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<table width=99% border=0><tr bgcolor="#FFFF99"><td width=500><p><b>Big vs. Small</b> <font face=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica size=2><br>by Avid on Tuesday, August 22 @ 00:51:08 PDT</td></tr><tr><td>Small agencies (creative consultants, boutiques, farms factories,
brand doctors, idea-circuses, thought-spunkers, whatever they're
called) have progressive philosophies. Large agencies have a
financial plan. Small agencies pay respect to their staff (i.e. team
members). Large agencies pay huge wages to keep their staff (i.e.
employees).
<P>
Small agencies work with the client - only together can they make the
brand strong. Large agencies have account people to keep the client
at arms length - don't let them interfere in the advertising process.
<P>
So on, so forth.
<P>
But there are enough exceptions to disprove this child-theory.
<P>
TBWA GGT etc (I think there are more initials in their alphabetic
soup of a name) have hundreds of people crammed into their London
offices. Yet, they produce some highly creative and imaginative work
(Playstation, fcuk) against the odds of a supposedly unmanageable
size. The same can be said for Abbot Mead Vickers - take Guinness for
example or the monster BMP DDB Needham - they produce the freshest
work in the guise of Volkswagen.
<P>
Then, the flip side. The relatively small in comparison creative
shit-hot-shop agency called St. Lukes in London has an envious
philosophy that would make any creative worth her salt pay money to
work there. Yet, their work is often embarrassingly bad (I would give
examples but am unable to remember any - only their excellent Ikea
campaigns manage to deliver).
Somehow the self-proclaimed beautiful strategies get drowned; perhaps
the result of too many planning meetings or team-building get
togethers or too much reverence to 'our friend the client.' The
outcome is bland, the antithesis of all that was promised.
<P>
Even Mother, London's baby-genius, can, perversely, be said to suffer
because of its size. Highly fashionable, it doesn't manage to
permeate the mainstream with creative work, and gathers a reputation
by working for relatively small clients within the safe confines of a
Face-reading target market. Mother works on a planet where
over-design masks under-ideas.
<P>
Large agencies tend to surprise more by breaking beyond their heavy
bulk to produce good ideas, even when they're burdened with briefs
that seek global campaigns. When they pull it off, they are producing
far more creative work than a small agency which has its sticky paws
on a small dotcom client or micro-brewery. Small agencies get the
juicy sub-brands where mistakes can be afforded. Larger agencies have
to sweat with the main important brands. Real creativity is pulling
off a fresh idea for a generic household product, not wacky ideas for
a local bagel shop chain.
<P>
However, despite this inescapably obvious fact, big agencies believe the hype.
<P>
We can see large agencies panic in the face of all these youthful
start-ups and desperately grow their own volcanic acne by opening up
things called Creative Pods within their own networks.
These are small cells protected against the big bad bureaucracy of
the actual agency. The cells contain comfier sofas, funkier lighting
and idea-rooms for clients. Cross through the door to the other side
into the real agency, and you'll be back in the drab uniformity of
greying filing cabinets and dusty vertical blinds.
<P>
What does this say, this invention of supposedly zesty
mini-structures within the rusty infrastructure of the whole agency?
Is it an admittance that their working methods are a mess? Would it
not be better to invest the money in finding new ways to make their
size more fluid, rather than avoiding the problem by dripping the
essence of their creativity into a shielded shop?
<P>
Isn't it more valuable to think about restructuring the whole rather
than disintegrating the parts? It's compartmentalising rather than
bringing together. The future surely = disenfranchised disillusioned
employees.
<P>
(And don't they know? The pod will doubtless break away once the
fruits of their labour start to sprout. Soon they will become their
own start up without the huge shadow of the big agency interfering
all the time. This, of course, has its own problems as the new
creative pod will get to fully develop its own highly original
philosophy and meet agencies like St.Lukes on Up Your Own Arse
Avenue.)
<P>
And what about seeking work? Big v. small, what should you choose?
Smaller agencies promise freedom, but as often as not, weigh you down
with their good intentions. Your way of thinking could become diluted
by joining their cult.
<P>
Larger agencies, through the anonymity of the size, can offer more
opportunities to mess about and make mistakes. If the larger agency
has an editing suite tucked away in their basement, or access to all
the computer programmes you dreamed of, or a couple of dv cameras
knocking about, you can experiment without making so much as a dent
in their revenue. A smaller agency may not have the resources to give
you a chance to play.
<P>
The good larger agencies, if you fight for it, will see no harm in
throwing you the moist rump steak of a top tv brief, whereas the
smaller agency, despite their reputation for risks, might find that a
radio commercial 6 months down the line is a difficult thing to hand
to you. The best choice is to try both and see where it clicks. Many
hate the Mafia like intimacy of small agencies, preferring the social
web of larger outfits.
<P>
This rant doesn't really have an end. Only to say, I know where I
would rather work. Please end the rant for me, by posting your
agreements or otherwise:- </td></tr></table><hr><form action="comments.php3" method=post><P><FONT color="#666600"><B>Your Name</B></FONT> Anonymous<P><FONT color="#666600"><B>Subject</B></FONT><BR><INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="subject" SIZE=50 maxlength=60 value="Re: Big vs. Small"><BR><P><FONT color="#666600"><B>Comment</B></FONT><BR><TEXTAREA wrap=virtual cols=50 rows=10 name=comment></TEXTAREA><br>
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