This Year I Was Reminded Why It's Important to Play Nice in the Sandbox

2022 has been a trying year – adjusting to political unrest and societal conflict, returning to the office, learning to live with covid, dealing with the impending threat of a global recession, to name a few common concerns. As soon as things are moving along at a steady, comfortable pace, it seems we are thrown a curveball and everything changes. There has undoubtedly been a lot to deal with, but as the year draws to a close I am choosing to celebrate how much we have grown as a result of these trying times. 

In the last 12 months I was relieved to see that lessons learnt during the pandemic are being carried forward and continue to be applied to both our personal and professional lives. Collectively, we have gotten much better at identifying when someone needs our help and because not everyone is comfortable asking for it, offering to assist others in a time of need goes a long way. In our industry, I have observed a substantial mindset shift, with individuals from across the creative pipeline implementing more mindful and empathetic practices in order to lighten the load of others. 

In my line of work - as director and CCO of KUAMP (Kee-Yemp) - I’ve improved on my ability to appropriately assess a client’s needs, even the ones they don’t want me to know about. By identifying these needs and gaining insight into what they are experiencing, brand-side, I have become a more valuable partner. In our ever-changing creative world, client requests are unique and fluid, which is probably why, after two decades, I am still learning how best to pre-empt them. 

Due to the numerous challenges each of us face on a daily basis, there is great value in knowing how to truly serve your client as a productive, self-sufficient partner. Support can include pre-empting potential obstacles and eradicating them before they turn into a problem or disruption, as well as simply taking things off their plate altogether. Over the course of my career so far, I have learned that not all clients will come to you with their concerns, so by assuming responsibility for them before they have to, you save a huge amount of time and stress.

Whether your client is a CMO running a Fortune 500 brand, or a producer operating a smaller indie agency, they are a human being with real concerns that amount to more than the sum of their work projects. No matter the  station of the team member, assisting in streamlining a project by anticipating their needs, will always be greatly appreciated. 

In my experience, the most effective way to help is by outlining a game plan of how to harmoniously work together. With so much change and so many moving parts, productions can quickly become a tangled web of different responsibilities, so planning a collaborative way to work together to maximise capabilities is vital. Creative folks don’t have the answers anymore than anyone else does, and we all need a little bit more time and space to adjust to this brave new world that we’re living in, in order to fully grasp the parameters. 

This year, creative in-housing has become more widespread and popular, and some organisations are still working out where their role ends and the role of third party supplier or partner begins. Being vocal in this process, by helping to figure out the workflow responsibilities of the in-house creative directors of the brand as well as my own team, enabled me to establish authentic synergies across teams. In addition to providing production solutions, KUAMP also handles planning and strategy, working hard to ensure all aspects of the production pipeline come together in matrimony for the smooth sailing of a project. 

Today’s playing field differs greatly to how things looked five or ten years ago, but understanding other peoples’ pain points and offering them a helping hand remains an invaluable skill. Looking ahead to 2023, the industry remains in a fluid state, but that’s OK. Creatives will continue to make the most out of the time, talent and budgets we are afforded. It will take time to get back into a similar rhythm to pre-pandemic times, but 2022 gave us the opportunity to put new skills into practice, and for that I am grateful. 

What really excites me about the future is the idea that this brave new world ahead of us is anyone's game. KUAMP is hungry for it, and in the next ten years, we plan to establish ourselves as one of the biggest and best creative production shops globally. We want to set a precedent and be top of mind for brands, networks, and creative agencies, and the best way to do this is by continuing to play nice together in the sandbox.