Page 105 - AdNews magazine Mar-Apr-May 2023

Investigation
surprises, challenges, or moves you. No one will care about what you have to say if you haven’t earned their attention. The best work always lives up to this.
“Art versus commerce. Who’s winning? For humanity it’s always art. In advertising, I think it’s somewhat of a false equation.
“I think the biggest issue we face as an industry is the toll the traditional model takes on its best people. Genuine talent has more options than ever before and often those options are now more balanced or less compli- cated, and in some cases more lucrative. So, unless the industry genuinely embraces change to better serve its talent, we’ll lose them in droves.
“I’ve never worked anywhere great where culture wasn’t crucial. I’ve also never worked anywhere great where the culture wasn’t about creativity. Free beers and Friday BBQ’s will never be as rewarding or powerful as a shared commitment and pride in making better things.”
Andy Fergusson, Leo Burnett’s national executive creative director: “Sustainability is being brought up far more frequently. And at Leo’s we’re doing our best to only align ourselves with businesses who are taking it seriously (not just greenwashing).
“Some of our long-term partners like Suncorp and Diageo are leading their categories in their sustainability efforts. And our stance on sus- tainability is becoming far more important to prospective talent.
“It’s no secret that agency culture has waned over the last couple of years. We all know how important face to face time is in creative com- panies. But at the same time, no one wants to sacrifice the new-found flexibility in how we work.
“At Leo’s, we are trying to be more purposeful in building our culture both when we’re WFH and when we’re in the office. For example, we found that WhatsApp groups have been really useful for more spontaneous shar- ing, chatting and joking around at home, particularly in the creative depart- ment. But we’re also putting more emphasis on creating reasons for people to come into the office; whether it’s inspirational talks, or ‘family’ lunches.