“Being easy
to work with is a seriously underestimated skill.”
I read that
sentiment on LinkedIn recently and it got me to thinking about how people at
90octane work together—which is to say, closely.
Whereas silos
are the bane of many organizations’ existence, at 90, it’s integrated marketing
personified. Sure, there are times when colleagues debate over approach or
maybe just don’t click. But considering the deeply interconnected nature of our
work, being easy to work with is truly the path of least resistance.
The concept
of “brand-to-demand” marketing has gained popularity recently, but we’ve been
doing it in practice (if not in name) for a long time. That’s because we’re not
just committed to an idea. We’re committed to seeing that idea all the way
through, seeing what works and what doesn’t, how to optimize along the way, and
what learnings we can apply later—frequently with the same client, with one
campaign fueling another.
Because at
90, we pride ourselves on being a long-term partner, building deep knowledge of
the inevitably complex solutions and audiences that define B2B.
Read on to
see how creatives at 90 work with other teams.
Client
engagement
Our CE (AKA
“account”) team is the primary contact for—you guessed it—clients. In this
respect, it’s not so different from what you’d see at most
agencies.
What is different
from many, however, is they’re not just taking a client’s plan and seeing that
it’s executed as envisioned. No, instead CE takes an active role in planning
programs from scratch, based on the objectives, audiences, budgets, etc. at
hand—and constantly consulting the other teams at 90 along the way.
It’s rare
that we simply execute on a pre-defined strategy. Sometimes clients will even
“park” money with us, knowing that we’ll figure out a way to make the most of
those funds when the time is right. When reviewing creative output, our CE team
will view the work through the clients’ lens—asking how certain decisions
advance the program’s goal or pointing out phrasing or visuals a client might
take issue with.
Strategy and
insights
If CE is the
voice of the client, our strategy and insights team is the voice of the
customer. Using a mix of primary and secondary research, they uncover findings
on our target audiences and connect dots that may at first seem to have no
connection at all. This underpins subsequent creative, ensuring that messaging
and concepts are grounded in what’s valuable and true to the audiences we’re
trying to reach.
Integrated
media
Our IM team
spans a variety of disciplines including paid search, social media and
traditional/new media—from print and out-of-home to podcasts and Reddit.
They’re the ones who find said audiences and determine the most effective ways
to activate the work we produce. If emails are unlikely to garner response,
maybe a LinkedIn Conversation will work better instead. A high-impact placement
may not have the desired, well, impact on the New York Times, but may work well
on the Wall Street Journal. We work closely with IM to tailor creative to the
platform. Along the way, IM is keeping tabs on performance and we use metrics
to further lean into what’s working and sometimes pull altogether what’s
not.
Program
management
Our PMs are
the unsung heroes at 90. They’re the ones creating timelines, balancing
competing priorities and taking a 10,000-foot view (there’s a reason for the
name of our resource management software) across the agency to ensure the
various accounts have the support they need. Sometimes you’ll hear about the
crazy hours of “agency life”—and I’ve experienced it firsthand myself. At 90,
we’re lucky that’s very much the exception, not the rule. And it’s thanks to
the PM team. If we’re completely overstretched or a certain deadline just won’t
happen, they’re always ready and willing to shift things around and get us what
we need to make the best work happen.
Fellow
creatives
We can’t
forget how creatives work with others on the creative team—a mix of writers,
designers, developers, and practitioners in our burgeoning experiential
practice. The whole team gets together frequently to share what’s happening
across accounts—sometimes this can be as sexy as a hologram-based campaign,
other times it’s as mundane as a content brief. But all of it is valuable
knowledge-sharing to help us generate new ideas, best practices and ultimately,
great work.