Find Your Innovation And The Importance Of ‘Walking In Stupid’
In this opinion piece, Dr Amantha Imber, the Founder of consultancy firm Inventium (pictured below) channels the great work of Wieden+Kennedy: forget what you know and why experts don’t always work…
Most of us would know the work of Wieden+Kennedy. For those who don’t, Wieden+Kennedy is one of the world’s top creative advertising agencies. One of the agency’s founders, Dan Wieden, was responsible for coming up with one of the most famous taglines on the planet: Nike’s ‘Just Do It’.
In recent years you might have watched actor Isaiah Mustafa riding a white horse backwards, claiming he was ‘The man your man could smell like’ and thus reviving the Old Spice brand. Or perhaps you remember the agency’s 2008 Super Bowl ad for Coca-Cola that featured two huge inflatable cartoon characters chasing a giant inflatable bottle of Coca-Cola across New York City, with an inflatable Charlie Brown emerging victorious having caught the Coke bottle. Adweek named it best Super Bowl ad of the decade.
One of the factors that has been identified as critical for creating a culture where innovation thrives is ensuring that different points of view are encouraged and that ideas are regularly debated. And at Wieden+Kennedy, challenging the status quo and debating different views is par for the course.
One of the first things visitors to the London office see is a shop-window mannequin that has a blender for a head. The mannequin is carrying a briefcase that has the words ‘Walk in stupid every morning’ written on it. The message represents something that cofounder Dan Wieden believes in strongly: that is, that to find innovative ideas, people need to throw away all their assumptions and preconceived ideas.
Neil Christie, who heads up Wieden+Kennedy’s London office, says, “The mannequin is there so it’s the first thing you see when you walk in the door, to remind you that that’s what we’re here to do. If you listen to conventional wisdom or think that the thing you did last time is going to work again this time around, then you’re going to lose. You have to assume that conventional wisdom isn’t going to work or the category norms aren’t going to work.
“It’s not that we’re encouraging people to be stupid. It’s more that we’re encouraging people to recognise that they don’t necessarily know the answers and that the most experienced people won’t necessarily have the answers either. Sometimes you’re going to get a fresher answer from somebody looking at it naively, or from a different perspective than the so-called experts.”
One of the ways the tenet ‘Walk in stupid every morning’ is applied is in the way staff are allocated to clients. In most advertising agencies, people are allocated to clients where they have significant industry experience. For example, if an agency is pitching for a cosmetics account, they typically identify everyone who has worked on beauty brands before, and put them on the team. Clients naturally love this because it makes them feel as if they have ‘industry experts’ working on their account. But at Wieden+Kennedy this idea gets flipped on its head. People are deliberately assigned to accounts where they don’t have oodles of experience in the category.
The Honda account is one example of this strategy in practice. “There’s a reason why most automotive advertising looks the same,” explains Christie. And that reason is that people who have experience working on automotive advertising—whether that be as a creative in an advertising agency, a producer, or a director—are generally selected to work on the account because they have years, if not decades, of experience.
So rather than go down this path with Honda, the agency instead put together a team of people who were not automotive veterans. Indeed, some of the people on the team didn’t even particularly like cars. But the work the agency produced for Honda was unlike anything else the industry had ever seen.
The Honda Cog commercial is one of the most famous and effective pieces of work that the agency has ever produced. It was released in 2003 and featured a series of Honda Accord automotive parts colliding into each other like dominoes with the ad climaxing with a Honda Accord rolling off the trailer to the line ‘Isn’t it nice when things just work?’ It is one of the most awarded commercials in history.
Dr Amantha Imber is the Founder of Inventium (www.inventium.com.au), Australia’s leading innovation consultancy. Her latest book, The Innovation Formula (Wiley $29.95) (http://www.booktopia.com.au/the-innovation-formula-amantha-imber/prod9780730326663.html) is available now.
Latest News
QMS’ Jemma Enright Talks The Company’s Plans For The City Of Sydney’s $300M Outdoor
Back in June 2020, QMS pulled off a major coup, snaring the City of Sydney’s outdoor assets away from rival JCDeceaux in a 10 year deal reported to be worth $300 million. COVID has made the changeover and erection of new street furniture challenging, but here B&T chats with Jemma Enright who joined the business […]
Two Out Of Three Australian Crypto Enthusiasts Think Crypto Will Continue To Grow Against The Dollar
According to a new study by Gemini, the meteoric rise and subsequent volatility of Bitcoin has many Aussies considering whether digital assets have a place in an investment portfolio, often comparing cryptocurrencies against more traditional asset classes, such as property. Now, as concerns grow over inflation and the economic slump – motivating many investors to look […]
Facebook Releases Campaign For Ray Ban Stories Smart Glasses
Facebook has officially released the campaign for the succinctly named Ray-Ban Stories: First-Generation Smart Glasses. The Ray-Ban Stories are, according to Facebook’s official release, “smart glasses that give you a new way to capture photos and video, share your adventures and listen to music or take phone calls.” They are the product of a collab […]
#EmmySoWhite Circulates On Twitter After Awards Show
#EmmySoWhite is circulating on Twitter & rest assured it's nothing to do with the sauvignon blanc served to attendees.
RuPaul Breaks Emmys Record, Becoming Most-Awarded Person Of Colour
B&T continuing to deliver our in-depth & authoritative Emmys coverage and that's despite no staffer even watching it.
Two M&C Saatchi Creatives Talk Making Art To Stay Fresh
M&C Saatchi creatives Sam Rowlands and Jason Leigh talk about their personal creative pursuits, and how it informs their advertising. Then they decided that, as they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, they’d prefer to interview each other… Sam Rowlands — art director/painter/sculptor/fashion designer (as interviewed by Jason Leigh) Sam forgot about our […]
Adam Shand Launches His Real Crime Podcast Collection Via LiSTNR
Adam Shand launches real crime podcast on LiSTNR, with interviews to include Colonel Mustard & Professor Plum.
Lego Unveils Brilliantly Fun New Campaign That’s A Celebration Of Kids’ Imagination
Lego's one of those toys that's great no matter your age. Although middle-aged men playing with it can be a bit weird.
Perkbox Australia Appoints New Country Manager
Perkbox sounds like an aid for people who suffer from motion sickness in the backseat. But as you'll read, it's not.
Michael Speakman Joins Esports Organisation ORDER As Head Of Commercial
Esports organisation ORDER has announced the appointment of Michael Speakman as its new Head of Commercial. As part of ORDER’s expansion, Speakman will help navigate new commercial opportunities by offering a creative space for brands to connect, level up and deliver partnerships across the gaming ecosystem. ORDER continues to sustain its rapid expansion by appointing a […]
“Awkward!” Reporter Asks Gillian Anderson If She’d “Spoken To Margaret Thatcher” About Playing Her In The Crown
Sadly, yesterday's Emmys lacked that certain sparkle that comes from Ricky Gervais getting pissed & insulting everyone.
Gary Ablett Jnr Signs NFT Deal With Sportemon Go
If non-fungible tokens are as mysterious to you as the great game of AFL, then this story will make no sense whatsoever.
Foxtel Appoints New Commissioning Editor & Supervising Producer, Unscripted
Foxtel appoints new commissioning editor & threatens viewers with another series of The Real Housewives of Melbourne.
Fetch TV Renews Deal With BBC Studios For Seven BBC Channels
Are you British and pining for a taste of home? Well, whack on the socks and sandals and check out Fetch's BBC offering.
Bankwest Stadium Rebrands As CommBank Takes Over Naming Rights
Parramatta's Bankwest Stadium rebrands as CommBank. Confirms the pies will remain slightly cold & slightly soggy.
Monday TV Wrap: The Block Is Triumphant While HYBPA? Shoots And Scores
Veteran shows again proving the winners last night. Let's just hope no one gets any ideas about reprising Family Feud.
Helga’s Wants You To Be A Nice Neighbour In New Work From The Works
Bread ad encouraging people to be nice neighbours. Which can be difficult if you live next door to a Delta Goodrem fan.
Hivestack Expands US Footprint With Clear Channel Outdoor Partnership
Hivestack, the leading global programmatic digital out of home (DOOH) ad tech company today announced a partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor Americas (CCOA), the US based business of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings: one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies. Through this new partnership, CCOA will offer advertisers a way to buy DOOH inventory programmatically […]
Guardian Australia Expands Representation Nationwide With New Hires
The mere mention of Barnaby Joyce or Christian Porter to The Guardian is like a Mentos in a Coke bottle, isn't it?
Omnicom Beats Publicis To Win Mercedes’ Global Agency Consolidation
Nothing beats the quality of a German-built car. They're also very good at strudels, beer & pinching the sun lounger.
NOVA Entertainment Appoints Key Programming Roles
NOVA confirms the appointments of Mary Datoc & Michael McPhee, neither of whom appear to possess a radio nickname.
Paper Moose Creates Virtual Experience To Help UTS Students Leap Pandemic Hurdles
UTS launches 360° video tour that thankfully has edited out any dope-smoking arts students in Che Guevara T-shirts.
Initiative Studio Teams With Pernod Ricard’s Rosé Spritz For Post-Lockdown Promo
Pernod Ricard’s Rosé Spritz set to be THE hot new drink for summer. Admittedly, we can't see it affecting VB sales.
Samsung Announces Finalists For UNDSCVRD Tiktok Docu-Series
Samsung Electronics Australia has this week announced the lineup of five budding recording artists for its UNDSCVRD competition, a TikTok docu-style reality series aimed to bring the spotlight to the rising music talent in the country. The series, presented by Samsung Galaxy, brings together five musical talents from across the country who were hand-picked by […]
Cricket’s Big Bash Enlists Tones And I & Nike For Season Launch
Yes, you read that headline right! Tones And I is now flogging the Big Bash cricket in one of the stranger partnerships.
Kate Silver Promoted To General Manager Of Leo Burnett Melbourne
Leos' Kate Silver eyeing the IKEA JÄRVFJÄLLET leatherette swivel chair in charcoal after recent MD promotion.
Indie Agency Kaimera Expands With New Hires
Independent media agency Kaimera has recruited five new team members to manage its continued growth, following several new client wins including Britbox, Campos and Under Armour. Daniel Miller (pictured above) has joined from News Connect, where he was an associate programmatic trader, in the newly created role of platforms manager. In the role, he will […]
PubMatic Research: IDFA Changes Provide New Opportunities To Engage Mobile Consumers
For the record, IDFA stands for Apple ID for Advertisers, in case you mistook it for some weird Tamil guerrilla group.
Nine’s Love Island Australia Gets Premiere Date
The sexiest singles in the nation (according to Channel Nine, at least) are back on airwaves with Love Island Australia on Monday, October 4, at 9.00pm after The Block on Channel 9 and 9Now. Aussie sweetheart Sophie Monk will return to host (and play Cupid) alongside new addition, comedian Stephen Mullan a narrator, in the world-renowned reality TV […]
Yotpo Expands Down Under With Multi-Year Shopify Partnership
Yotpo is officially expanding into Australia, off the back of significant market growth with massive Aussie names, a landmark investment from Shopify and a plan to help local Aussie e-comm explode. Yotpo’s ANZ userbase includes names like Zoe Foster Blake’s $180M Go-To Skin Care, e-commerce fashion queen Princess Polly, and billion-dollar streetwear brand Culture Kings, […]
