I didn’t want to be so blunt about it. Really. But the more I think about the current state of agencies, and how they need to blend in to the changing landscapes of creative product, the more I keep coming back to this point: Account Teams are toxic.
First, let me define an Account Team. These are conglomerations of well-dressed, well-spoken, and genuinely likable individuals whose sole purpose is to address client needs, while managing work flows for the creative team. Sound innocent enough, right? Sure…
If you, designers, think that being strategically negated, slaving under fantastical expectations, and being coddled like an infantile mongoloid to the point of your own professional rot is innocent; if you, clients, think that paying out unquantifiable figures of your hard-earned revenues, being patronized and sheltered from the real creative downpours, and generally barking orders in to a whirlwind is productive; if you, agency owners, think that paying a group of people exorbitant salaries to make your business run with less efficiency, less quality and an underlying fear of immediate apocalypse, then yes, sirs and madams, Account Teams can be quite beneficial.
A Modest Proposal
If, instead, you feel that your agency could use a swift posterior bruising toward progress in the early reaches of this third millennium, consider the following:
- Owners: exalt your designers. Let them deal directly with your clients. Let them run projects and set deadlines. Let them present ideas. This can only streamline communications, and will empower your clients in the process.
- Designers: sort out your social anxieties. Get used to talking to clients. Get used to the idea that they may have a bad idea sometimes, and you may need to talk them out of it. This will make you a stronger designer, and will coach your clients in to a better co-existence with your creative majesty. Your ideas, and therefore your responsibilities, persist beyond the pixels on screen or ink on paper.
- Account People: find a seat before the music stops. You are talented; that is why you are where you are. Find your strengths in this industry and play to them. If you are a thinking account person, you could be a valued, project-minded addition to any creative team. If you are a connector: there is always room for people working on new business.
I can think of no better way for an agency to really put themselves out there as a creative collective set apart than to shed the fetters of mad-men era schmoozathons. Dissolve your account team and show your clients how you pass the savings of time and hard-earned cash to them. You needn’t fire everyone; absorb the talented minds back in to where they can do the most good. And as for those whose paycheck has thus far hung on how well they play telephone: well, there are higher-paying jobs with way more integrity out there… in other industries. Godspeed.
