At HeadsUp Production, Brands Always Come First

Above: Jody, Tim, Francine

“At a time when the traditional agency model was under threat and brands were demanding a transparent, more agile, value driven service from their agencies, it became clear that there was an opportunity to create and operate a new model for brands that satisfied their needs,” explain HeadsUp Production’s partners: Jody Allison, Tim Page, and Francine Linsey.

Tim and Jody used their ex-agency heads of production experience to form HeadsUp Production seven years ago. With the addition of Francine, they are motivated by the belief that they can best serve brands’ evolving needs in today’s landscape by breaking down complex and formulaic solutions in favour of a tailored and independent approach.  

As the traditional network agencies move to invest in tech-based solutions, Francine – who was formerly chief production officer at AMV BBDO – wonders what it actually means for brands. “It's interesting reading some recent articles about network agencies who are evolving their production offering and are clearly investing and focusing in certain areas like tech. This answers the clients demand for volume and always on, but is it also suited to the best creative output?,” she asks.

The HeadsUp Production team has seen how the evolution of production – and brands’ move to in-house models – has changed what production must deliver now to best serve clients’ new needs. It’s a closer relationship with production partners rooted in trust, honesty, and transparency which only a truly independent model can provide. 

LBB caught up with Francine, Jody, and Tim to learn more about the key issues that traditional production can’t help brands solve, why independent production is best suited to brands’ needs today, and how HeadsUp Production’s new service – MatchUp – is going to give brands access to the team’s extensive global network of production experts. 

LBB> How have you seen production evolve from the traditional model to where it is today? 

Francine> Over the last decade there have been brands using the hybrid model, and there are brands that have been doing everything themselves with an ‘in-house’ model. In a world where consumers’ demands are more pressing and time-dependent, it’s the brands themselves that best understand their customers, and can provide the necessary speed-of-reply and personalised response. So, developing ‘in-house’ capabilities to deliver and create content for social and digital platforms is the right direction to go. 

Tim> Production nowadays relies on embracing the clients’ immediate and real needs – delivering quality with speed and value – delivering for the brand. We believe it’s important for brands to be closer to production to ensure clarity and trust through transparency, communication, and collaboration. Heads Up was set up to provide exactly this. There isn’t really a traditional production model anymore as such, but what is key is that the best experts are matched to a project, and for that reason we are fervent supporters of independent craftspeople and companies, rather than the one-stop agency network production sector. 

Jody> We have long valued working with the independent marketplace because this undoubtedly drives collaboration, competition and value. A one-size-fits-all mentality has never really been a way of ensuring creativity lives in the same space as value, and ultimately marketing needs to stand-out to the consumer yet be cost-effective. We have no ‘tie-ups’ so can be honest about suitability of a potential production partner. Network agencies’ production arms are not always an ideal answer because this is still just an extension of the old ‘behind closed doors’ model, and it’s questionable whether this gives brands value and transparency as there is a big machine to serve.

LBB> What are you finding that brands need most from their production partners at the moment? What’s behind this demand?

Jody> Agility, transparency, and partnership. They want to be able to see what's going on, understand what's going on, be a part of the conversation and have relationships with production partners, no longer being held at arms’ length. Brands want to have trust in those people who can deliver the speed and the agility to get it done because they need and want to talk to their consumers much, much quicker than they ever have done. 

Tim> Given our heads of production background, the three of us have unrivalled experience in the marketplace. Everyone is focusing so much on tech right now and when used correctly its definitely beneficial, but knowledge is still a powerful tool. As well as our full start to finish production service, we now also offer a service we’re calling MatchUp, where we suggest talent and companies for brands to collaborate with directly according to the brief. We know so many connections on a global scale, and therefore have a unique view on who is best for a job, both creatively and logistically. For us to broker production partnerships for brands just seems like a logical step in this new world of production. Any brand that wants to broaden their production supplier portfolio can use our brains to unlock potential partners. 

LBB> Why are trust and choice so important to brands? What do these mean in today’s landscape, and how is Heads Up addressing this?

Jody> When working directly with brands we are able to earn their trust and they understand that we're working in their best interests; at the end of the day, we are working for them. We're not working like a conduit, and we’ve done this successfully for years. We might guide them to help make some decisions, but ultimately, we're not serving ourselves here… other than the hope and belief that we will get repeat business. In effect, we are an extension of the brand team, all pulling in the same direction – all based on trust.

Francine> We’re seeing large agency groups corralling their clients’ production needs into their own production services offerings. By buying into this group agency model, clients may be unwittingly restricting their creative and production choices by removing the competitive bidding process of the open market. Less or no choice of directors, production or post companies, with little true transparency. Is this in the clients’ best interest? Brands may be offered some notion of transparency and choice, but you can only have true transparency and choice through using an independent partner.

LBB> There’s more talent than ever actively looking to work directly with brands compared to a few years ago. Do you agree with this and how is it benefiting everyone?

Tim> People used to be less open minded to working directly with brands. I think as an industry, we've not always been that open to ‘show our homework’ to brands, and that's a historic thing. It's always been a little bit of smoke and mirrors; that's not the case anymore. There is no longer a ‘them and us’. Creatives have realised that actually working directly with brands is a positive thing because it takes some of the baton passing out of the process.

Francine> Increasingly, brands want to do things differently because they see the success that other clients are having with this new way of working. There's a lot of excellent freelance talent and independent companies looking to work with brands in this way. This suits clients’ in-house agencies as well as independents like us. It promotes trust, choice, and transparency.

LBB> What are the tangible benefits for brands to work with independent production partners like Heads Up?

Tim> We’re strategic production partners rather than being solely producers. Our responsibility is to the brand, and our focus is on helping brands get the best out of their productions and its unique challenges. Every brand has particular needs so we look at the strategy of the production set-up as a whole rather than just what’s best for a single project.

Jody> Because of how we are set-up, we work closer to the brand team. We strip out layers that aren’t necessary and can move with more agility. We have choice in how we can approach each project whether that’s working through us for end-to-end production, or, by finding the best people out there in the industry. All of this adds up to speed and value whilst maintaining the highest creative bar.

LBB> How are shrinking budgets and ongoing economic issues affecting what brands are looking for? What does ‘value’ mean for brands today and how can they ensure they’re getting it?

Tim> Whenever we look at a project, we sit down and talk to brands about what they want to do, and what they're trying to achieve. It is about value and not about cheapness. Value is about creating the right things for the right price, and being affordable for what needs to be achieved. It's all about analysing the possibilities and opportunities, because there are so many. At Heads Up, we make sure that the strategy for doing production, whether it be a project or an entire campaign, is putting the right building blocks in place to get the value long-term.

Francine> The sheer scale and speed of change of new technologies is where the possibilities have arisen. The production industry has been very good at embracing these opportunities in the technology revolution, but it is also a discipline that’s under enormous cost pressure. It needs to continuously reinvent itself, to adapt, and offer clients the benefits of those technological advances – in speed, quality and cost.

Jody> We don't have a list of preferred suppliers. We've deliberately made that choice so that we have the ability to look at the project and truly make those independent choices to decide what's best for any brand or project, and therefore drive value through competition. We recognise that brands will quite rightly always drive to get the most value out of production, and we know that there are areas that the independent marketplace needs to evolve in order to provide transparency and best value. It’s through proactive openness and dialogue with them that we will make this a reality.