Creative Agency Secrets

On the flight I read a copy of Fast Company magazine that was in the goodie / shwag bag we got given at SXSW.

A profile of Anomaly , a US agency that is trying to activly 'kill' the old advertising model.  They are known for being branding / design / innovation think-tank and VC all rolled into one.  Their claim is that their model attacks the fundamental flaws of the agency machine.

Most agencies still earn their paychecks from time sheets and media spend, which means they#'re motivated to be inefficient and to produce ideas that are wedded to expensive media.  Anomaly takes a differetn approach, negotiating upfront either a predetermined fee or, better yet, royalties or an equity stake in a product.  So when a client comes in with an advertising problem, Anomaly addresses it more broadly as a business issue, analyzing everything from design to product development.

 They also invent new products and build brands from scratch that they have thought up or collaborated with from launch.  

Another nice idea is to keep staff numbers below 100 - so they spun out a new agency called "Another Anomoly" with a separate P&L and offices!

Their 'best' venture yet is Virgin America's luggage designed for the air crew. and shortly to be commercially available.  Sales profits will be shared three ways between Virgin and the snowboard company, Burton, who crafted the suitcase with skateboard wheels and a a removable cosmetics pouch. [I couldn't find any designs online to show you.]

And so, I visited their site.  Sadly like most agencies' it is built in flash so you can't link to individual pages.

I liked :

• the 'why we exist' page - using quotes from reports, newspapers and industry names speaking about the problems & issues of marketing and agencies
• no timesheets - who wouldn't want to work there for this bit of no-admin?
• the list of IP they have created…. but no images
• the questions / answers page which sets out why they are different and how they work differently but I couldn't cut and paste from flash so you'll have to go and look for yourself.

I didn't like :

• no links to the industry rags' quotes about them
• the news page is just articles they've written or been quoted in.  Not news.
• no creative on show [maybe that's good? certainly different]
• the new company, Another Anomoly , is a linked URL with the same content….. now why is that?

And, they are opening in London - subject to finding the right talent…..