Why Nothing Is More Valuable than Passion
How many ads do you remember seeing yesterday? The answer I get from all marketers is the same, “zero to none”, followed by a sigh.
Instead, I believe being remembered successfully can be attributed to one specific factor: passion.
Specifically, passion stands out because it provokes emotion. But, that’s no easy task. As a former creative director, I can tell you it's very difficult to be passionate in a culture of fear and profit-driven business. The common consensus to ‘not rock the boat’ kills originality and shrinks ideas into 15-second afterthoughts that deliver ‘impressions’ no CFO can quantify. In short, for something to be memorable, it requires risk. And passion provoking risk is seen less and less as places ‘hold’ (pun intended) onto their profits.
In many ways, this is exactly why independent agencies are on the rise. It’s not just because it’s romantic to start one’s own business, but because it’s original, and gives you the license to be authentic. If you want whatever you're selling to stand out, you need partners that are willing to keep that fire alive – ones who share your passion to do something different in the sea of sameness.
Every year I ask clients who have them, for product coupons. Through the year, I love to give them away to target audience members at places I tend to visit periodically. Bartenders at restaurants, parking lot security workers, Uber drivers, etc. I connect with them, ask questions about their product or brand perception, and days later, when I meet them again, I get the most unfiltered and passionate feedback a marketer can hope for. Some of that feedback has made it into creative ideas and product development meetings.
This pursuit of bottom lines above all else, perhaps, is one of the big reasons why corporations have been moving their global communication efforts to local independent agencies, contributing to the hurricane of transformation holding agencies are experiencing. And I firmly believe no one is working on quantifying the negative effects these changes will have on marketers and the businesses they represent.
Subsequently, I feel for many of my colleagues who are being affected by this. In some ways, I even feel for these large corporate giants who have their size being used against them, forcing an operational structure where the cash cow account prevails above all, and risk is not just avoided – it’s entirely filtered out of existence.
For years, I have run a workshop for the fourth-year Bachelor of Advertising students at a college in Toronto. And every year, the school runs a survey asking students what agencies they aspire to work for. Independent agencies are top three year over year.
This translates to real world results. After visiting our agency for a final presentation, for example, most stay behind to chat with our team, and all voice how much they favour working in-person in an environment like ours. For years I've been hearing from, ‘There's something about this place I can't describe’, or ‘It's just so cool and I want to spend more time here!’. I always respond with the same thing, “You're feeling welcome in a free and genuinely passionate place.”
That pure, uncorrupted passion is nurtured in an environment fuelled by the excitement of not having a safety net or a share price. It's scary, but it’s also damn good. It’s a place with no corners to hide in, which forces accountability in turn. It’s where you find that exciting feeling of being the underdog, in a constant fight, always punching above the waist.
"Independent agencies are not rising by accident."
All this is to say, again, independent agencies are not rising by accident. They're winning because they’re free to lose. They can still say no. They can push harder. They build cultures that reward courage over politics. And yes, despite the hard economic times, they can fire clients who don’t align to their purpose.
Last year, Forbes spoke about the growing preference for independent agencies due to their agility, personalised service, and innovative approaches. This year, it spoke about “A mass exodus of senior talent leaving large agencies in search of flexibility, freedom and the chance to do meaningful work leaving some big agencies struggling to retain top-tier talent.” That level of agility means they can act more on instinct, and fail faster when need be. If a brief is wrong, they say so. If the insight’s soft, they go back to the data. If the idea’s too easy, they push for better. There’s no ladder to climb; the decision-maker is already in the room.
"So, I ask you this: When was the last time your agency challenged your thinking, or pitched something unrequested that made you excitedly nervous?"
If you can’t remember, I'm sorry to say, you no longer have the spirit of a fiery intern in your team – you have a recently-graduated young adult carrying a heavy school debt that’s willing to do anything to pay for next month's rent.
No creative agency is perfect. But if you're a marketer who wants to thrive in this ever-changing landscape, choose partners that are truly invested in your cause, and who will lose sleep over your brand.
People are giving more attention to brands seeking originality, passionate work and genuine connections. Should it be a surprise for marketers to attune to that instinct and hire creative agencies that live by those values authentically?
