Process Vs Creativity
The title of this blog are the words I often hear Brandwave Founder Daniel Macaulay say to clients when discussing our latest and greatest designs. I thought I would take the time to write a blog to discuss what this actually means.
From our social media posts, website and case studies you will get to see the fantastic campaigns we get to work on. But what actually goes on in the background of the Brandwave agency in order to create those award-winning campaigns?
At Brandwave we are a process driven agency – yep I feel you all switching off immediately the word process is not exactly enthralling, but process is simply a series of steps and decisions involved in the way work is completed. I demonstrated this to the team at our AGM and managed to turn process into something fun by using Lego. This exercise basically demonstrated that processes are everywhere, every aspect of our leisure and work is driven by process, we just don’t necessarily label it as that. The outcome of our exercise was some fabulous designed Lego houses by the team.
Commercial Director Vicky and I recently attended an event ran by The Drum called ‘The agency acceleration day’, I found it really interesting to hear speakers from other agencies discussing what process meant to them and their agencies. One particular speaker Xavier Rees from adam&eveDDB talked about how their agency were trying to break out from process as he felt it hindered creativity, whereas others were trying to build process to enable the growth of their companies.
The key theme was larger agencies were trying to break down process in order to get back to their roots and the smaller agency mindset and culture. As we have grown rapidly this year, this is something that will always be at the heart of Brandwave.
In my opinion and from my experience working agency side, process enables creativity to happen. Rather than process vs creativity they are in fact a match made in heaven. Processes are a framework for how the creativity takes place, it should never restrict creativity but instead enable.
As part of this blog I wanted to share with you my 5 top tips for implementing processes:
- Consultation – why are we bringing in a process, what are we are trying to achieve? This should be a team effort to ensure that everyone’s viewpoint is taken into consideration.
- Documentation – document new processes to ensure that new and existing staff can refer to them as required.
- Training – Ensure that everyone is trained on the new way of working and any questions or issues are addressed.
- Implementation – ensure that the process you have taken time to construct is put in use, support people in the new ways of working to make sure for a smooth transition.
- Communicate – Make sure everyone knows what has been implemented, why and when.
Review – All processes should be regularly reviewed at least every six months. Ask yourself and the team key questions, is this still working for us? Has anything changed which needs to be reflected in our processes? Is everyone following the process or does more training need to take place. This should always be a group discussion.
A key example of a process implemented into creative by Brandwave is our strategy checklists. From any creative we send out whether it be an A4 ad, video or trade show stand our strategy check list is reviewed by the designer first to ensure that their design is approached in a strategic manner for example there are clear call to actions, logo, branding and straplines are all prominent. This process decreases design time and produces better designs.
Still not inspired by processes and how they could transform your business? Try implementing a new one today and see how it impacts you and let me know!
