Just finished this read and feel really energised!

Everyone in the communication business must read this. It frees the spirit and tells us that there’s a new game in town – a game in which everyone can explore, innovate, try something different.

It tells us that the world has changed forever since the advent of the internet and so must our thinking. Over 2 billion people are
already online.

The book’s called Velocity because of the abilities this new world requires us to master – speed, direction, acceleration and discipline. Velocity is about optimism. A positive force to explore, create, innovate and enjoy our lives and business.

Velocity is based on ‘Seven Laws’ on how to maximize your contribution in a world of unprecedented change and
extraordinary opportunity.

•    A Smith & Wesson beats four aces
•    It’s easier done than said
•    The best advertising isn’t advertising
•    Convenient is the enemy of right
•    Respect human nature
•    No good joke survives a committee of six
•    Have a purpose larger than yourself.

Ajaz (AKQA co-founder) and Stefan (VP of Digital Sport for Nike) are two of today’s great leaders of tomorrow but often don’t know where it’s going to take them. They say it’s not about having the answers but being prepared to go on the journey, with the liberating Seven Laws as a starter. With their toolkit of creativity, insights, technology and branding built on the bedrock of our love of the internet.

Between their two companies they’re leading much of our future thinking – but so, they say, can we all. That’s the great thing about its immediacy – if you stay close you can ride the wave, not be
dragged under.

Why Velocity? Because velocity moves so fast it eventually exposes everything. You can’t hide. Don’t take your own personal baggage when you go. Be agile, ready to react, don’t plan too much in advance – the world will have changed tomorrow.

Ajaz had a ‘vision’ when he was at school that advertising & communication would change dramatically with the advent not only of the internet, but also with the dramatic leap of technology. He even used to cut up & recreate a hybrid ‘Campaign’ and Computerworld’ each week  – spookily years ahead of our world.

James Hilton, Ajaz’s partner at AKQA recalls the best piece of brand advice he received in the early days of AKQA was when they were working on the Nike Run London and the client – probably Stefan Orlander – told them at the end of one session that he thought they could do even better, saying “ Always go too far. If you go too far we can bring it back if we need to. Don’t go far enough and we’ll always
be disappointed”

Their book is littered with great insights and quotes to drive our thinking … a game changer like a Smith & Wesson beats four aces… that Nike does not create advertising, it creates wonder …that nothing has changed, but everything is different …that Facebook didn’t invent friendship, it just took advantage of technology … Steve Jobs saying that if its not 90% accurate for 90% of the people right out of the box, “I don’t think we have a product”… the Cheri Blair joke about
Gordon Brown…

The best thoughts from the best in the business. It’s not a business manual but a way of life.

Note

We would love to hear what you think about Velocity. Please join us on our Facebook page and let the discussion begin.

Australia

Rob Wilson

Sydney was our first office opened in 2001 and Rob has been our MD from the beginning. Alongside Alan Robertson the two of them know the Australian market inside out and we have completed many deals together.
Sydney in many ways is a microcosm of London with its sophistication & creativity.

On 27th January 2012 we saw the launch of Tribe Global as a new independent international agency network. A group of 13 agencies from across the world coming together to form a new network. But is it new and will it ‘make a difference’?

Their press release states that they “are made up of 13 agencies from around the world and with a positioning that they are genuinely different from the other agency networks”.

A coming together of like minded people and agencies who share a common culture and way of doing business founded on the basic principles of friendship, respect and trust. This applies to all our agencies and also to everyone we do business with.

The world we live in today is so complex and fragmented, therefore our job is to keep things simple.

We care passionately about our clients. We are actively involved with them every day, we describe this as being ‘in their business’. By following this approach and working in a collaborative style, we provide leadership and guidance, which in turn delivers the results they are looking for.

Now, compare this with some of the big networks, where the focus is not always on creativity and clients, but more on reporting structures and managing overheads. Where they deliver an impersonal service, Tribe Global gives you access to the agency owners. For us the mediocrity and blandness of some international campaigns has no place with us.

Their focus being on creativity and ‘game changing’ ideas, a catalyst for learning, sharing and innovation. Rich in knowledge and insights.

Our view

Firstly we applaud the launch. Clients need the choice. Congratulations to the founders for understanding that independent agency offering to clients is a real alternative to the Global Networks – not only in a local market but if put together properly on an international scale as well.

Genuinely different from the other agency networks? They say that all other existing independent networks rely on membership whereas theirs doesn’t. I’m not at all sure that is the case but anyway why should a network that is ‘owned’ by its members work better than a membership network?

So, is it owned by its members? The press release talks about all the members retaining their own agencies but doesn’t explain about ownership of the network. If I was a prospective client I would want to know this key question as it makes a difference as to whom I hold responsible for my advertising; the local agency, the group of agencies who work on my business or the network?

Last year, CampaignLive pondered whether there would still be some logic for a Digital Agency of the Year category in 2011. Wouldn’t every agency be so digital that such a silo would become redundant? But there were still plenty of digital-only assignments up for grabs in 2011 and, as we considered the potential candidates for this accolade, it was obvious that some digital agencies are still doing work that other creative agencies cannot match.

This year’s winner is a perfect example of how specialist agencies continue to set the standard in digital communications. AKQA continues to offer a powerful combination of technological craft and emotive creativity that few other agencies can even reach for.

AKQA’s record in technological innovation, coupled with design, creativity and business acumen, is breathtaking. The agency finished 2011 with a 100 per cent client retention rate, revenue growth of 12 per cent to £41.5 million and £5.2 million in new business from clients including the Royal Bank of Scotland, EDF Energy, NatWest, Nissan, Arsenal and Virgin Money.

Creative excellence has always been at the heart of the agency, driven by the chief executive officer and co-founder, James Hilton. AKQA scooped no less than five Cannes Lions, winning three gold Cyber Lions, one silver and one bronze at this year’s awards.

Creative accolades were spread across a wide body of work. Standout campaigns included a world first this year for Heineken by creating the real-time Star Player app. Despite coming up against technical difficulties due to TV broadcasting delays, the agency managed to create an app that allowed football fans to interact in real time with Uefa Champions League action. In three games, the app was downloaded 30,000 times and engaged each user for 29 minutes on average. It also won a gold Cyber Lion.

AKQA’s Nike Training Club, named “app of the week” by Apple on both sides of the Atlantic, was another highlight. The app, which won a bronze in Cannes, reached the top of the App Store in 21 countries. To date, 40 million minutes of training have been sweated out thanks to the programme.

AKQA was also behind a recent Nike campaign featuring the singer Ellie Goulding. An online film showed Goulding running to her song Run Into The Light. The film was viewed 63,000 times in the first ten days and the brand added 2,490 fans on Facebook.

AKQA’s mantra, “It’s good to be first. It’s better to be good. It’s best to be both”, has once again proved to be a winning formula for the agency
for 2011.

Our view

We’ve always believed that ‘digital’ agencies are simply ‘advertising’ agencies with a specialism. A specialism that has become a way of life for most people under 45.

We’ve also always said that AKQA had the potential to be the heir apparent to BBH.

Today, they are in our opinion neck and neck the best two creative agencies in the UK and possibly in the best three in the world alongside
Weiden & Kennedy.

Next year Campaign needs to take its courage in its own hands and create a new combined category of ‘Creative Agency’ doing away with Advertising & Digital as misnomers and perpetuators of silos.

Hats off to Ajaz & James Hilton for believing, for their single mindedness and for their creativity that delivers.

BBH & Weidens have set the bar incredibly high over the years and we’re now entering a golden period of three creative ‘heavyweights.’ My money is on AKQA to come out on top by 2015 – if only because of their digital DNA in a world where online & offline will not be in our lexicon, thank goodness.

Roll on the golden age of creativity again. Oh, and a big thank you to
Nike and Levi’s!

As reported by CampaignLive last week, SapientNitro, the integrated agency born out of a merger between the business and technology consultancy Sapient and the global creative network Nitro, has had some bad press of late. Talk began when Chris Clarke, the founder of Nitro, left the company at the start of the year. Then in June, it was reported that SapientNitro had lost the last remaining chunk of its global creative Mars business: the Dove (Galaxy in the UK) chocolate account that is worth $30 million in the US alone. That same week, the network’s North American chief creative officer, Kathy Delaney, also quit. Cue a headline in Adweek, “Sapient’s $50 million Nitro deal goes bad”, which picks apart the failings of the two-year-old merged company.

Ever since Sapient bought Nitro, the industry has been doubtful as to what these contrasting bedfellows would create. The reason was twofold: first, it was unheard of for a digital shop to take over an above-the-line agency, when everyone else was doing the opposite; second, Sapient was not your average digital shop. It was a business consultancy that once topped IBM in the e-business charts. At the time, the deal had the appeal of a botched Frankenstein job.

A year later, however, the company showed promise when it made a couple of key hires, including the former Ogilvy executive creative director Malcolm Poynton, now its chief creative officer across Europe, and the company convinced many of Nitro’s clients to do through-the-line work. But now, with the recent departure of people and business from its creative waters, it begs the question: is Sapient back to square one?

Sapient’s executive director and worldwide chief creative officer, Gaston Legorburu, dismisses the headlines. It’s only fair, then, to give him right of reply to all the talk surrounding the company, so Campaign fires him a list of criticisms doing the industry rounds:

1. SapientNitro is known for its technological capabilities, not its creative flair. “I think that’s our legacy, yes,” he admits. “But I think if you look at new wins and awards that we’re bringing in, we’re clearly very focused on creativity.” Legorburu is referring to recent work such as Sneakerpedia, an online sneaker community for its client Foot Locker, which won a gold Cyber Lion at Cannes this year and is credited to Poynton’s leadership.

2. Clarke’s departure has left a big hole in Sapient. “Nitro was less than 5 per cent of the business,” Legorburu says. “And Chris wasn’t very active.” Ouch! Later, the global chief marketing officer clarifies that, of the company’s total revenue, 15 per cent has a television component – showing that Nitro contributes more than 5 per cent.

3. The loss of the Dove account is a sign the merger hasn’t worked for Mars. “That had nothing to do with us and Nitro not working, it was due to Mars consolidating its roster. Our relationship with Mars is still strong. We do all of its digital production,” he says, before adding: “The back end of it is bigger than what the front end of it was in the first place.”

4. But what about the news that Coca-Cola moved its brief for its sponsorship of the 2012 Olympics from Sapient to LBi in July? “SapientNitro was responsible for the Coke Olympics Future Flames work and delivered it. It was a project. All agencies on the Coca-Cola roster pitch for individual projects,” he explains. “The work we lost in the UK to another agency on the roster was to rebuild a platform we had already built.”

5. There aren’t many of Nitro’s original clients left and this is why Delaney left. “Outside of Dove, the whole thing is still intact: ConAgra, Foot Locker, Volvo etc,” he stresses. “There are some folks that believe traditional advertising is the centre of the universe, and the digital-savvy folks are second-class citizens. Kathy didn’t embrace integration like others did.”

6. SapientNitro is an IT company that has struggled to become a marketing company. “That’s just plain untrue. The amount of transformation is crazy,” he replies.

7. Before buying an above-the-line agency, Sapient should have brought in the more granular digital services first: the CRM, the social, the search. “I think that is very true to London – it was one of the reasons we acquired DAD (the digital and direct marketing agency) in September,” he says. “When we acquired Nitro, we had really great web chops, but we missed that middle step.” Legorburu also refers to the recent folding of the social specialist Kinship Networking into the company. “We’ve closed that gap now,” he adds.

8. What drives most of Sapient Nitro’s growth is a lot of e-commerce and a lot of Indian outsourcing. “Yes, we have a phenomenal e-commerce business,” he remarks. (No-one would deny that SapientNitro is brilliant at e-commerce. Marks & Spencer clearly knows this: it appointed the company at the end of the summer with the view to boost e-commerce revenue to £1 billion by 2014.) He continues: “But the Indian outsourcing thing is a silly idea. We are not in the outsourcing business; never have been. We have a big presence in India, but we don’t go to Ladbrokes and say, ‘We’ll sell you 20 programmers in India.’”
Legorburu says that Sapient’s move to acquire Nitro gave the Sapient network “credibility” in the marketing space. Acquiring Nitro may have boosted its marketing credibility, but what about its advertising credentials?

Our view

Sapient appeared to have made a very bold move a couple of years ago in acquiring Chris Clarke’s creative micro above-the-line network and fusing it with Sapient’s heavy lifting technology to create SapientNitro.

Was it madness, stretching the elastic band of credibility or a carefully thought through long term strategy?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and damn them too quickly.

Their original offering is still in place for Fortune 500 companies, government services & the financial community offering back end technology, consultancy and marketing services through Sapient Global & Sapient Government Services.Their thinking clearly was to move into the ‘branded’ arena by this acquisition creating a third arm, SapientNitro. Was it ego driven to ‘own’ a classy brand portfolio?

If you look carefully there is however evidence of longer term strategic thinking in the acquisition in 2006 of Planning Group International, a small integrated marketing agency which clearly whet their appetite for the ‘branded’ market opportunity.

Acquiring Nitro in 2009 was a brave move not so much in the strategic thinking but they choose the wrong creative shop to do it with. A marriage too far too fast. The brands & culture were too alien to each other and the inevitable fall out has not stopped with Chris Clarke himself leaving very recently. The idea was right. The partner was wrong.

However, there are clearly some brave and smart thinkers at the top of Sapient because their recent acquisition of DAD – the digital & direct agency in the UK – is exactly the type of agency they should have bought before Nitro. DAD easily bridges the gap, inevitably has a high component of digital understanding and a culture far more like Sapient’s.

A classic & costly mistake but in the long term a statement of intent and a brave one.

Muhammed Ali . No doubt at all.

What’s the perfect place to be?

Listening to Maria Callas singing Madame Butterfly on the shores of Torre del Lago. Or having a big Sunday dinner with family and partners Italian style!

What excites you about your industry?

The digital world, the gadgets, the technology, the talent.

What’s the one thing you must do before
you die?

I’ve always wanted to fly in space. Nearest I’ve got is a flight in Concorde next to Robert Maxwell. A bit of a squeeze but amazing views of the curvature of the earth.

If you could go back in time and give yourself some advice at the beginning of your career, what would it be?

Be confident, listen but then do it your way.

180 has consistently been one of  the most creative agencies in the  world for the past 10 years and when  we were looking for a global partner  to work with, we turned to Chris  and Advertising M&A to help us.  They negotiated an excellent deal  with TBWA & Omnicom and now we have  a micro-network of offices around  the world to service our  clients. Considerable thanks to them  for negotiating a highly complex deal  and a great multiple.”

Alex Melvin
Ex-Chairman, 180 Amsterdam

“You will rarely meet anyone who  knows quite so much as Chris does  about the Advertising and Digital  sector. His knowledge is encyclopedic  and always spot-on. If you are thinking  of selling your business or building it  into something more powerful, then  you would be foolish not to talk to  Advertising M&A first. It is a pleasure  to work with peope who are  trustworthy, creative and show real  integrity in their dealings with you.”

Christopher Jenkins
Senior Partner, Accountants Wingrave Yeats LLP