What do you mean when you call a creative agency or a brand marketer "risky"?
Ten, maybe even five years ago, it would probably describe creative that was constantly trying to push the edges of acceptable humor, and often good taste. Agencies wanted to be "edgy" and irreverent, selling themselves as navigators of coolness for brands looking to be less boring.
In 2020, "risky" means something very different. An agency—or a marketer—known for taking risks is generally one that's willing to be bold, blunt and unapologetic about its views on everything from politics to equality.
Few, if any, agencies have represented this new definition than Wieden + Kennedy, which over the past decade has maintained its penchant for quirky humor (think Old Spice, KFC and Bud Light) while also becoming one of the most politically and socially progressive agencies on Earth.
Today, at Adweek's Elevate: Creativity and Experiential virtual event, I talked about this changing nature of risk with Colleen DeCourcy, co-president and CCO of Wieden + Kennedy. We discussed the work W+K has created for clients like Nike, McDonald's and more—along with the agency's own strong statement of support for Black Lives Matter.
"For a brand to take a risk is, I think now, to not decide you have a set of values, and only a product. Risk is something that might make people not want to work with you or on your brand. For us, it's brands not wanting to work with us," DeCourcy said.
"Risk is so much less about what's scary or freaky or breaks rules. People want to know the values of a company and a brand and a product. Strangely, I think most of the risk lies in not having your values aligned with your audience."
This was just one small part of the breadth our conversation covered, so I encourage you to check out my full interview with DeCourcy on Adweek so you can catch her thoughts on how to make agency recruiting more inclusive and how the industry should rethink awards.
You can also watch our other presentations, such as a talk on how HBO has maintained its experiential focus in quarantine and a fascinating look into how Keith Cartwright is launching one of the industry's newest highly anticipated agencies.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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