Joe Wade on ‘Why You DON’T Need A Creative Director’

You might remember a few months ago when the opportunity arose for us to start the search for a creative director, we set out on a sneaky mission. In order to lure in the best creative talent in town, we would have to get sneakily creative ourselves. In a stunt which saw our own unconventional take on recruitment, two members of the Don’t Panic team set out on a headhunting mission, posting a series of guerrilla tearaway job flyers all over rival advertising agencies. This included the offices of Wieden + Kennedy, Mother, Lucky Generals, Grey London and Saatchi & Saatchi, where we offered all their creatives to break the ‘glass ceiling’ and join us.

While our stunt was a success and our irreverent approach caught the attention of Campaign, Evening Standard, AdWeek, It’s Nice That and Agency Spy, we found that the disparity between their capabilities and skillsets was, as Joe phrased it, ‘wider than the black rims of their glasses’.

In an article on the Huffington Post UK and Advertising Week, our MD Joe Wade expressed how he feels “the premise of a ‘creative director’ – human or otherwise – is outdated, and bad for business”. Arguing that just because Campaign Magazine is full of stories about “such and such agency has just poached balding white guy in polo necked jumper to lead creative for this agency” doesn’t mean all creative problems are solved. Creative success doesn’t rely on one bearded hipster but instead what is actually required to be strong creatively is a system and a culture.

Make sure to read Joe’s articles here to find out more:

Huffington Post UK