Beyoncé’s highly personal album Lemonade, achieved worldwide success on its release in 2016. But what’s interesting for such an intimate piece is how many people contributed. In making the album, Beyoncé collaborated with an astonishing seventy writers.
Part of the process involved the artist setting up a writing camp at her house in The Hamptons, flying in writers and producers to live and work with her. The eclectic collection of talent were briefed on the album’s theme and then teamed up to write songs. Beyoncé would then go from room to room, giving her thoughts and direction on what she liked.
The project could have ended up a disjointed mess but under Beyoncé’s careful direction, the album resulted in the most favourable reviews of her career.
In advertising, the idea of having multiple teams working on one brief has decreased over the years mainly down to expense. But is ‘one team one brief’ the right way to go?
If there’s one thing all good Creatives possess it’s a competitive streak. By pitting teams against each other, they’ll naturally try harder. Speaking from experience, Creatives hate to lose, so you can guarantee they’ll spend longer on a brief if they’re not the only team.
Agencies already understand the benefit of working this way, that’s why they always assign more than one team on a pitch. But it’s a much rarer sight outside of new business opportunities.
Perhaps the concerns over cost are short-sighted. If more teams result in better work, this gives an agency a stronger chance of creating something that’s guaranteed to attract new business – famous work.
If your advertising becomes loved by consumers then it’s going to be loved by potential new clients. And not only will this attract more income through new business, it will also attract more talent. If your agency begins to produce more award-winning work, it becomes far easier to entice the industry’s strongest talent through your door.
Managing multiple teams on one brief can be a headache to resource, but if it leads to new clients and stronger talent, it could be a no-brainer for some briefs.
Beyoncé, Hold Up VMAs 2016.
Wichita Adman 