Creative Agency & In-House Marketing: How leadership & EQ transforms in the post-COVID era.
Rapid changes, the pandemic, new needs in the workplace, the rise of emotional intelligence as a factor in improving living standards and leadership. How do today’s leaders respond to the needs that arise? What do their everyday lives look like and what can we learn from them?
The three main pillars of the research questions concern the “post-covid” era, leadership and the role of EQ, in the process of finding the differences as well as the similarities between a Creative Agency and In-House Marketing; all this through job shadowing.
For this reason, the Deputy Creative Director of Newtons Laboratory, Giannis Sorotos — as a representative of the creative agency — and the Marketing Manager of Playmobil Hellas S.A, Irene Efremidis — as a representative of in-house marketing were chosen.
Meetings, zoom meetings, brainstorming, research more meetings and even more zoom meetings & presentations — this is the illustration of a day in both an agency-level environment and in-house — at least as we experienced it. This may sound like a typical routine, but taking a closer look it takes a lot of intelligence, creativity and recruits needed to meet these needs.
But how has the scenery changed in the “post” COVID-19 era? A crucial transformation in both companies concerns telework. A considerable number of employees work exclusively remotely, and in many cases a hybrid model has been adopted. Specifically, at Newtons Laboratory, Creative Directors always work from the office to coordinate their teams. Similarly, in Playmobil for about two years, even though other departments were entirely digitally transformed, Marketing operated at a rate of 50%. Due to the fact this job requires physical presence, the company made sure that the Marketing department was one of the first to return in the work-life environment.
In addition, presentations and meetings are mostly held in electronic environments, because of the pandemic, as well as customer meetings have been decreased.
Both, the Creative Director of Newtons Laboratory, Giannis Sorotos and the Marketing Manager of Playmobil, Irene Efremidis managed to face the pandemic with great composure. That feeling was conveyed successfully to the employees, which resulted in the smooth processing of their daily duties. Nowadays, the daily routine in the office resembles the before-covid area.
What is the role of Emotional Intelligence in such a demanding and dynamically changing environment?
The E.Q. is a feature with vital meaning for the leaders. This can be confirmed with a plethora of circumstances in the working environment. Specifically, the nature of this job (the one of a leader) imposes that feature, because it requires the highest rate of achievement. The right, therefore healthy, kind of leadership suggests the individualized treatment of each and everyone and rather than a specific behavior towards everyone, no matter what. That’s the only way one can reach and utilize the maximum of its possibilities and therefore the optimization of the company’s performance. Consequently, the leader obtains this role being fully aware of the pressure that it follows. However, it is his/her responsibility to ensure a high quality working experience and environment for the team.
“ There is no way that a Creative Director of an advertising company will not value the feelings of the others” — Giannis Sorotos
“ The company’s treasure is actually its own people and that’s our success story” — Irene Efremidis
The selection of the team-members is a dynamic and complex process, which is the primary responsibility of a Creative Director / Marketing Manager and plays an essential role for the growth of the company. It is a fact that good results are an outcome of teamwork and the motivation of every party. That is why Newtons Laboratory does not have a specific leadership style or pattern. Employees are inspired by the example of the Creative Director and are compassed by the work he does. In cases where the desired result is not achieved, it is the accountability/ obligation of the leader to reshape the teams, so that everyone is fully functional and efficient in the role assigned to them.
In a similar way, in Playmobil teamwork is cultivated through various activities in which employees participate, such as excursions, Team-Building Workshops with playful training and sports. Even external partners are part of the team and participate in the above. Playmobil’s goal is the continuous improvement and development of employees in numerous fields. For this reason, seminars, trainings, and evaluations are offered, motivated by the personal development of each member and at the same time the success of the company.
To optimize the efficiency of a creative agency a friendly atmosphere is required. The more enjoyable the workplace, the more efficient the employees become. Likewise, the Playmobil company suggests that is of utmost importance to maintain a pleasant working environment in which the enthusiasm of the employees remains unaffected over time.
“I think the most important thing in life is to have fun” — Giannis Sorotos
“I am that kind of leader, who greatly depends on teamwork” — Irene Efremidis
Lately, the advertising field has been facing drastic changes and social media has played a major role in these. However, in the advertising industry there is only one thing that remains unaltered, and that is the idea which will always be the key to success. The modern-reality ideas, which are signified by the current events. “The idea will always determine the quality of the work”. No matter the circumstances or the media channels the core stays the same. On one hand the daily routine of a Creative Director of The Newtons Laboratory consists of a variety of procedures that greatly differ between them. On the other hand though, in the Marketing department of Playmobil there is no typical structure in the day.
It is well known that leadership positions come along with a series of pros and cons and responsibilities too. In The Newtons Laboratory, one of the most significant merits is the directions that the Creative Director is able to give. On the contrary, the main drawback has to do with taking responsibilities when it comes to managing people. That is because, people have multidimensional psychosynthesis and, because of that, each of those need different and careful treatment. Therefore, it is only natural that the feelings of the employees will continuously alter, and this is a reality that a leader will most definitely encounter and oughts to manage.
Amongst the many advantages that the leading role in the marketing department of Playmobil holds, lies the wide network of acquaintances and the contact with contractors (like merchandisers). At the same time though, a great disadvantage is that in order to reach this kind of position one has to spend many hours working on assignments and executing duties that are not necessarily up to the Marketing Manager’s responsibility.
To sum everything up, here are the 3 (+1) top characteristics of a successful leader according to mr. Giannis Sorotos: First of all, he talked about the capability to manage the great amount of ideas that come along with the creative copywriting field. Also he refers to managing the people, in a way that inspires teamwork and collaboration. He also highlighted the importance of the careful assignment of duties. These should be distributed equally to everyone and according to each one’s capabilities. Last but not least, he greatly values the ability of a leader to offer opportunities where and when needed.
Likewise, when ms. Irene Efremidis thinks about what makes a successful leader, the first thing that comes to mind is to broaden the spectrum of knowledge, to be more accepting of new information that may not directly have to do with the assigned work. She also advises to be forgiving and act precautionary, in order to avoid future mistakes. In the end, she mentions something rather unexpected. She talked about the significance of having at least one regular productive activity out of work space. She added that nowadays due to such competitive work environments, people tend to act like workaholics (work till burn-out both physically and mentally). That is to say, she refers to a much needed break that can work wonders.
Eventually, it has become apparent that the difference between an in-house marketing agency and a creative agency lies between its structure as well as the duties, responsibilities and the personality of the leader. However, regardless of the type of agency that leaders are working for, there are some core values that run throughout the entire marketing field, such as the strong presence of teamwork ethic, the undoubtedly great influence of Emotional Intelligence, that the different leadership styles hold, to the rest of the team.
For Genεsis Team
Vasiliki Tomazou | Ioulia Ntoka | Χριστίνα Βασιλάκη
Special thanks to Giannis Sorotos and The Newtons Laboratory, to Irene Efremidis and Playmobil Hellas S.A., for this immaculate experience as well as for sharing their knowledge.
Of course, huge thanks to Mrs. Dimitra Iordanoglou for the inspiration, the motivation and supervision.
