Welcoming the creator fox into the agency hen house
Dept is adapting to the creator age by encouraging creatives to work alongside them to make work audiences want to see, says ECD Jeff Bowerman
It’s a strange time to be an advertising creative. According to the recent This Year, Next Year report by WPP Media, creator-driven content is predicted to surpass ‘professionally produced content’ in advertising revenue for the first time in 2025.
More than half of the content-driven advertising revenue is expected to originate from user-generated platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram Reels. Oh, and apparently, something called AI is also eating our creative lunch too. Agencies that have built their reputations and fortunes alongside their production partners on ‘professionally produced content’ are now feeling the burn of this dual existential threat to their creative output.
The TL;DR of this is that audiences are consuming and engaging more with content that feels less polished, more human, more candid, and less scripted. More ‘Shot on iPhone’ than an Arri and definitely less Soho post-house afternoons spent with a colourist and a well-timed free lunch. Generally, the antithesis to the traditional craft that our industry has celebrated and awarded for decades.
@easyjet Sorry @Duolingo, but there’s a new toastie on the block x #easyJet #CrocMonseuir #Mascot #DuoLingo ♬ 7 years latch – favsoundds
In fact, this year’s Cannes Lions entries in the Social and Creators category were, to be honest, disappointing, and a reflection that many agencies are still lagging behind when it comes to their relationships with creators and the type of work audiences are consuming.
Before we all pack up our pencil cases and reminisce about the 90s golden age though, let me share how we are finding new ways to collaborate and create with a creator mindset. I promise it’s still fun, creatively fulfilling and financially rewarding for the bean-counting readership (I see you).
But first let’s not pretend this is new. For anyone as old as me, who started their career in the dotcom boom and who actively remembers the birth of social and digital marketing – when Facebook was a shiny new media channel and Instagram was strictly organic – will also have remembered the challenge of making content for these magical new channels.
Before we all pack up our pencil cases and reminisce about the 90s golden age though, let me share how we are finding new ways to collaborate and create with a creator mindset
Our clients effectively received free media, a free audience, and free attention, and they sadly expected nearly free content to fill it. Whilst we assumed everyone in the ATL shops were off bringing to life their ‘we open on a beach’ scripts, we were shooting stupid things on phones in the basement. Not because authenticity and UGC performed at the time, but simply because it’s all we could do with no production budget, a packed content calendar and a can of deodorant/pack of condoms/a stock cube (what a night in that is).
A decade and a half later, with the total domination of social channels, the challenge of delivering a high volume of content and a native aesthetic requires this approach more than ever. Therefore, in the spirit of not gatekeeping, here are three ways we’ve built, leaned in, and pivoted our teams to be more creator-centric.
LESS AD SCHOOL CREATIVE, MORE CREATOR MINDSET
When it comes to social creative hires, we’ve focused less on traditional creative ‘teams’, less copywriters, less art directors, and more doers, makers, and increasingly it’s more personalities that are meaningful. Industry backgrounds matter less than ever.
Whether it’s brand-new faces in the team or steering existing creatives into this space, for many it’s scary, as they are accustomed to the process and the need for permission (and a signed-off budget) to be creative. But the shackles are now off. What’s good is now decided by the algorithm and the comments section, not the CD who still wears baseball caps.
Take, for example, our client easyJet, for whom one of our creatives spends half their week at Luton Airport, getting an authentic behind-the-scenes look at the action, and being very much part of the client’s team, capturing and starring in content alongside the crew. Somehow, she also managed to snag a trip to Ibiza recently to capture content. ‘We open on a beach’ is still apparently a thing.
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CREATIVE X CREATOR PLATFORMS
I still think that in many agency people’s heads, creators equal people unboxing things with zero creativity. This couldn’t be further from our truth, and where we’ve really elevated work is when we’ve placed creators at the heart of campaigns and activations, and not treated them as a bolt-on.
Our recent work for Walkers, made alongside their in-house agency Sips & Bites, employed creators such as Asim Chaudhry and Ash Holme as shopkeepers and customers of an IRL corner shop to promote a virtual Walker’s Flamin Hot TikTok shop. Only opening the doors when the temperature dropped.
Or creating a long-form series for JustEat with foodie creators sharing their local hotspots. Or briefing a group of gaming creators to rescue a hostage live for the launch of an Amazon Prime original film. The theme throughout all these examples was about building a creative platform for our brands that allowed creators to collaborate natively and authentically.
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JUST GET OUT OF THE WAY
Perhaps the toughest point for our creative egos are the briefs where we creatives are simply not needed. Where the magic of a creator with a strong personality, style and skillset should be left alone to do what they do best and what their audience loves most. Kinda like the fact I’ve never understood why agencies hire comedians for TV ads and write jokes for them. Madness.
But equally, I get the resistance – it’s the relinquishing of control for both agencies and clients alike. So trust swiftly becomes the new moat. That’s why, over the past couple of years, we’ve been building a team to plan, cast, and manage the best creator talent, thereby creating a trusted talent pool. Less about follower size and more about their ability to entertain and engage.
I still think that in many agency people’s heads, creators equal people unboxing things with zero creativity. This couldn’t be further from our truth
We’re curating and building strong personal relationships with each and every creator so we can confidently give them the freedom to be themselves for the brands we work with. This has resulted in far more creative risks being taken, and far more creative and impactful results that we proudly share amongst our more traditional ‘professionally produced’ cases.
One of my personal favourites was when we asked @WhatWillyCook to make a food-themed music video to promote the easyJet seat sale. It was wonderfully bonkers. And as much as it should pain me as a creative, we didn’t write a single lyric.
Jeff Bowerman is executive creative director at Dept; deptagency.com; Top image: Shutterstock
