Suit yourself. David Patrick joins the debate

In a debate organised by the Marketing Industry Network next week on whether agencies and clients still need suits I’ll be putting the case that agencies need the right mix of skills to deliver the right service for its clients. The creative product is key –  because it’s that which engages with the clients’ customers and it’s the tangible product that we deliver; yet the creative is just one part of what we as agencies do. And sometimes it’s not even the most significant part!

However that is just missing the point We all know that there’s a lot more to communications than just the creative.

The “actual work” involves lots of bright, committed people who maximise their skills and enhance the skills of their colleagues by getting their bit just right. The colourful graphs and diagrams help to sell in the work, to manage expectations, to predict results before investing, to rationalise decisions, to help the client to achieve internal buy-in and to prepare customer-facing teams for the inevitable response. To describe the “actual work” as just the creative work undermines the value of the thinking process.

Hear me develop this argument by coming along to the event.