OS and the Agency5 Perspectives

Firestarters @Google NYC- December 3rd 2014

Firestarters• Established by Neil Perkin in the UK- 3 years ago for Planners

• Google supported and sponsored

• First US event- organized by Ben Malbon and his team at Google

• Planner speakers

• Sarah Watson- BBH

• Johnny Vulkan- Anomaly

• Spencer Baim- Vice

• Ian Fitzpatrick- Almighty

• Noah Brier- Percolate

Firestarters

Question

• What’s the new agency OS?

• Where does Planning fit?

What’s OS?

• Software OS:Functioning code written with a POV on users and the world

• Agency OS: A blend of culture and process that defines the the how, what and why of output

Learnings

Old OS

Current agencymodel- legacy OS

makes change hard

RecognizeOpportunity/Need

to Evolve OS

Change structure

Evolve process

Add and evolve outputs

Bring in new competencies

Source of pride = smart solutions, not art

Learnings

• Old code = Inability to adapt to changed needs

• Need to build a new code, or strip layers away from old code

• Understand what you want to make/do and can make/do

• Hire people who know

• Be comfortable with your definition of creativity

• Be flat, flexible, adaptable- created and manage chaos

Learnings

•Planners

• Must fit the organization’s OS

• Still need to be capable of answering the core strategIC questions- objectives, audience, etc

• Find THE problem that needs solving

• Need to be flexible- cannot be constrained by process

• Go well beyond “the brief”

• Need to roll up sleeves, make things, make things happen keep things moving- facilitation

Sarah Watson-BBH

“Confront “The Beast””

Sarah Watson-BBH

• Worldview: OS is hiding between values and process. Our OS is old and lethal

• Role of Strategy: Conforms to the OS

• Solution: Confront it

Sarah Watson-BBH

Ian Fitzpatrick-Almighty

“There’s plenty of unsexy stuff that needs doing”

Ian Fitzpatrick-Almighty

Ian Fitzpatrick-Almighty

• Worldview: We can find solutions for business that aren’t ads

• Solution: Strip away the code of the OS by hiring people with no knowledge of legacy OS. “No one has heard of Lee Clow”

• Strategy: = UX

Johnny Vulkan-Anomaly

“Create a mosh pit of diverse specialists and see who wins”

Johnny Vulkan-Anomaly

• Worldview: All types of creativity can be applied to solve business/marketing problems. It’s not just about the P of promotion- product is key

• Solution: Create a new OS by hiring creative specialists and place in flat organization with no pyramid- work like you do for a pitch, everyday

• Role of Strategy: Locates the business problem, facilitates and manages argument(s)

Johnny Vulkan-Anomaly

Spencer Baim-Vice

“Hang and talk to the kids, they know what to do”

Spencer Baim-Vice

• Worldview: We are the cultural reporters/creators for the Millennial Generation

• Solution: Hire young specialists in culture

• Role of Strategy: Creates the Brand Strategy and the IDEA that links brands to culture

Spencer Baim-Vice

Noah Brier-Percolate

“Marketing now has to be managed by an OS and a series of apps”

Noah Brier-Percolate

• Worldview: Marketing management is dated, broken and incapable of dealing with today’s complexity

• Solution: Build an OS capable of managing infinite complexity

• Role of Strategy: An algorithm inside a real OS

Noah Brier-Percolate

Noah Brier-Percolate