“We Don’t Believe in ‘Lone Wolf’ Hero Geniuses”: How Three ECDs Pursue Unpredictability

There’s a reason why 1993’s ‘Groundhog Day’ is still talked about in 2024. The concept of a repeating day is ostensibly ridiculous, or the stuff of trippy, hallucinogenic science fiction. Yet the feeling of being trapped in a time loop is so utterly universal. You wake up, hear the same voices, take the same shower, eat the same meals and read the same script until life becomes a detached blur. At the heart of the movie is a pure truth: That human beings are at their best when our lives are capable of surprising us. 

Maybe that’s why Caitlin Keeley, Josh Day, and Omar Morson - each an ECD at independent Toronto-based agency The Local Collective - work so effectively and so happily together. By tapping into their unique disciplines and perspectives, they take pride in surprising each other - and the result is work that stands apart. 

Speaking to LBB, all three are keen to stress their respect and appreciation for each others’ craft. “We don’t believe in lone hero geniuses”, explains Caitlin. “For all of us, in our respective careers, we’ve always been the kinds of people who enjoy collaboration for the way it makes our own work better”. 

Digging into that, it quickly becomes apparent just how real and authentic that level of respect is. There’s a shared sense amongst the trio that collaboration is more of a football match than a relay race, that each other's movements and skill sets open up space for their own to shine in concurrence. 

“It’s not about handing off our work to Omar and seeing where he takes it”, says Josh. “We’re working together all the time. He’ll share what’s inspiring him, and we’ll riff on that. The beautiful thing about having an art director, copywriter, and designer collaborating in real time is you’re always tightening up each others’ ideas”. 

As Omar goes on to explain, their work feels organic to the point that it juxtaposes strongly with the notion of automated, predictable output which feels like the dominant direction of travel in many parts of the industry. “I apologise for being the guy who mentions AI”, he says knowingly, “but the fact we’re very different people with different views is the benefit of working with humans. It’s unpredictable, but all ideas that truly move the needle are unpredictable”. 

Serendipitously, one of the first examples the team reached for to illustrate their approach is a campaign promoting Toronto’s One Of A Kind Show. A series of head-turning ads invite audiences to “go where the algorithm doesn’t”, and it would be harder to imagine a more illustrative depiction of the ECDs’ attitude if you tried. 

On the point about AI, and by Omar’s own admission, the topic is getting harder to escape in creative conversations. It can feel as though AI is the final chapter of an automation journey within the industry, one that’s become hyper-focused on predictable outcomes. It’s the reflexive temptation to simply say, “I want this project to look like that project”. But Caitlin, Josh, and Omar have a refreshing openness to the notion that their ideas might end up looking entirely different to how they first envisioned them. 

“There’s an inevitability to the efficiency mindset”, notes Caitlin. “Pressure for ROI breeds pressure for predictability. But it also breeds sameness, and the space for differentiation is wide open. If you look at the stuff which has truly been effective in recent years, it’s been original rather than iterative”. 

The more we talk, the clearer it becomes that the success of Caitlin, Josh, and Omar’s collaboration isn’t just about their skills as a copywriter, art director, and designer respectively. It’s more about their distinctive tastes, their different worldviews and influences converging to a point of genuine originality. 

Another example of that originality coming to life is the agency’s work for Farber Debt Solutions, visualising the way that financial difficulties can warp our perceptions of day-to-day life. 

“What was amazing about working on that campaign was we actually received an email from one of our Farber clients soon after the launch”, recalls Omar. “They told us that we’d changed the way they looked at their own company. That was amazing, and I don’t think it would have been possible had it not been for breaking away from category conventions and creating something that feels surprising”. 

The joy of surprise is something that’s keenly felt by each of the three ECDs. “Of course it’s tempting to start checking boxes, compartmentalising everything”, says Josh. “But it’s ultimately going to make you fall into patterns and become part of the noise. We try not to take the creative path of least resistance”. 

Thanks to increasingly sophisticated technology, this industry is capable of understanding audiences on a minute level of detail. Predictable, hyper-targeted communications are part of a formula for ‘relevance’ - but relevant to what, exactly? Relevant to the eternal scroll, to an endlessly flowing river of content wherein every new message drifts aimlessly past our focus? Maybe, just maybe, relevance is overrated. And perhaps what really helps a message to be heard is distinctiveness and surprise. 

Somehow, organically and against the gravity of creativity’s automated ‘Groundhog Day’, that’s the formula which Caitlin, Josh, and Omar have developed.