The giants that crush creativity
I thought Lucy Barrett’s article “Agency Provocateurs” (MW February 7) was very interesting and it generated much enthusiasm among my colleagues, but I think it overlooked a fundamental issue that prompts executives to leave and create start-ups – the sheer size of large agencies.
The big agency model revolves around maintaining a small number of very large accounts. The entire organisation is oriented toward this goal. It is therefore not cost-effective for the organisation to work on smaller, innovative projects and employees are not encouraged to get involved in these areas. This type of organisation stifles creativity, innovation and flexibility – all of which are crucial in a creative organisation and the main reason why people join this industry. Within this structure, the executive will be unable to deliver cutting-edge work.
I wonder whether the sceptics who question the viability of new start-ups have noticed that all recent innovations in the communications industry, from personalised direct mail to websites and SMS marketing, have come from smaller agencies?
Zak Hydari
Chief executive
Delco Dynamic Communications
London EC2