Marketing firms have to be constantly evolving, but the problem is that they all share one common problem. The lack of time. Heck we all share that problem. Billable work, client requests, and necessary tasks require a majority of our time. The remainder of that time is catching up, and just breathing a little. So how does one stay up on the latest trends?
Bottom line is that agencies have to make the time. They have to find ways to experiment, and make innovation a part of their culture. Easier said than done right? If you look at some of the most innovative companies there is probably something they all do right. They analyze what they are doing now, and use that insight to look at the future. If Apple rested on it’s laurels when it launched the iPod 8 years ago (yes it was that long ago) and just rode that success would they be where they are today? No, they would be forgotten.
They are constantly trying new things, experimenting, and adjusting their methods. Sure I might be a bit of an Apple fan-boy but they are always a great example of innovation. How can you take that mentality and instill that in your business?
How Hart is innovating
I wanted to pull back the curtains a little bit and talk about what we are doing here at Hart. The biggest thing that we do is find the time to experiment. Sure we want to be billable and we are but we also hire people that want to experiment. It doesn’t always have to be during the day. We love what we do so we do it after hours as well. Then we conduct morning scrum meetings. These are just quick 15-30 minute meetings to share ideas and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Have a sandbox
We have multiple sandboxes. The grown up version of our little kid fantasy, having lots of playplaces. Places where we can just experiment without the public seeing. We would hate to setup some silly little test project where we are trying out mobile applications and take down the la-z-boy.com site in the process… The thought of that just scares me. This might seem like a given but a place where you can test stuff, blow it up and try again is necessary.
Find inspiration, from anywhere
Keep a place where you can store everything that inspires you. Whether it is a notebook, scrapbook (picture below from Mike Bell’s sketches), delicious bookmark, or a tumblelog. Have at least one place that you store your inspiration. When you are lacking inspiration or creativity go back there.
Innovate in small ways, and add them to real work
Baby steps to the bigger innovations are one of the best things you can do to drive innovation. Innovation doesn’t have to be done on pet projects. You can get creative on current projects, but in the small details. After-all it is the subtle details that lead to the best work. If you are paying attention to the small details, the end result will always shine. We make sure that we sweat the details, sometimes it might seem silly but we don’t care.
Hire people that want to innovate
Again this sounds like a given, but it is not. During our interview process we ask employees to dream a little bit. We give an example problem and ask them to discuss how they’d solve it. Great way to understand how a person thinks, rationalizes and gets creative. Having team members that are creative and willing to dream means that you have a group of people to bounce ideas off of.
These are just a few things that we do, but this topic will be one that we’ll discuss more in the future. The bottom line is that companies need to continually innovate or they are going to make themselves obsolete. Our industry and more-so our economy needs innovation so never stop dreaming. We won’t!
Great piece, Damian. I’m a huge social media addict, but I work in a completely unrelated field. Sometimes I think that might be to my advantage. I have the luxury of looking at marketing campaigns from both sides without my paycheck depending upon it. Concepts that the social media side of me fall in love with don’t necessarily elicit any response from the consumer in me. And vice versa. It’s the ones that grab both sides of me that ease the money out of my wallet.
It’s not enough to tell consumers what they want to hear and hope that they start pouring cash on your clients. Social media has eradicated that type of thinking. But it’s also not enough to interact with a community long enough to build their trust, then do the exact same thing. People are smart enough to tell when casual interaction is insincere. The companies that “get” it are the ones who actually care. Biggby, Best Buy, and Ford get my money because they’re part of an ongoing conversation. It’s a conversation that says more than, “I want your money.” What they’re saying is, “I want you to be satisfied and I know that you’ll come back if you are.” Profit isn’t a dirty word. It just shouldn’t be the first word in the conversation.
I completely agree with taking inspiration from unlikely sources. A couple years ago, I created a piece of digital art that was inspired by a custom MySpace layout that I saw on a friend’s page. To this day, it’s still the piece that I’m the most proud of. And I don’t even have a MySpace account anymore. My point is, breaking away from the rigid concept of, “What does the consumer want?” can be the best thing for a marketing firm. Hart’s employees are consumers too. What speaks to them? What did they see today that inspired them?
That sketch above is filled with lazy smiles. Like a late summer sunset fills the sky with a warm glow and long shadows. Those are the types of feelings that we can all relate to. And when I feel like a company can relate to ME, I believe that they care about my best interests. I like to think that the guy responsible for inspiring me to buy Product X is the same guy who would wave me out ahead of him on a busy street so I didn’t have to wait for the line of traffic behind him. Most people DO feel that way. They just might not analyze it that deeply. So letting your employees be creative, passionate, and human is the best thing you can do for your clients. Creativity can produce business, but sincerity keeps it.
Wow what a response Mark! Thank you. You’re absolutely right. I know that I tend to find inspiration from all over. In my home office I have a corkboard that has stuff that I just tack up there to keep the juices flowing. Helps me a ton, or helps with that drive.
You also hit it on the head about brands that “get it.” We are fairly new to the social media space as a company, but we are no stranger to being partners with our clients. Building relationships through great conversations and brainstorming is hugely important to us. Hopefully we can show others that we are dedicated to the space and that our team loves what they do.
In my first college art class, our professor told us %25 of our grade would be based on drawings we did outside of class. We had to buy 9×12 sketch book, 100 pages, and it had to be full of drawings by semester end.
At the time we didn’t understand why, but it soon became apparent that sketching, doodling and just randomly stretching began to influence the creativity energy we put into our assigned projects.
The reality is, we are artists. We all create.
Sounds like the atmosphere you are providing will give your organization the leading edge when it comes to innovation. Looking forward to what you guys come up with!
Dave I would have loved to see your sketch book. Bet there was some crazy stuff in there! In my current moleskin I have a lot of drawings of mice. Why? No clue….
[...] you can store everything that inspires you. Whether it is a notebook, scrapbook (picture below from Mike Bell’s sketches), delicious bookmark, or a tumblelog. Have at least one place that you store your [...]