Last fall, as a major promo for their new agency, Zulu Alpha Zilo set up a box in Dundas Square and put 8 of their “interdisciplinary thinkers” inside (that’s Ben Weeks below, getting his ear poked by Zak Mroueh himself). Joanne Public was encouraged to go inside, propose a problem and the team would spend 20 minutes busting out the ideas to solve it.
The event garnered a Gold in the Advertising Innovative category at the ADCC awards this year and a tonne of media attention as well. The website, which documents the event, launched earlier this fall. When I watch the video, I can feel the creative sparks flying.
I encourage you to explore the site but in the meantime, here are a few pictures:
From an interview in Creativity On-line Zak explains:
We literally give the clients twenty minutes of our time to see how we work as a team to solve a problem. So, instead of doing spec work, they see our process in action and they’re right there with us experiencing the whole thing.
And as one of the thinkers mused in the video: “You have to be highly creative to work inside the constraints you’re given.” I like this challenge.
If you go to the Thinking Inside the Box site, you can see question and response videos and have a gander at the work that they actually created to help fulfill the solutions. I’m not sure they’ve hit every one out of the park but it is shocking and inspiring to see what a group of driven and creative people can accomplish in 20 minutes and then give away for free.
Speaking of free ideas, Stealourideas.com is a whole mess of interesting. Because the efficiency of these explanation drawings appeals to me, I will ask you to click on these (so they’re big enough to read) for more info:
I’m assuming the traditional agency model feels the subtle pressure that little upstarts like these present. Unfortunately, the team behind the blog has had to seek full-time employment and are no longer updating. Nevermind, there’s lots to steal in the archives, here are some examples:
The future is scary ($1000 day rate instead of samples of your work becomes a marketing strategy).
The future is exciting (see above).
How do we collectively bring our energy and passion for creative problem solving into an arena that can use it? How do we make money from it? How do we sustain ourselves and our industry? Well, I know one thing and that’s this: bitching about the new reality isn’t going to change it. Be nimble, do good work and make sure everyone knows about it.
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Rinse and repeat this distilled piece of gold every day dear readers: “Be nimble, do good work and make sure everyone knows about it.”
Heather,
This is a really interesting post. Thanks for sharing I haven’t heard of that group/project. I also think you comments below are really interesting…
The way I see it is that in our current economy and the current shift in the photo industry at large – the middle has dropped, or rather has been drop kicked. Professional commercial shooters all over the world are forced to move in one direction or the other….
1.) Move towards the bottom and aim for volume… 1,000 day rates (become retail shooters).
2.) Re-position themselves to be at the top and go for the branded gold. But, it’s a small world at the top.
There’s not much room for anyone in the middle these days.
I agree the future is exciting. But, as a professional I think it will be a few more years before the dust settles in the market to determine where money can be made for those in the middle again. And although, maybe no one wants to be thought of living in the middle ground of an industry it is important for there to be one.
What do you think?
Best,
Clark
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