“It’s Not About Competition; It’s All About Collaboration”: 2 Canadians’ Takeaways from ECS Barcelona 2024
Just last month, The One Club for Creativity ran its Executive Creative Summit (ECS) in Barcelona, bringing together a world-class group of c-suite executives to discuss their businesses – both within and beyond the scope of creativity.
Among the attendees were Chris Zawada and Jack Dayan, both founding partners of Canadian agency Full Punch, as well as chief creative officer and chief strategy officer respectively. There to bask in the Catalan sun, partake in honest, open conversations, and, most importantly, deliver a panel on reinventing the creative brief, the two found themselves exchanging ideas with some of adland’s sharpest minds, all behind the closed doors of the event – far away from the press, livestreams and social media.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the event can’t be talked about once it’s finished, which is why LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with Chris and Jack – to catch up on their trip, learn more about their desire to adjust creative briefing, and find out what other takeaways came from this year’s summit.
LBB> Chris, Jack, thanks for making the time to talk! How was your trip to Barcelona, and overall, how was the conference?
Jack> The conference was amazing. Who can complain about getting out of rainy Vancouver in November?
Chris> It was great! You can’t help but leave the Executive Creative Summit (ECS) inspired and full of newfound knowledge.
LBB> As two Canadians, what did it mean to have the chance to attend an event of this global scale? And why was this something you were all interested in?
Chris> As an invite-only event tailored to creative leaders in c-suite roles, the ECS provides a unique environment for transparent and safe dialogue between speakers and attendees. With a strict no streaming, recording, or social sharing policy, it really opens the door to honest and candid conversations that you wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to hear from agency leaders.
Jack> As attendees last year, the summit provided us with a tonne of insight and knowledge. More importantly, it validated many of our processes and how we act within our agency. At the ECS, it’s not about competition; it’s all about collaboration, learning, and a chance to ask questions and share experiences, which doesn’t happen in big conference settings. Being invited back this year as speakers alongside some of our industry’s best creative minds was an honour.
LBB> Let’s talk about the themes for the year. Were there any major trends you noticed? What sort of factors were driving the conversations?
Jack> Several themes emerged, including creative inspiration, how to be great leaders and create a culture of creativity, commitment and follow-through, embracing and navigating the ever-changing AI waters, and collaboration beyond buzzwords. We touched on issues that every agency leader faces and spoke about them in relevant, human ways with empathy and understanding for each other.
LBB> Building on this, what were the key takeaways you left with? Has this conference given you some new insights into opportunities within the Canadian market?
Chris> We always hold our annual planning session at the event's commencement so that we can examine our business through the lens of the new perspectives and insights we gleaned. This allows us to double down on the things that are working, pivot from the things that aren't, and introduce new processes as we grow our agency.
Ultimately, I wouldn’t say that the event provided specific insights within the Canadian market. Still, it has reinforced something that we built into the DNA of Full Punch since day one: clients, regardless of geographic location, seek collaborative agency partners who can deliver creative solutions that make an impact.
LBB> Of course, you yourselves all talked as well, discussing reinventing the creative brief. Can you tell us more about this? Why is this subject important to you?
Jack> For decades, agencies have been saying the same thing. The creative brief is broken. Our industry has and continues to change at breakneck speed, but the brief has stayed relatively the same. But it’s not only the brief that’s broken. It’s the creative process. It isn’t designed for genuine collaboration. More often than not, it’s wasteful and uninspiring.
So, we discarded the traditional brief and briefing and replaced it with our unique, creatively inspiring, and collaborative process called ‘the warmup and the workout’. Everyone involved in the project agency side, as well as our clients and external partners, has a seat at the table, reinforcing our belief that great ideas can come from anywhere. The result is an open, safe, and genuinely collaborative exercise where candid dialogue leads to insightful ideas, kicking off the creative process.
Chris> I always found the traditional creative brief to be the antithesis of inspiration. You rarely left the briefing excited to jump into the new opportunity presented. Instead, you’d often fall back into a project already on the go, pushing the new brief to the side of your desk. Our new process eliminates that. Everyone leaves excited, inspired, and full of strong insights to work from. It also allows the creative teams to meet and engage with our clients early in the process, building trust and forging strong relationships.
LBB> Tell us more about how this looks at Full Punch! Are there other advantages you’ve noticed?
Jack> We’ve never had to re-brief since we’ve implemented this process. We have stronger relationships with our clients; collectively, we are pushing the boundaries creatively because we have clearly identified the opportunities.
Chris> We also don’t hear those dreaded words ‘we’ll know it when we see it’.
LBB> Building on the subject of collaboration with clients, in your opinion, what should a good brand-agency relationship look like going into 2025?
Jack> Every agency pitches collaboration, but how many agencies have the tools and processes in place to foster it? It’s not enough to use collaboration as a buzzword, you need to integrate it into the way you work. Everyone needs to let their egos take a break. Strategists don’t ‘own’ the strategy and creatives don’t ‘own’ the ideas. The more we can break down walls, truly collaborate and have intelligent conversations as a group, the better we, and our work, will be.
LBB> From some of the other’s presentations, what were the biggest, most interesting takeaways?
Chris> While it was exciting and an honour to share some of what makes Full Punch tick, it was equally if not more exciting to listen and learn from our fellow presenters. It's impossible to cover everything in a few words, but what stood out to me was Lars Bastholm's talks about AI. This topic is at the top of our minds in our industry for obvious reasons, often leaving us with feelings of uncertainty. Lars opened our eyes to AI's incredible potential as a tool to better us and our industry. It was refreshingly positive and reinforced our belief at Full Punch that AI is just another arrow in our quiver which makes us all better when embraced and used with purpose.
LBB> Finally, a trip like this isn’t all about the work. Did you get up to any cool stuff while out there? What sort of memories are you taking home with you?
Chris> We took a day off to visit Montserrat, a Benedictine monk mountain retreat about an hour northwest of Barcelona. From the unique mountain landscape to the 16th-century basilica that houses a statue of Our Lady of Montserrat, dating back to 718 AD, to the sweeping views of the valley below, it did not disappoint. And of course, there is always the food of Barcelona – the absolutely amazing food!
Jack> From the mind-boggling architecture of Gaudí to the hundred-year-old tapas bars and bottomless jugs of sangria, there was no shortage of creative inspiration. Our annual trip has become a yearly highlight that helps us reset as an agency and return fully-charged to face another year filled with inspiration, energy, and excitement. Spending time with our peers and taking away invaluable insights is enough reason alone to make the ECS a fantastic tradition.
