There is no doubt about it, the world of advertising and communication is more pressurized than ever before. For both our clients and for their agencies. At our 50+ research in January, those reaching their later years spoke of their relief at getting ‘out of the rat race’ and were glad to be exiting the formal working environment. We did an analysis of our time recently, to see how our agency time is utilized by clients and how we work internally. The words ‘Thinking Smarter. Acting Smarter’ became very potent.

McCann Erickson have a global philosophy in ‘truth well told’ – finding the truth about a brand and telling that truth in an engaging, relevant and creative way. Makes sense. We also say ‘no is not in our vocabulary, unless it needs to be’. I fundamentally both agree and support both philosophies.

But I believe even more in Thinking Smarter and Acting Smarter. Peter Davies, when he ran McCann Erickson Dublin, said “fast, cheap, good, pick two’’. What is the basis for getting to brilliant creative ideas that build business, in a world where everything seems to be needed yesterday.

• We must work together with clients to get a brilliant brief. It all starts here. A great brief, that both client and agency agree is an excellent start point for the work.
• It must have a clear and measurable objectives.
• A brief that is built collaboratively with creative, strategic, media, client and account handling involvement. We must be brave and confident and take ownership to ensure the brief is the very best it can be.
• A linear briefing and idea generation process does not work. It must be collaborative from the outset.
• Evaluating the work against what the brief is designed to achieve and having powerful rationale and clarity about why it is right.
• Monitor very closely how and why it is working. Results are critical.
• Always acknowledge and celebrate success.

Think about it. Think Smarter. Act Smarter. And you will definitely win, in one of the most challenging business environments we have ever faced.