The Immortal Life of Agencies

Join Robin and Rory Sutherland as they dive into the barriers to innovation in agencies, accidental innovations like Viagra, value of inefficiency, and aligning briefs to organizational needs. They touch on commercial innovation, avoiding convention, and a powerful observation about annual reports.

In this episode, Robin is joined by author, thinker and Genius Steals Co-Founder, Faris Yakob. Famed for his ‘digital nomad’ lifestyle as much as his insights, a LOT of agency people ask him about how to go freelance. So he and Robin explore why agency life sucks for a lot of people and what agency leaders can do to avoid great talent choosing to be independent consultants instead. Unpacking his own ‘accidental’ journey to becoming a consultant, Faris shares what he sees as the limitations and constraints of working in a traditional agency role. He and Robin also explore the business model inefficiencies that contribute to the pressures that agency CEOs face. If you’re interested in Faris’ recipe for how ‘unkillable’ agencies can thrive in an era of increased competition, then don’t miss this episode. CHAPTERS: 02.20 Why agency life sucks07.35 How Faris’ nomadic life outside agencies came about 12.20 What people look for from their jobs 14.20 How our business model puts agencies in opposition to clients17.40 Learnings from the world of management consultancy 21.30 Advice for agency leaders to help them keep top talent25.20 What makes agencies ‘unkillable’ 29.30 The quest for new models 32.20 How creativity can inform every level of the agency business35.40 Kellogg’s long-term thinking for agencies from 1989MORE ABOUT CO:DEFINERY:https://www.codefinery.comHOST SOCIALS:Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinbonn/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/robonn GUEST SOCIALS:  Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/farisyakob/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/faris More on JWT and Kellogg’shttps://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/opinion/clients-arent-just-for-christmas/6494