(upbeat music)
-: Collaboration is so often used,
it's almost lost its meaning.
But really it's about people coming together
in a way that is possibly greater than the sum of its parts.
-: It's very easy when you collaborate to project,
but I think it's really important
to hear what other people say,
because if you're not listening to them,
you're not truly collaborating.
So I think turning yourself off long enough
to hear what other people are doing is really important.
-: Something really interesting we started doing,
which is presenting back to the client what we heard.
We do listening sessions, and after we do that,
we kind of articulate their three themes or four themes.
-: We then get that brief,
so they kind of lay their cards out on the table.
We get that brief, and then we do our first creative share.
And you know, very rarely that work is right
because you know, you need both sides to kind of input
on that and push and pull it.
And then that's where you get somewhere,
which hopefully we can push them somewhere
maybe bolder and braver, and then they can help us
make that kind of perfectly tuned
and optimized for their kind of their audience.
-: And I think some of the best sort of client relationships
or some of the best projects are born
from their sort of expertise in their field.
And what we bring to the playing field
is a fresh outside perspective
and maybe an angle that maybe they're not appreciating.
-: At the beginning of every project, we start
with a kickoff, and when we have these kickoffs,
we make sure we have them in person in the studio.
We believe very much in one team.
So we invite someone from the digital team,
from the writing team, from motion, design, strategy.
We get as many people involved as we can.
Creative Agent: You're way stronger
when you're all together,
we're all talking about subjects, the ambitions,
things that the clients have said in the sort
of very early meetings that we can kind of pull off
and be inspired by.
-: I love those sessions.
Nothing's a bad idea.
So you can do whatever you want, and you don't,
you might like laugh and giggle at each other
'cause it's funny but nothing's like judged at all.
-: I think we did a kickoff the other day
where everybody dressed up as superheroes.
-: I didn't actually know it was happening,
and then I came upstairs, and I was like,
wow, everyone's really edgy today.
(group laughs)
I was like, oh hang on. -: Yeah.
-: That's a Superman logo. -: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-: I get what's going on here. -: Yeah. Yeah.
-: The best brainstorms and collaborative sessions
I've been in have been those ones where everyone
can let loose a little bit, have a bit of fun.
You do something that helps you laugh and loosen up,
and once you, you know, you start laughing,
that's when the ideas start coming as well.
-: It's so freeing, and it feels like
you're just hanging out with friends
and playing around for an hour.
But really what you end up with
is like really a useful starting point.
-: There's sometimes an aha moment in those sessions
where someone will say something that is like,
that's the thing, and you'll hear Si, he'll go,
"That's good, isn't it?"
(group laughs)
-: We also have sessions called campfires,
which is where it's a similar setup to kickoffs
where we get the whole team involved.
We make it a super collaborative session.
We usually sit 'round our sort of kitchen area here
in the studio outside of the meeting room.
It's super casual, informal.
Everyone has a chance to give their opinion on ideas.
We stand up, we put the work on the table, we look at it,
we go downstairs, we put the work up on the walls.
-: The campfire is kind of symbolic
of everyone coming together
and everyone having their own place.
-: One of the best and simplest tools
to kind of filter great work
from all the other ideas that we have
is just a nice blank big wall that everyone is in front of.
You put all your work on it.
You take a step back, and you talk about it.
And very quickly, I think you find what makes people excited
and feel something.
-: The reason why we approach it with questions
is that it invites people in.
And you know, our role is to really empower people to decide
for themselves what the way forward is.
-: When we're all around that wall, you know,
putting down ideas, there is no hierarchy.
These are just peers.
-: I always feel like if I've got something to say,
then I'm respected. -: Yes.
-: And you know,
my opinion is valued just as much as yours.
Creative Agent: If you're working with someone,
you should trust that they know what they're doing.
You should trust their opinion.
You should value their opinion,
and you should value the relationship.
-: You have to accept like where your kind of strengths are,
and what other people's strengths are
and bring them all together.
-: And don't be afraid of pushing each other.
Like, you know that good collaboration will come
from making sure that your partner
or the people you're working with is pushing your thinking,
and you're pushing them to be better.
-: Yeah, I think that collaboration has to kind of
always be open as well.
No matter where you are in the project,
you've gotta like allow people to kind of put
their input in and always feed into it.
It's kind of a living thing that's allowed
to kind of flex and grow, and you know,
maybe it grows a weird ear for a bit, but that's okay.
(group chuckles) Like, it can do that.
-: It's not just like your work.
It's seeing how other people are working
and being able to spot something in that
that might be unique. -: Mm-hmm.
-: Sometimes there are those quieter ideas
that kind of stick with you, and you can't stop thinking
about them, and that's really interesting as well,
'cause sometimes that's the kind of thing
that someone else might pick up on.
-: Simon does it a lot.
He kind of will like, you know,
walk past your screen and go,
"Oh, that's cool," and then just kind of disappear
in a puff of smoke, and you maybe thought
it was a bit crap, and then you realize that oh, actually,
there might be something really exciting in there.
-: Yeah, a little micro interaction.
-: Yeah. -: I guess, yeah,
that's the problem with working from home over screen.
It's all very ordered and in some ways it's great
'cause everyone's learned how to present really well,
but it's all kind of quite one way, and actually that,
those are kind of little moments of interaction
have just sort of gone until we've all got back
in the studio.
-: Yeah, I think magic can be missed
when you're not all together.
-: It feels just so different
to when we were all working remotely and working from home.
And I think although the idea of working fluidly
and flexibly is amazing, and I think we're gonna keep that,
but the more time we spend together, I think,
has got way more pros than cons.
-: It's got such a vital energy.
-: Yeah.
-: Really does. -: Yeah.
-: Creativity hates solitude, so.
-: I'm gonna get that tattoo.
Creativity hates solitude.
-: Your first tattoo?
-: I mean, I see ideas and brainstorms
as stepping stones rather than like individual things
that you say, this is my idea,
this is your idea, this is another idea.
What you do is, you know, you start with one idea,
it may not be the best, but then that leads you
to another one and then another one,
and then people collaborate and add into it,
and all of a sudden, you've got to this end point
that you would've never been able to get to individually.
-: Yeah. -: As a group.
And the collective of different minds and thoughts,
you end up somewhere completely original and new.
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