From PIDs to Products
Every client tour at an agency is incomplete without a quick detour to the ‘Maker Lab’ — the graveyard for the unused 3D printer, HoloLens, Oculus, Drones, and Raspberry Pies. Adopted from the Maker movement and popularized by Facebook, the irony of the ‘Maker Labs’ at agencies is that nothing ever gets made at them! Hoarding all this tech and allocating a space called the ‘Maker Lab’ proves nothing about the agency. The ability to use them as spaces to deliver tangible client value does.
Digital agencies, despite their incredible potential, have traditionally failed to push the envelope when it comes to technology. This is exactly why something like Snapchat was never birthed at a digital agency. Ever wondered why, despite all the incredible talent that agencies have, they never seem to come up with breakthrough work independently? With all the resources and access to the “latest tech” we’d imagine at least a few successful Kickstarter campaigns / Product Hunt launches. This isn’t so much of a talent issue than it is a leadership issue. There’s plenty of talent with plenty of incredible ideas — just the lack of incentive to do so.
The core problem is with the hamster wheel business model that agencies have created for themselves to fuel growth. One that constantly forces its people to keep delivering work in order to continuously grow. Talent is forced to run constantly, delivering billable work under predetermined guidelines, that diminishes experimentation and exploration. The leadership, despite all their claims, have failed to give their talent the opportunity to discover new ways to do new and old things. Agencies have an incredible amount of competitive information across the industry. From institutional knowledge to just the sheer amount of work that gets done in each pitch. The spectrum of knowledge is so diverse it’s incredible how no one, and absolutely no one has managed to spin off these incredible ideas into startups (barring a few like UsTwo). This is a problem plaguing the agency world right now — where merited ideas are constantly curtailed by the legacy old delivery culture.
If building an actual product, spinning off an idea into a viable business, or collaborating with startups is scary, agencies need to find a way to turn great ideas into successful client businesses. Truly taking ownership of the innovation in the brands they work with — by recognizing a Dollar Shave Club much before it starts making a dent into the business of Gillette.
We need to move beyond our suffocating and constant focus on delivery culture. To find a balance of delivering great work whilst pushing the envelope for what could be breakthrough ideas, products, services, and impactful work in our society. We need to stop and take a step back every now and then working on things our people are passionate about. To give our talent a chance to breathe by allowing them to build something truly remarkable. This is why I’m writing The Agency Innovation Playbook — to go beyond the damned PID so we can truly be seen as an innovative industry.
