By Rayomand J Patell
WPP has been in the news lately with their return to office mandate. Right on cue, employees protested hard. Wasn’t this the same WPP that had braved the pandemic and smugly said productivity was actually up despite not being able to get out of our homes?
What gives? The conspiracy buffs on LinkedIn promptly got into overdrive claiming WPP wasn’t interested in keeping employees on and wanted to sack er right size. Whatever be the truth, time will tell as this is an evolving news story.
Buttttt… almost simultaneously came the news that WPP having spent three months pitching for Starbucks also (and this is actually rather tragic) lost it in under a month. The wags have been having a field day about Mark Read switching to chai and so on. But, who did they lose it to? Anomaly, that’s who.
I’m not doing the David vs Goliath thing because that’s not my point.
But, there is one, the one I’m leading up to.
2025 is the year of agile “creative first” nimble agencies. This term is fraught with stress for the average Suit and Planner, so let me call it the “work first” nimble agency. You heard it here first.
Great teams are focused on the work. They get it done. Regardless of whether they’re in bed, or at work, in a plane, at a shoot, or on occasion, even in a client’s office.
This whole fracas about returning to office is extremely myopic to my mind.
How about the industry focuses on returning to do great work in the first place?
Instead of asking for schedules, ask for how much the work rates on a Good Work Scale. The venerable JWT 10 Point Scale instituted by Craig Davis is a great place to start.
Support people and put processes in place to bring the A Game of your A Team to the table. If your star hitter is in traffic more than in presentations, a nimble agency is sure to poach her.
Presenteeism in the office doesn’t really give birth to killer work. What does, is a meeting of minds. And that, can happen online, in a coffee shop, in the Metaverse (hello 2022s wet dream) and yes, in the office too. It’s for your team to decide. Why hire talented adults and treat them like Industrial Age factory workers?
Size doesn’t matter. If everyone puts the work first, be they 10 member teams or numbering in the gazillions, you’ll hit many birds with one stone. Delivering Client winning work. Award winning work. Happiest Places To Work. And, that’s no er, Anomaly.
Rayomand J Patell is an advertising veteran and InspiRAYtion is a weekend column on everything about advertising and marketing.
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