Out-of-the-Box Agency Management – The ‘In” Thing

Out-of-the-Box Agency Management – The ‘In” Thing

Managing an advertising agency is no mean feat. An ad agency is in charge of a client’s brand, tasked to produce TV and print materials for a client’s product/s, basically handling several thousand or millions of client’s advertising budget. The strategies, the creative design for broadcast and printed materials, as well as the media placements should all be carefully planned to ensure a successful ad campaign. Although much of the ad agency processes remain the same, there are “new agencies” that want to veer away from traditional advertising. They want to have an alternative method, an out of the box ad agency management style, to go with changing trends and consumer behaviors. Moreover, they recognise the merits of using project management software to have more effective control of agency management.

Alternative ideas to make an ad agency unique and trendy

Thinking outside the box culture is not that easy to achieve. The most important thing is to embrace this idea first. You cannot be trendy and unique if you follow traditional ways of thinking. One effective method to start developing this kind of innovative culture is to think like an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur thinks of delivering a new feature, service or product into the market. His or her ideas are expansive. An established company usually becomes more defensive and will try to protect the position it has created for itself. You should have the willingness to allow changes to happen in the business structure and to adapt to new demands, new ideas and new people.

  • Instead of conducting a general brainstorming session for a new ad campaign, set parameters early on so your ideas are more focused. Time is money as they say. So use the brainstorming time wisely. Unlike before, too much freedom in generating ideas can actually stunt creativity. If you have boundaries, your mind settles on specifics, which generates more breadth and depth to your ideas. Think of the trends and new ways of presenting or resurrecting old ideas that worked.
  • Find ergodic inspiration for a problem from seemingly unrelated things. As an out-of-the-box thinker, trigger your brain to connect the dots differently. If you are the creative director, give your team random, totally unrelated (or ridiculous) prompts. You can find plenty of prompts from trending words from social media sites. Photos on Pinterest will also generate a lot of prompts.
  • During the brainstorming stage, your aim is to generate a lot of ideas. Do not be concerned with quality yet. You can weed out the suggestions that are wrong and keep the good ones later.
  • Allow people to develop ideas within the framework of your business. This is a better way to motivate them instead of rewarding them or giving them cash incentives. You can spin out a new product or even a profit center around a novel idea.
  • Promote innovative thinking by spotting trends. Trends can come from different places. Look at statistics because a lot of shifts in priorities, attitudes and demographics can determine a decrease or increase in the demand for specific products. You should always be forward-looking and aggressive. Do not ignore what’s happening in the market. As much as possible do your own market research together with your client.
  • Try to put yourself in your client’s shoes. Experience what it’s like to work with your company. Learn their concerns and find solutions. Bring in new talents if you have to, not to replace your existing team but to work exclusively on a specific project. They can provide new points of view because they are not affected by biases and previous works like your permanent team.

Innovation stems from you willingness to be different and accepting changes. Thinking outside the box means that you want to challenge yourself. It’s veering away from what’s safe, from the tried and true methods of doing things. You can cultivate that culture if all of your team is onboard the idea.