How Ketchum Is Building ‘Proper Creative’ Capabilities on PR Foundations
There’s still a notion among many in the creative industry that really beautiful and powerful craft and storytelling can’t come from a PR agency. For that you need a ‘proper’ creative agency, goes the assumption.
But not all PR agencies are content to let that stereotype proliferate. Ketchum is doing its bit to challenge that. Since Indy Selvarajah began at Ketchum two years ago, he’s worked to inject the sort of creativity and strategy he worked on in his ad industry career into his team, focusing on developing ways of working and the level of creative output.
Now the chief creative officer’s work is showing results. Ketchum has been working with craft specialists like Caviar, Independent and Outsider to deliver content that goes beyond stereotypes of what a PR agency’s capable of. And the campaigns coming out for Ketchum’s clients have been picking up awards too. In June, its Iceland campaign won four Cannes Lions.
LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with Indy about how he’s working to make Ketchum known as a creative agency through “effective, culture-first thinking”.
LBB> Your background was in art and TV, before moving into creative agencies Kindred and Brothers & Sisters. What were your feelings moving into a PR agency in 2016?
Indy> Originally I was an artist with gallery shows at The Serpentine, Tate and Whitney in NY. I then wrote for TV and the next stop was ad agencies. I’ve always enjoyed challenging myself with new disciplines and art forms, so six years ago I moved to my first PR agency.
It was something of a shock!
The processes are very different. Written briefs (often there are none) were very different to where I had been, strategy wasn’t always seen as integral and the actual creative output and craft not regarded as a high priority.
But, it was the variety of clients under one roof and huge potential to create truly earned campaigns that grabbed my attention.
LBB> Since then, what have you come to realise about the role of creative craft and storytelling in PR agencies?
Indy> Like every industry, things need to be challenged, shaken up and looked at in a new way. PR is no different.
Fundamentally, PR agencies are built around earned creative, which takes a fair bit of time to get your head around as a creative. You haven’t got the luxury or safety net of paid media behind campaigns that ad agencies have. Your ideas have to truly resonate with people, be of the moment and effective in order for them to fly.
And this is the exciting part and where real joy and satisfaction come from. When you create a powerful or beautiful piece of storytelling and craft that truly resonates with people.
When it works, you know it works because people talk about it, share it, relevant news outlets write about it and, ultimately, it will alter lives for the better. All through zero - or hardly any - media spend.
LBB> What was the mission when you started at Ketchum two years ago?
Indy> I can tell you word for word what I said to Jo-ann [Robertson, Ketchum’s CEO] when we first met: “To make this known as a creative agency and win proper creative awards with effective culture-first thinking.”
Most PR agencies have always, and many still, only ‘amplify’ ad agency ideas. I didn’t want to do this. That’s not why I came here. I wanted this agency to conceive, create and execute fully integrated, earned campaigns. To show what is possible, to Ketchum, the industry and our clients.
Luckily, myself and Jo-ann (boringly) agreed with everything, and her 100% backing on this new approach and vision is testament to where we are today. It would have been easier (and definitely less grey hairs) for her to revert back to the more comfortable status quo. But basically, we both love a good challenge!
LBB> And how have you built up your creative capabilities since?
Indy> It’s about process, participation and people. When this works, 9 times out of 10 the work will speak for itself.
The processes were having proper strategy, creative briefs that were actually brief and enough time for creatives to properly crack the ask.
Participation was about getting everyone on the shop floor to buy into this new approach and, importantly, work as a team.
PR agencies have classically been more siloed in their departments, but huge credit to everyone at Ketchum on working as a truly integrated team, towards one goal.
And people. There were only two people in the creative department when I arrived, so there was a job for me to build from the ground up. I brought in people like Donya Davis, one of the few (Black) women in a head of design position and Luke Walker, who won the Glass Lion in its first year. We now have ten creatives, but what makes me most proud is having one of the most diverse creative departments around with backgrounds including Iranian, Peruvian, Indian, Jamaican, Sri Lankan, Spanish, Malaysian and a 60/40 gender split in favour of female creatives.
It goes to show it can be done and when I hear people in other agencies say they can’t find a diverse workforce, it's bullshit.
You just have to work harder by putting in the extra hours, looking in less traditional places and trusting your gut when giving people jobs.
It was also really important that we started working with brilliant people who could elevate our storytelling through beautiful craft. Over the past 18 months we’ve worked with some super talented folks including Caviar Films, Outsider, UNIT9 and Mad Cow.
LBB> What sort of creative work can PR agencies do that traditional creative agencies aren't equipped for?
Indy> At its heart, it’s about creating work that truly permeates through culture, flooding into people’s lives through earned means. And if you can find the right creative people who can pivot their approach so they aren't relying on huge paid media spends and just writing ads, but still coming up with brilliant ideas – that’s the sweet spot. And that’s where PR agencies have a leg up.
PR agencies like Ketchum also have the benefit of variety all on one floor. You never know where a great brief can come from. We are creating award winning work, like our LEGO campaign, from our corporate clients. And then you have healthcare, consumer, sustainability and tech thrown in the mix. It’s about keeping your ear to the ground and looking for creative potential from anywhere in the building.
One other big factor is budget. PR agencies will rarely get the budgets given to ad agencies. You have to accept this, but again, use it as a device to really squeeze every last bit of resourcefulness and innovative thinking. Fill your creative department with ‘doers’, who can solve problems as well as come up with brilliant ideas.
I’ve worked on £1m ads, but the work we are now doing for 5% of those budgets are actually better and resonate with people in a much more authentic way.
LBB> What work are you recently most proud of and why?
Indy> We’ve done some beautifully powerful campaigns over the past 18 months, like Little Simz X Adobe to get more young people of colour into the creative industries and ‘The Food Club’ for Iceland Supermarket, helping families during the cost-of-living crisis. The latter scooped us four Cannes Lions this summer, including a gold.
But it’s ‘The Most Boring Room Ever’ for LEGO I’m most proud of. It was supposed to just be a corporate press release but we convinced the client, who had never signed off on creative work [from Ketchum], that we could do something much bigger and better.
A striking insight, beautifully simple idea and charming execution that resonates with anyone no matter age, background or heritage. A film kicked it off and then thousands of families across the world responded by filming themselves as they took part in our Play Pledge.
It’s the most awarded in Ketchum’s global 100-year history and broke us into new ground at shows like The One Show, Clios, Eurobest and Campaign Big.
LBB> What are your biggest ambitions for Ketchum in the coming months and years?
Indy> The foundations have been set here at Ketchum. It’s now up to us as a collective to keep on pushing, challenging the industry, our clients and ourselves with the work we know we’re capable of doing. As the saying goes, you’re only as good as your last piece of work, so we can’t sit on our laurels.
It can be easy to revert to the ‘old ways’, the safe ways, especially in a climate where there’s uncertainty. But great creativity and effectiveness is what gives you currency and relevancy.
As for next year… we’re looking to pick up even more Lions!
