This is a modified version of the talk I gave at Cannes. The question was why can't agencies innovate?

1. 2640 Lyndale Ave. South | Minneapolis, Minnesota 55408 | T +1 612 279 1400 | www.zeusjones.com
How your advertising skills can become even more meaningful in the
innovation field.
Adrian Ho

2. Image via: http://practicalwingchun.cn

3. The match that shaped Bruce Lee’s approach to Kung Fu
The infamous fight: Oakland, CA 1964
Image via: http://practicalwingchun.cnImage via: http://http://10000victories.com/
Wong Jack Man Bruce Lee

4. It’s traditional frameworks or styles that are.
Traditional techniques aren’t
the problem.

5. Separates techniques from form. Relies upon fighter’s intuition and creativity rather than
tradition or formulas.
Jeet Kune Do:
A style without a style.

6. Pete Maulik, CSO at Fahrenheit 212, gave us the single
best piece of advice in 2006: “The hardest thing for
you will be to remember you’re not in an advertising
agency.”
We were given the
same advice before
we opened.
Innovation expert Peter Maulik ’04 shows that there is
more to success than luck and circumstance. Read on p25
Columbia women leading the upper
echelons of the finance industry. p10
GE CFO Keith Sherin ’91 heads up a
$1 billion investment in Big Data. p16
How do leaders set values or reset
their organization’s direction? p28
LEADINGCHANGE
THEGAMECHANGERS
THE
READY SET
INNOVATE

7. Advertising is a
business of
people

8. Advertising is a
business of
people
Who operate
within a culture

9. Advertising is a
business of
people
Supported by
departments,
processes and tools
Who operate
within a culture

10. Advertising is a
business of
people
Supported by
departments,
processes and tools
Who operate
within a culture
Created from
frameworks, ideas
and philosophy

11. Advertising is a
business of
people
Designed to
enhance and enable
the creation of
advertising
Supported by
departments,
processes and tools
Who operate
within a culture
Created from
frameworks, ideas
and philosophy

12. Question how, why and by whom that output is created
Don’t just question the output of the agency

13. The most fundamental
decisions actually have the
most far reaching
implications.

14. Retained Relationship Implications
Time sheets and time accounting systems
Relationship/account managers
Lengthy development times and processes
Agencies extending themselves beyond core
Makes it difficult to innovate or disrupt
Measured by time
Built around a relationship
For managing something
Growth through additional services
Designed to ensure continuity

15. Project Relationship Implications
No time sheets, our profitability is our business
No account people, greater collaboration
Small agile teams, value speed
We build change into our deliverables
We partner on innovation
Measured by task
Built around a goal
For doing something
Growth through new opportunities
Designed to create something new

16. • New business pitches
• HR departments
• Team structure
• Campaign cycles
• Brand/communication models
• Awards
Agencies are built upon dozens of
fundamental decisions with equally far
reaching implications.

17. Agency people are literally bound by frameworks that hold them down and hold them back
The burden of those decisions is carried upon your backs
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18. It’s traditional frameworks or styles that are.
Traditional techniques aren’t
the problem.

19. Separate your techniques from your structures. Rely upon intuition and creativity rather than
tradition or formulas.
Free yourself from “the agency.”