How to Keep Innovation Alive

It’s cool though, right? Making something no one else has yet managed to. Breaking boundaries. Using the newest coolest tech. World firsts. Everyone looks like superstars, lots of pats on backs, and we all feel great that we’ve actually achieved something truly worth talking about.

Getting these innovative ideas off the ground, however, seems to be a gargantuan struggle for all those involved. Why, though? Surely it can’t be that hard. The agency creatives come up with an amazing idea. The client asks: “how much?” A production company costs it up. Hey presto, let’s get started.

Simple right? Well, unfortunately in practice it's a bit more gnarly and delicate. I’ve worked both agency and production side, and have noticed a bit of a situation developing.

The endless possibilities of tech

The technological landscape proliferates exponentially. Whereas a few years ago the options were primarily to build a Flash game, microsite or interactive film, these days the possibilities are endless.

Due to advances in tech (mobile devices, HTML5 and other browser technologies, streaming bandwidth, compression improvements, etc.) allowing even greater innovation in offline/online installation projects, there are now several new layers of complexity added to the work that we do and these new layers of complexity require a helluva lot more work at the outset of a project to determine feasibility.

Innovation, investment and investigation

Unfortunately, the industry has grown accustomed to companies dedicating time and effort speculatively to get ideas off the ground. Of course in the creative world it is vital to ensure that the right execution is proposed for an idea. This craft is our particular expertise and we are known for it.

The problem arises because, by its nature, innovative work requires investment up front by performing serious investigation – from basic questions around feasibility which might require a few days or weeks of prototyping, to the creative technology consultancy that allows our ad agency partners to get leading-edge tech incorporated into their propositions.

Agency creatives cannot and should not be expected to resolve questions around feasibility. They don’t need to know what is and isn’t possible with the latest release of Arduino/iOS/Android/Oculus Rift/Leap Motion devices. The creative process requires input from the people closest to the code. People like us, who are working under the hood of new technologies all the time and can advise on how to incorporate them into the objectives of the communications.

Partnerships are paramount

We’ve seen a co-dependant relationship with our agency partners emerge over the past few years – and now we are in a space where most ideas don’t stand a chance without that partnership.

Bear in mind, there is no budget signed off for this work. Agencies may have their retained fee to cover their time, but from my conversations with many agency heads of production and creative directors, this is apparently less and less often the case, and here’s the predicament where we find ourselves in a Catch-22:

The client loves the idea presented but needs convincing that it will definitely work, and knowledge of how much it’ll cost and when they’ll get it.

The agencies are faced with the question of ‘doability’ – which is a tricky one for them to navigate. If they go to the client too early (before talking with prod cos) and bring them ideas that it turns out won’t work, it looks like the agency doesn’t know what they are doing. If they come to prod cos too early, asking for too much from them before an idea is ‘signed’, then it's a case of crying wolf and their relationships start to dwindle, cutting their lifeline for future innovative projects.

Prod cos, of course, want to get involved – we want to make cool stuff, too! In most cases, we are happy to help an idea along in good faith that it will turn into a brief. Most prod cos understand that collaborating early on during the ideation phase is a great way to help get an idea sold. Unfortunately, they are at the end of the communication pipeline, and have no idea which are the solid briefs with a dedicated client on board with budget assigned, and which are massively speculative.

Gambling with creativity

This situation has become so frequent that prod cos are constantly forced to gamble, but without the information they need in order to know which horse to back.

Many production companies operating in this space have seen the requests for this type of up-front work increase in frequency, from somewhere like five per cent three years ago to now almost being standard in every ‘pitch’.

From all the requests we at B-Reel get for collaboration pre-budget, we could keep our teams at 100 per cent capacity – obviously a very unsustainable business model. But this also seems a little unbalanced. Prod cos have the knowledge to determine whether an idea lives or dies, and could be required to outlay incredible amounts of resources to do so.

Of course we benefit if the idea gets bought, but likely we would have already spent all the profit we’d gain in production helping sell the idea in. The question for prod cos is whether it’s even worth it. Trust me when I say we are on crazy margins. We’re not trying to money grab, just be paid for the expertise we provide.

Agencies maybe have it even harder as they have to try to produce this work in order to appear current and retain their existing clients, and no doubt invest tremendous resources in order to do so. At some point soon (if not already) this too will cease being sustainable.

A change is needed

Unfortunately, we’re in a feedback loop that could really stifle the innovation in our industry unless we start thinking about how we can make changes to keep the creativity alive and ensure that it is supported by a viable business model for those who have the experience, vision and craft skills to create work at these levels.

So what can we do before this really nosedives? How do we pull it back?

A great first step would be to make some modest changes to how we work. Here are a few thoughts towards changing the mind-set so that we can continue to make great, innovative work.

Commitment: Everyone has to be committed to make it work – this will require some investment from all sides. Clients need to provide some feasibility R&D budget (it happens in the TV world, why not in innovation projects?); agencies need to provide their time (they are doing it already), and prod cos to provide attractive packages for mutually beneficial scoping phases (these are always on offer if you ask!).

People: It is all about the right people. Ensure that you have the right team on board who have a track record of working in this space. Ensure that all team members are up to speed with the various skills required to manage innovation projects.

Trust: The teams need to work as one, understanding that we all have a crucial part to play in a project if we are going to ensure its success. Mutual respect and that old chestnut, teamwork, get the job done. Not some overly hierarchical set up where people are afraid to speak to the client or challenge the creative. Our greatest, most successful projects (engagement in the tens of millions) have been born from a one-team approach.

Excitement: Go all-in. Be confident. Be brave. Innovation is not a 100 per cent certainty that a project will work exactly as it says on the tin so don’t get too attached. If something has not been done before, how can anyone give you that certainty? Anyone who claims that they can is lying to you.

We’ve found that when you start digging, exploring, discussing and working things through that you’ll learn more, and end up with something more powerful and equally as badass as what you intended. Providing the end result stays true to the KPIs, the campaign will have met its objectives.

Dedicated to innovation

We are committed to making amazing things happen for our clients and the br

ands they work so hard for. We will fight for it, to the benefit of everyone