“Show up and stop bashing yourself!” Industry reflections with Susan Credle
International award season is in full swing, with the D&AD Awards and The One Show already distant memories, and Cannes Lions just around the corner.
While this is obviously a time of celebrating work that makes an impact, it's also a good time to reflect on the industry as a whole and network with big players from around the globe to understand the true state of creativity.
Credle is one of my personal favourite creatives to interview as she is a supporter of diversity in all its forms and striving to balance out inequalities where they exist. Here's she lets us in on the need to rethink the current pitch process and start building each other up instead of bashing each other – that’s the only way we’ll truly progress…
Let’s start with the ‘work’ aspect – explain your role at the One Show’s Creative Week and Educators’ Workshop.
As a member of the board for the One Club, one of my responsibilities is simply to be present. We sometimes underestimate the value of showing up.
One of my other responsibilities this year was to be part of the One Club Executive Creative Summit. It was a closed-door meeting with leaders from agencies, clients and services, where we discussed the difficult issues that our industry is facing today and how we might address them. The generosity of leaders in our business was inspiring. I would share more, but the day-long meeting was “off the record.”
List a few of the key trends that came up from the summits/workshop sessions and the current global state of creativity.
One of the trends that came up time and time again is that this industry needs to stop bashing itself. We’ve done a good job of tearing each other down when we should be building each other up.
Another topic of discussion was the chief marketing officer (CMO) turnover rate. Across the industry, there are amazing ideas that would pay out for the client, but much of this work doesn’t reach its full potential, because there’s so much change in the client/agency relationships. A topic I found interesting was the current pitching process.
Our industry has seen incredible change over the last few decades, and yet, the pitching process hasn’t really changed much at all.
Moving on to the ‘fun’ factor, talk us through the unplanned aspects of the week – networking with industry colleagues, celebrating SA’s wins.
I would say my favourite thing about this week in NYC is seeing so many talented people who have become friends over the years. More than ever, it is so important to take time out and celebrate the creative work being done in our industry.
To hear FCB Africa’s name in the same sentence with Best of Show was thrilling for the network.
What was your favourite winning work and what makes it stand out from the clutter?
My favourite winning work from this year is We’re the Superhumans. I remember seeing it first in my social feed:
It’s nice to experience creative in the real world, where it really has to compete with the clutter. The category of long-form film is very traditional; this work is anything but!
Here’s hoping for more of that non-traditional and collaborative creativity going forward.
Visit our One Show special section for a reminder of our coverage and visit our Cannes Lions special section for all the latest updates! Cinemark are the local reps for Cannes Lions.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
