There’s a lot that happens within a creative agency in Singapore as compared to our in-house counterparts. When we’re not developing creative campaigns, coming up with a branding strategy or a new website design, our days are jam-packed with more ‘action’ than most jobs. We hate that we love it, but what’re you going to do? We need our jobs to finance our various addictions like shopping, eating, bubble tea, or gaming (we know it’s a vicious cycle).
What exactly goes behind the scenes of a creative agency? What is it that we get up to? Well, if you’re thinking of engaging one (YES PLEASE) or joining one (RUUUUUN!), you probably have some questions to ask creative agencies about how things work around here. You’re in luck because today, we’re going to give you a sneak peek behind the curtains for a full-access to our lives. Here are all the highs, the lows and the shenanigans we get up to every day:
The Lows
Last-Min Projects
Timing is crucial in creative campaigns It’s all about being the first in your industry and getting on the trends the fastest before other brands catch up. Sadly, that creates a lot of troubling habits for the folks in our department. Many clients become accustomed to quick turnarounds and fast work, expecting creative agencies to figure out how to get the job done within the stipulated deadlines. We’ve heard enough variations of “Can we get this ASAP?” and “Will you be able to get this to us by tomorrow?” to last a lifetime.
Contrary to popular beliefs, we do have a life outside of work. As much as we love our jobs, we only have 16 hours a day (excluding sleep) to work and we’re only paid for 8 hours of work a day. And as much as we love to do it, every one of us is working with more than 1 brand who’s requesting for the same deadlines.
Great work needs time. So to all brands out there, no more ASAP, please? Pretty please? 😢
Nasty Clients
It’s not every day we get to come up with great copywriting and beautiful designs. We’ve all got bad days and make some mistakes here and there, but they’re never ill-intentioned. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said with the feedbacks we receive from nasty clients. Though we try not to take them to heart, it still kind of stings a little every now and then.
“This is just a case of bad copy.” “The design is not meeting our objectives at all.” “We can’t use this.” A lot of these are real comments from clients. I guess what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger, which means people in creative agencies are probably Dwayne Johnsons in the mind after their stints.
We’re all humans with a heart (not too sure for some of the nasty clients out there), which is why we don’t always understand the mean tones some people take. There’s always a way to get your point across without being a colossal douchebag. Until then, we’ll just have to deal with it and move on. #TherapyHereICome
Waste of Creative Spark
Do you know what’s the best part of our jobs? It’s the opportunity to make something creative and original for our clients. With every idea, copy, or design, a lot of thought is put into proposing and executing them. We believe in the idea and that it will work. But sometimes, our clients may not be as appreciative of our efforts as we’d like them to be.
Various restrictions (i.e. red tape, branding guidelines) or the lack of understanding in the digital sphere can sometimes get in the way of good creative work. Sad to say that it happens more often than not.
As time passes, we might even start rejecting great ideas internally and not propose them with the fear of wasting the creative spark. Help us help you. We’re 100% sure that it will work (Okay maybe more like… 50% but who’s counting.)
The Highs
Fun Projects
Not all of our creative sparks go to waste. We’ve had our fair share of fun and exciting projects amidst some of our more routine and dull work. Those are the kind of works that motivates us to get out of bed every morning. It could be a new video, an interactive campaign, a contest or a worldwide launch of a new product. We get excited together with our clients too even though it’s technically not ours to claim.
But hey, we take pride in playing a small/big role in helping our clients get to that point. Watching our efforts go live and reach/engage/touch the audiences of our clients gives us an adrenaline rush that can last for days (or at least until one of ‘The Lows’ happen to us again).
Regardless of what we say during the process, we more than likely enjoyed it.
Great Clients
Just like how we’ve had our fair share of nasty clients, we had the privilege of working with some fantastic brands over the years. Regardless of the kind of projects these clients give to us, the entire process is usually smooth and enjoyable, with lots of room for us to stretch our creative muscles.
Because of that, we tend to be appreciated for our hard work with compliments aplenty from them. “The copy is enjoyable to read” or “We love the concept!” are the things that put a smile on our faces and give us hope to continue slogging our guts out.
In turn, we’re always more motivated to give our best to them. A virtuous cycle if you may.
Creative Team
A bonus about being in a creative agency is that you’re working with people who’re just as quirky and creative as you are. It makes for a very lively working experience when you can trade witty barbs, discuss and write about current affairs, and bounce ideas off one another.
You can push each others’ limits of creativity and come up with new branding strategies that are tailor made for your clients. Feels good to always deliver something better than what you expected.
This one is a shout-out to our creative team! ✊
The Shenanigans
Memes
Every day is a good day for memes, especially those that relate to agency life (thank you @theincumbentagency). We enjoy reading them, sharing them, and feeling a sense of “we’re not alone in this”. On some rare occasions, memes might be a tool in our digital marketing campaigns.
In addition, when it comes to creative campaigns, we often have to go through lots of stock photos in our hunt for the perfect visual. And boy is there some really ‘interesting’ submissions on stock photos. From time to time, we make memes out of these stock photos for our own entertainment, like this one:
And yes, this has happened before. 😞
Poking Fun At ‘Interesting’ Clients
We love almost all of our clients. Almost. As we mentioned above, we do get quite a range. They vary in attitudes, digital knowledge, and industries.
That means we do get some rare Pokemons from time to time, like those who’re still using Internet Explorer on Windows XP (an exaggeration here) asking us why the website doesn’t load properly. In our own private time, we do poke some fun and reference these ‘interesting’ partners for some good-natured jokes. Besides, humour makes for great creative campaigns.
Same goes for ‘nasty’ clients as well (but not as good-natured). Come on, we’re trying to help them. At least let us poke some fun in private when they’re being nasty for no reason at all. We’re only human. 😢
Derailed Brainstorm Sessions
You know how you think of something related to what you were initially thinking of and then your brain just goes from there? Pretty much, that’s how some of our brainstorm sessions go. We’re talking about branding for a beauty brand, then we’re talking about beauty influencers and before we know it, we’re on the topics of influencer scandals.
That’s what happens when you put many active minds who’re in the digital sphere together. We’re always thinking of different ways and linking ideas together.
Good and bad. Just when it gets bad, it is completely derailed until someone goes “Okay guys, let’s get back on track.” Thankfully, there’s always someone to do that.
Become One of Our ‘Highs’
Despite everything we’ve said, we really do like our jobs. That means we enjoy helping brands like yours and bringing them to the next level. At the end of the day, you know we’ll always be professional (other than some inside jokes in private heehee), creative and energetic for your brand.
Become one of our ‘Highs’ and ‘Lows’ (ok hopefully not) today. Say ‘Hi’ (geddit?) to us!
