 3 Minute Wonder video, I will post it here soon.

On a separate note, Under Scan was closed today....due to rain, damn English November weather!

Li Wei - Dangerous

No- they're not photoshopped. Li Wei creates these "performance art photos" using props and extremely strong wires. His photos show him in precarious situations where for the viewer, the only possible outcome is disaster. These situations range from the above, to falling from the sky to having already landed, head first into various objects (cars, the ground, lakes).

His work evokes strong reactions from passers by: "The first reaction is astonishment. Some people think they are full of sense of humour. They are curious about how I did this".

It's this sense of humour, albeit slightly dark, that makes these images so striking. It's something that I mentioned in a previous post and I'm glad I've been able to find an example so quickly to illustrate my point.

Find more of Li Wei's photos here