As the economic climate continues to tighten, Melbourne creatives are navigating a market in flux - where reinvention has become almost an imperative to chase what limited dollars are out there.
It’s tough for talent everywhere at the moment, with lots of excellent advertising people out of work, Melbourne creatives, on the current state of the market, told AdNews. But big creative brand work that connects in all the right channels and stands out from the category is more important than ever, they say.
“Melbourne has always felt a little more open to experimentation. And part of that is accepting that failure is a possibility. I think that’s easier to come to terms with when you’re acting like an underdog,” Howatson+Co Melbourne senior creative Huei Yin Wong says.
From where Wong is looking, it seems that people are looking for an increasing sense of humanity.
“As AI and bots take over the internet (search: dead internet theory), people are seeking confirmation of our humanity through experiences and the return to tactility. Visually, the anti-design design movement has been growing for a while, in response to the rise of over-polished, computer generated outcomes,” she says.
“As money begins to tighten all around, our work must work even harder than ever before. As a species, we crave certainty—but like most creative industries, success can be hard to quantify before the public receives it. The fine line is creating something that assures clients of their returns on campaigns, without stifling experimentation.”
Over the past ten years, Wong has seen the evolution of social media and how fame is now more important than ever before.
“The internet can spread a successful hook overnight, beyond your traditional market borders. Online, all links are created equal.”
Creative departments all over the world are facing the same challenges and ambitions, TBWA\Melbourne creative director Stephanie Gwee says.
"But the way we tackle them is slightly different. In Australia, selling braver work means having honest, direct conversations with clients. The pre-presentation phone call is as important as the creative presentation itself. It shows how deeply we care about clients’ problems and our craft."
When Gwee worked in Singapore for more than 13 years, selling brave ideas often involved helping clients pitch ideas internally with concise, impactful tools - like one-slide summaries or 60-second manifesto videos that they can forward easily to their stakeholders.
Humour is back, and it’s one thing that’s driving Melbourne creatively at the moment, Gwee says.
“And it’s not just adding in a little nudge-nudge-wink-wink quip at the end of a film either. No one takes themselves less seriously than Aussies (okay maybe with the exception of Thais),” she says.
“Take the recent Telstra spots that blend Aussie regional inside jokes with a charming as hell animation - our collective ‘hur hur’ chuckle reminds us that our audience just want to be entertained. And in order to create humour for our clients, it starts with creating a safe space in the agency to experiment with outlandish quips to find the right balance of acceptability.”
Client side, Gwee is hearing that the big multi-million dollar brand ads are no longer the sole focus for many CMOs.
They are increasingly expanding their remit to cover total CX thinking, which also opens up challenges to get their internal stakeholders rallying around the same ambition and creative taste levels, she says.
"They’re looking for big platform ideas that can flex across the total brand experience - from 1:1 channels to product innovation to PR and everything in between. As creatives, this means we need to be Jack-of-more-trades, and ensure our creative chops show up in more ways than one. Tough, but fun. But tough.
"Budgets are thinner than any Hollywood celeb on Ozempic. Clients are needing to justify marketing spend a lot more. Which means we can’t fix a bland idea in post. Or with slick multi-million-dollar executions. So, the purity of the idea is more crucial than ever. It’s going back to the 101 of advertising - smart, simple, reductive ideas rooted in real cultural insights. And compelling storytelling that reflects good ol’ direct mail conversion techniques."
There’s still a long way to go with change in creative agencies, but for Gwee, ‘representation’ is no longer a throw-away word that means 'adding in a person of colour in the ad'.
“It’s about global influences and diverse perspectives pushing our creativity. Indigenous creators are influencing our mood boards, and we’re reaching out to foreign directors to submit more unexpected treatments,” she says.
“We’re also hiring outside of advertising more. We’re realising that hiring people who think and behave like us, just leads to more of the same work.”
At the start of her career, Gwee felt like women needed to be one of the guys to be part of the creative department. Tone down any emotion, out drink the boys, definitely not cry if you’re unceremoniously screamed at, she says.
“It’s only then that you get invited to brainstorming sessions at the pub. And so many decisions were made in such social settings. Now, we’re celebrated for being our authentic selves. Women don’t feel as pressured to be like the boys. We know how to dial up both the masculine and feminine sides of us.”
Within Australia, sample size of one, DDB Group Melbourne group ECD Psembi Kinstan doesn't feel a difference in the Sydney or Melbourne markets.
“From the UK, I’ve heard an even more pessimistic view recently, with budgets and agencies being hit. The benefit to us here is that for those agencies that are bucking the trend and growing, there are excellent people landing from the UK and Europe. We have access to some incredible talent,” he says.
“Creatively, there’s been so much movement among agencies, lots of agencies will need a year or so to find their groove, and this will benefit those that are stable. For those agencies with a consistent and excellent team, they’ll continue to make better work for their brands and push the needle on effectiveness and creativity.”
The economy is in a funk, inflation is still biting, budgets are tight and getting tighter. Clients need more than ever with less, Kinstan says.
But big creative brand work that connects in all the right channels and stands out from the category is more important than ever, he believes.
“When you’re spending less money, the quality and effectiveness of the work is more important than ever. This is a great thing for us, our clients are simplifying their messages in-market and galvanising around bigger ideas.”
For Kinstan, it’s about doing less, but better. Brands that invest in big ideas that are more connected, more integrated, more distinctive and more enduring are winning out. He loves this - more brands and clients are taking the long term view.
“Brand worlds are more important than ever. And the more every single frame and image (from TikTok to OLV to in-store) and every single word feels unique to that brand, the better the brands will do year on year.
“Importantly, more of our brands are taking the long term view. Build a platform and don’t rip it down and throw it away every 12 months when the new budget comes around, or when there’s one questioning note from a research group. Learn what works and works better each time, and continually build on the platforms to make them work harder on each and every outing.”
As channels continue to proliferate, the best brands and agencies are understanding they need new ways to produce campaigns that are distinctive across the full ecosystem. Brands are looking for more collaboration with social platforms, and the more agencies show up alongside social, the better the end product is becoming.
Over his years in the industry, Kinstan has seen a lot of change in creative agencies, but with that, a lot has remained the same.
"Emotionally charged work that’s distinctive and powerful still outperforms all else. But now those ideas need to be bigger than ever before, extending across more platforms, and more channels, to reach more eyeballs in more places. That only makes the best ideas better; there’s never been a better time to be in the industry,” Kinstan says.
The culture of the workplace has changed completely, he says.
“We want people to come to work because they’re passionate, excitable, and full of energy for what they’re making. We’re ruthlessly transparent with making sure our workplace is a great place to be. Every week our entire staff has an anonymous NPS where they can offer their thoughts and challenges.
“And every Monday morning we stand up and address them. It can make for challenging conversations, but it makes us all better, and it makes this a bloody brilliant place to work.”
For integrated agency Spinach ECD, Dom Megna, big, smart clients will invest in pure brand creative during downturns because of the benefits on the other side.
"What you do see during these times is many aiming to make brand creative work harder by dialling up proof points or functional messages. This doesn’t always translate into better work. Often the opposite," he says.
"Of course, there’s the strong focus on short term. But there always has been. Maybe it’s dialled up a bit right now but a corporate culture based on quick KPIs isn’t exclusive to an economic downturn."
Compared to other markets, Megna feels that creatively, there’s not a big difference. He doesn't see any cross-town rivalry besides maybe between the same agency with offices in multiple cities.
“What’s driving Melbourne creatively is what drives every other city - interesting, engaging, original work that works.”
The startup and hustle culture feels stronger in Sydney where they’re quick to play with all the shiny new tech toys, Megna says.
“But also quick to jump to the next one. Melbourne takes a more measured approach.”
The economic climate is driving change with brands, causing a huge push and pull to go on.
Reinvention has become almost an imperative to chase what limited dollars are out there, but the investment required needs to come from somewhere, Megna says.
“For many that’s from marketing. The ‘do more with less’ mentality never really goes away but it’s being felt more acutely right now. Tight times move brands that see marketing as an investment and the ones who see it as a cost, closer together. The pressure to drive short and medium-term results is greater now than I’ve seen it.”
Over the last 25 years, in Megna’s view, agencies have had to become far richer bases of skill and knowledge as a result of marketing becoming such a broad and populous discipline.
"The science is so deep and thorough now. Marketers are more armed and confident which leads to far smarter people across each discipline in agency land. Data and instant reporting give some marketers, and their agencies, a tangible control panel to play with. This can be way more alluring than tending to a slower-moving brand. This tension is stronger than ever and we keep pointing at the Ritsons and Sharps et al to try and balance the ledger,” he says.
For integrated creative/media agencies like Spinach, the impact of channel fragmentation has been profound.
"The impact of social, smartphones and now AI has clearly been to the detriment of craft. As creatives, we’ll always rail against anything that feels fake or mass-produced and that tension will get more intense before it recedes," Megna says.
"In-housing has obviously taken off too, both full and hybrid models. This is long overdue. It’s appealing for creatives looking to change up the agency experience. Senior ones in particular. Having been in-house at a startup I can vouch for it to broaden your view and rekindle the fire."
Melbourne PR and creative agency Keep Left ECD Blair Kimber says there seems to be a definite change from doing big brand campaigns to campaigns that are driving to specific outcomes, be it sales or education.
"We’re seeing less pure brand awareness. Gotta drive those clicks."
Kimber feels like there has been a battering-down-the-hatches mentality across the entire market and he doesn’t think it’s any different in Melbourne.
“It feels pretty flat with a sense that survival mode has kicked in. However, creatively the recent MADC showcase demonstrated how much great work is still being made. It might feel harder, but there’s no less desire to do work that matters,” he says.
“I’m not noticing too many differences in the market at the moment. Our clients in Sydney are having the same challenges our clients in Melbourne are. I think there is probably more in common than different between the markets – everyone is dealing with crunched budgets and shorter timeframes to do the work.”
For Kimber, the balancer of power has changed within creative agencies over the years.
"The big holding company agencies have been in decline for a while. We’ve seen lots of consolidation of the traditional agency brands, whilst independent agencies are on the up and up," he says.
"No doubt tighter marketing budgets have resulted in a shakeup of the old market leaders and the younger hungrier agencies that are able to adapt faster and be more agile are winning more of the big work."
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