To Address The Empowered Consumer With Fresh Thinking, Agencies Need To Be Different In Skill-Set, Talent And Processes.

Berlin School of Creative Leadership
Thesis Ralf Zilligen, December 2007
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Prologue.
Chapter 1: What Happened To Us?
Chapter 2: Road To Creative Economy.
Chapter 3: Collaboration Is King.
Chapter 4: Developing ideas – brand new!
Chapter 5: Relaunch Of The Creatives.
Chapter 6: Wanted – The New Creative Idea.
Epilogue.
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Prologue
We are currently in the year 2007. The entire sector is involved in a discussion primarily concerned with the assessment of technology and new media. Although we really should be dealing with core ideas, innovations and, therefore, creative capital.

Why is this?

Due to a lack of creative leadership. Technocrats, lawyers and business economists are discussing the future of a creative sector. About a decade ago in the music industry we were able to witness, live as it were, where such a discussion may lead.

In a recently published study by IBM entitled, “The end of advertising as we know it”, we were confronted with the following key questions from the contractor’s point of view: Will advertisers still need a traditional agency? If so, in what capacity? Will consumers reject outright the concept of interruption marketing in the future? Will consumers see value in advertising as a trade-off for content? To what extent will advertising inventory be sold through open platforms? Are companies organized correctly to create, market and distribute cross-platform content?

Reason enough to contribute to shifting the focus with a thesis. Under what conditions will creatives in agencies work in future? What pre-requisites will they need to fulfil and what results will that bring?

I would like to show evidence that agencies certainly have a future and that companies – under certain pre-requisites – are certainly interested in working with agencies in the future.

At the core of my thesis, I deal with the organisation of creatives, with the processes that lead to the creative product and with the idea itself. In five steps, I will show why the Creative Department must undergo change.

The Creative Department, as we know it, no longer meets the requirements to solve the contemporary problems of agency customers. It is no longer able to keep pace with competition in allowing creative talent to unfold in the so-called creative economy and does not offer enough for the new self-image of young creatives.

This knowledge led me to develop a new organisational form and to create a series of new job outlines, which I am convinced are necessary.
My observations are based on numerous books, articles and publications from critical and reflective representatives of our business, from academics, management theorists and practitioners. A complete source is attached to this thesis paper.

The aim of my thesis is not only to make a contribution to the current discussion from the point of view of a creative leader, but also to present a practical model.

Dusseldorf, December 2007