Open House: Archives

Recently we were having a brainstorm about how to further implement our collaborative process with clients. Our clients love being part of the creative process instead of waiting for the "Big Reveal". It made me start thinking about why this process has resonated so well with the people we work with.

When I was a teenager, we had a "steady". This meant you could only date that one person, you did everything together... kind of like being engaged without rings (and quite often without "privileges"). We tended to go on dates as a couple... movies, concerts, protest marches, parties. Since that time things have changed. Teens, 20 and 30-somethings now travel in packs. "Dates" are quite often done as part of a group. Couples form more casually and occasionally formalize into something tighter, like a marriage.

As newer generations of professionals take on leadership positions in their companies they bring their upbringing and values with them into the workplace. This is only natural... we all do it. So that brings me to the creative process.

We used to use a formal process of doing our homework (research, info gathering, kickoff meetings, creative brief), doing some creative work and then showing the results to the client in a big reveal. That worked fine when our clients were people used to "going steady" and doing things in a formal manner. That system no longer works now that the clients come from a different world perspective. This is where collaboration comes in.

In order to get the best results in today's world, we need to update our systems to adapt to the newer generation's way of working. Collaboration mirrors the upbringing of our client's lives. When we work out opportunities and roadblocks as a team (including the client) we find solutions much faster. This has helped immensely with budgets and timelines.

People have asked me what the advantage is for the clients that we keep touting collaboration and transparency. There you have it: fitting with the work style of our clients to achieve better results in a budget and timeline advantageous manner.