This presentation (I delivered at UNSW Art & Design) provides students with an insight into how successful creative agencies and experience design studios apply culture, collaboration and creative leadership to their work.

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5. INTERACTIVE KIOSKS

6. NATIVE MOBILE APPS

7. QUARTERLY R&D ACROSS THE GROUPPUBLIC INSTALLATIONS

8. ADVERTISING & COMMUNICATIONS

9. WHO’S IN THE HOUSE?
MASTERS OF
DESIGN
MASTERS OF
CURATING &
CULTURAL
LEADERSHIP

10. KIM GAVE US A HEADS UP
• Intersection of leadership & creativity
• Collaboration & team work
• Disruption
• The role of communication
• Shared vision & values

11. TODAY’S PRESENTATION
CULTURE,
COLLABORATION &
CREATIVE
LEADERSHIP

12. SO, WHAT IS CULTURE?
The ideas, customs, and
social behaviour of a
particular people or society.
SOURCE: GOOGLE.COM

13. WHY IS CULTURE IMPORTANT?
Design is a methodical
approach to crafting
experiences that are driven by
human insights.

14. CULTURE + DESIGN
WHY?
motivation
HOW?
process
WHAT?
product

15. WHY IS CULTURE IMPORTANT?
YOU ARE NOT A
DESIGNER IF YOU
DON’T CONSIDER
CULTURE

16. SHOW & TELL TIME
WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN DESIGNERS
DON’T CONSIDER
CULTURE

17. BIC: UNCULTURED GENDER EQUALITY

18. AMERICAN APPAREL: UNCULTURED PATRIOTISM

19. QANTAS: UNCULTURED CUSTOMER SERVICE

20. DON’T BE A CASE STUDY IN BAD DESIGN
YOU GOTTA
CONSIDER THE
CULTURE OF YOUR
AUDIENCE

21. READ THIS BOOK: GROUPED

22. GROUPED: SOCIAL BY DESIGN
Humans are social creatures
and the web is playing catch
up to offline behaviours that
have been around since the
beginning of time.

23. RELEVANCE IS IMPERATIVE
GOOD IDEAS
ALWAYS STEM
FROM GOOD
CULTURAL INSIGHTS

24. THE HOME OF CULTURAL INSIGHTS
EVERY SUCCESSFUL
AGENCY HAS A
RESEARCH,
PLANNING OR
STRATEGY
DEPARTMENT

25. SHOW & TELL TIME: PERFECT POP

26. WHY I LOVE IT
IT DISRUPTS
TRADITIONAL
ADVERTISING

27. I DON’T HAVE AN INSIGHTS DEPARTMENT
• KnowYourMeme.com
• SocialMention.com
• Hashtagify.me
• TweetReach.com
• Google.com/Trends
• BuzzSumo.com
• Topsy.com
• SimilarWeb.com

28. THE POWER OF INFLUENCE

29. INFLUENCER MARKETING
MARKETERS HAVE
BEEN ALIGNING
WITH CULTURAL
INFLUENCERS FOR
YEARS

30. BEYONCE, BRITTANY & PINK FOR PEPSI

31. HUMANS ARE EASILY CONVINCED BY HUMANS
20-50% OF ALL
PURCHASE
DECISIONS IS DUE TO
WORD OF MOUTH
SOURCE: MCKINSEY.COM

32. MEET CHARLI & HER SISTER ASHLEE

33. THEY WERE A PERFECT FIT FOR WHITE WINGS

34. WE GOT 300K VIEWS ON YOUTUBE

35. CULTURE IN SUMMARY
Cultural insights and
influencers are strong assets
for being relevant to society.
Don’t overlook them!

36. THE NEXT C
Once culture has informed our
pathway, how do we execute
our ideas?
Collaboration.

37. ANYONE KNOW WHO THIS IS?

38. BACK IN THE 1950s
Bill introduced the advertising
world to the idea of creative
teams, by pairing an art
director with a copywriter.

39. COLLABORATION IS A NO BRAINER
DIVERSITY MAKES
US SMARTER

40. DIVERSITY MAKES US SMARTER
In the US, innovation firms
perform financially better
with women in top leadership
ranks.
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND & COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

41. DIVERSITY MAKES US SMARTER
A study of 177 US banks
showed racial diversity clearly
related to enhanced financial
performance.
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

42. WE’RE NO LONGER IN THE 1950s
COLLABORATION IN
ADVERTISING &
MARKETING HAS
EVOLVED

43. LAURA JORDAN BAMBACH
“Advertising must be able to
throw themselves at
everything from content
programmes, PR, service
design, customer service
platforms and product
development – and
everything in between.”

44. SHOW & TELL TIME: MOST POWERFUL ARM

45. THE TRUTH
COLLABORATE
OR DIE
COLLABORATE
OR DIE

46. BACK IN THE DAY
1. IDEATE 2. DESIGN
3. BUILD 4. TEST
BRIEF
LAUNCH

47. WATERFALL CREATES ISSUES DOWNSTREAM

48. A NEW MODEL IS BORN
AGILE IS THE
ULTIMATE
COLLABORATION
MODEL

49. WORKING IN CYCLES
1. IDEATE
2. DESIGN
3. BUILD
4. TEST
1. IDEATE
2. DESIGN
3. BUILD
4. TEST
1. IDEATE
2. DESIGN
3. BUILD
4. TEST
BRIEF
LAUNCH
1. IDEATE
2. DESIGN
3. BUILD
4. TEST

50. WHY AGILE ROCKS
• Change is welcome
• Business people, designers and developers
work together
• Collective ownership & prioritisation
• Less documentation, more prototyping
• Constant fine-tuning

51. AGILE CREATES A HAPPY FAMILY

52. THE TRUTH ABOUT EVERY BRIEF
You know the most about a
problem at the very end of a
project, so why try to solve
everything up front?

53. NAUGHTY SHOW & TELL TIME
COLLABORATION
PORN SHOT ON
LOCATION AT
REACTIVE

54. SCOPING A PROJECT TOGETHER

55. PLANNING A CYCLE

56. THE CLIENT IS INCLUDED

57. DISCOVERIES ARE SHARED

58. WE WORK IN A MINI LAB

59. COLLABORATION IN SUMMARY
Processes that foster
collaboration and diversity are
critical for success.
Agile is one such way.

60. THE NEXT C
How do leaders ignite
collaboration through shared
vision and values?
Creative Leadership.

61. AN EPIPHANY, BACK IN 2011

62. THE CHALLENGES
NEW IDEAS ARE
DOOMED FROM THE
MOMENT THEY ARE
CONCEIVED

63. WHY WE NEED LEADERS IN CREATIVITY?
Great creative leaders provide
a light for creatives to
circumnavigate the evil forces
that kill good ideas.

64. READ THIS BOOK: MAKING IDEAS HAPPEN

65. WHAT MAKES A GREAT CREATIVE LEADER?

66. OBSERVATION 1
GREAT LEADERS
USE HAPPINESS AS
A REWARD

67. HAPPINESS IS GREATER THAN MONEY
There is a diminishing return
to happiness for every extra
$1,000 in earnings.
SOURCE: GLASSDOOR.COM

68. HAPPINESS AS A REWARD
• Recognise deep satisfaction is
more sustainable than money.
• Use happiness to emotionally
engage.

69. OBSERVATION 2
GREAT LEADERS
USE PLAY AS AN
EDUCATIONAL TOOL

70. ENCOURAGED TO HAVE FUN TOGETHER

71. PLAY AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL
• Make work entertaining.
• Recognise learning is easier when
it is fun.
• Break routines to keep the mind
fresh and stimulated.

72. OBSERVATION 3
GREAT LEADERS
RECOGNISE THE
IMPORTANCE OF
TEAM CHEMISTRY

73. T-SHAPED PEOPLE
BREADTH OF EXPEREINCE
DEPTHOFEXPEREINCE

74. DIFFERENT SKILLS, SHARED RESPECT

75. OBSERVATION 4
GREAT LEADERS
PROVIDE
FLEXIBILITY FOR
PRODUCTIVITY

76. THE BUMS ON SEATS POLICY IS BROKEN
Ctrip’s staff working from
home complete 13.5% more
calls than office staff. Their
attrition rate is also 50% less.
SOURCE: HBR.ORG

77. FLEXIBILITY FOR PRODUCTIVITY
• Know productivity is outcomes,
not clocked hours.
• Idea generation happens on its
own terms.
• Respect creative flow.

78. OBSERVATION 5
GREAT LEADERS
VALUE FRICTION
AMONGST CREATIVE
MINDS

79. PEACE, LOVE & WAR

80. VALUE FRICTION
• Use conflict to find ideas hidden
in the unknown.
• Attack apathy, not conflict.

81. OBSERVATION 6
GREAT LEADERS
SHARE OWNERSHIP
OF IDEAS

82. INSTILLING DESIRE AND PASSION
“Leadership is the art of
getting someone else to do
something you want done
because he wants to do it.”
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

83. SHARE OWNERSHIP
• Know obsession only comes from
ownership.
• Recognise forced ideas lead to
forced executions.
• Focus on desired outcomes, not
how to get there.

84. AT THE END OF THE DAY
GREAT LEADERS
RECOGNISE THEY
AREN’T A SOLO
SHOW

85. CREATIVE LEADERSHIP IN SUMMARY
• Focus on tasks that only they can do.
• Share emotional ownership and
responsibility.
• Be a leader and a teacher.
The energy of one person is not enough.

86. THERE YOU HAVE IT
CULTURE,
COLLABORATION &
CREATIVE
LEADERSHIP

87. @STONEYKUN
THANK YOU
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