Introducing the Agency Safari

A quest to find the world’s wildest creative companies.

Filipe Macedo
Sep 1, 2018 · 4 min read

“The vast majority of what the advertising industry produces isn’t brilliant or even good. Most of what we put out into the world is banal, mediocre, unremarkable. Some of it is much, much worse — patronizing, insulting, hectoring, polluting, stupid, intrusive, toxic. Perhaps this is not surprising at all.

Technology has changed a lot in my lifetime, but how ad agencies are run has not. Most are still 20th-century companies living in a 21st-century world, slowly becoming irrelevant to people, business and young talent. They’re a bit like caged animals, limited by traditional corporate structures and the pressure to maximize shareholder wealth.

In my opinion, the hope for advertising lies in a few companies, running free in the outskirts of the industry, that are currently re-thinking the value an agency can deliver, experimenting with bold new organizational designs and diversifying what we make and how we work.

I call them Wild Agencies — innovative creative companies with unconventional points of view — and I believe we should study and understand them better.

But observing from a distance is not enough. And that’s why I’m taking a break from my agency job to personally visit these companies, interview their inspiring leaders and document their unique cultures. I’m calling it Agency Safari, a 3-month quest to find and document wild agencies across the globe.

Agency Safari aims to shed some light on the future of agencies by studying today’s wildest experiments.

My first challenge was spotting these rare creatures, often camouflaged in an industry that can feel a lot like an impenetrable jungle. Most are probably independent or lesser-known companies, and some might not even go by the word “agency” anymore. After doing extensive online research I came up with a selection of worldwide companies with wild potential which I then contacted to schedule a personal interview and further develop my research. My visits will vary from as little as an 1-hour chat and quick office tour to several days working full-time at the host agency.

It’s going to be impossible to visit every Wild Agency in the world but I’m hoping to explore as many different species as possible to avoid ending up documenting the same old “best in class” agencies and recycling the same stereotypes of what’s success and creativity in our industry.

Why Should Agencies Take Part?

The world is becoming too fast and too complex for one company to have all the answers inside, and by taking part in this project current agency leaders are gaining access to valuable lessons from other industry-leading companies.

I will audio record all interviews and, after returning to Lisbon in December, will select and edit the most insightful conversations and turn them into a podcast (focused mainly in personal leadership advice) but also write the Agency Safari final report/e-book to publish in early 2019, that will hopefully provide a snapshot of the culture and business model of the wildest agencies.

During my traveling period, I will also publish photos on Instagram and articles here on Medium with some quick learnings and insights I uncover along the way.

Why Me? Because I’m out of it.

Despite my 8 years of advertising experience I’ve only worked for one agency -comOn - a large independent agency in Lisbon. During this time we went from a 20 people digital agency to a 110-people full-service agency and I’ve been able to grow in the process. But working at an independent local agency in a small market has its limitations, and lack of international experience is clearly one of them.

I’m very curious about other ways of working, especially in other markets and cultures. I want to learn how other agencies are organized, how they handle clients, what revenue streams do they have, and how are they adapting and preparing the future.

There’s a lot I still don’t know about the agency world, but I see that as a good thing. An outside view allows me to see things that gradually become invisible to insiders. Besides, as a Senior Strategist I’m used to understanding things at a fundamental level and sharing them as clearly as possible. And as the CMO of my agency, I’m also aware of the business side of the industry. You can read more about me here.

Follow This Adventure

The Agency Safari officially starts on October 1st in Helsinki, after a month-long stay at hasan&Partners that will lay the groundwork for a future creatives exchange program I’m helping ADC*E put together. After Finland, I’ll visit 7 more countries in Europe before moving on to agencies in Asia and Australia. Check the full schedule at agencysafari.com.

And if you see value in this project, there are two ways of helping me: you could connect me with an interesting wild agency in Europe or Asia (other regions will be explored next year) or you could share this article or the website agencysafari.com with your network. Choose the options(s) you’re most comfortable with.

Agency Safari

Agency Safari aims to shed some light on the future of the agency business model by documenting the world's wildest creative companies.

Filipe Macedo

Written by

Trying to put complex stuff into simple words.

Agency Safari

Agency Safari aims to shed some light on the future of the agency business model by documenting the world's wildest creative companies.

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