72andSunny leaders change pyramid to ‘blob’
Is it time to say goodbye to the autocratic style of creative directing? 72andSunny thinks so, with an altogether more collegiate approach
Matt Murphy (left) and Carlo Cavallone
Towards the end of last year, we were intrigued to hear of a move at 72andSunny that seemed so tuned to the times. Not only had the group recently moved to having joint CCOs, Carlo Cavallone and Matt Murphy, but they then announced a further sharing of power…and responsibility. Was this a nod towards democracy within the creative director role?
A new Creative Leadership Council, bringing together creative heads across the network to collaborate much more closely, aims to develop stronger working relationships with the objective of raising creative standards. But how will this work in practice? We checked in with Carlo and Matt to find out.
Cresta Congratulations to you both on your new roles. The new creative management structure at 72andSunny has been described as a “democratised leadership model”. We certainly want to see more of that in the world! But how will this differentiate in practice from previous leadership and, more broadly, the structures we tend to see in the industry?
Carlo We are turning the classic pyramidal structure of an agency into something that looks more like a circle, or a “blob”. Our creative leadership council is composed of 16 people, with very different backgrounds and experiences, all sharing the privilege and the burden of setting the creative vision of our company. I’m sure the composition of the group will change over time, but this is our inaugural team. Functionally, we meet every week to discuss work and opportunities, we learn from each other and try to inspire each other. In other companies a group like this, including all the more senior creative leaders of the company, would probably meet maybe only once or twice a year.
Matt As we stepped into our new roles at the company, Carlo and I shared the same vision, which was to pull all of us closer together. It was never about the two of us — it was about tapping into the strength of the “collective us”. The weekly gathering of all the minds in this group creates amazing with unexpected collisions of ideas and inspiration.
Can you give specific practical examples of the outcomes (or hoped-for outcomes) of working this way?
Carlo We can open briefs to more minds and more perspectives. We’re already quite good at making global work but, thanks to the Creative Leadership Council (CLC), we can create a lot more cross-office connections. Covid and WFH have made geography quite irrelevant and have made collaboration between people in different parts of the world more normal. 72andSunny has offices in some really interesting places, culturally speaking. Now it’s a lot easier to get inspiration from everywhere.
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Matt My hope is that our best ideas are born out of more powerful and authentic perspectives. There’s not a templated model for creativity — it’s about connecting the right minds with the right opportunity and then finding the most powerful, surprising, and/or beautifully authentic solution for it.
Creatives are often seen as highly individual, even maverick, in their ways of working. Perhaps more in the many fields outside of the agency world but which feed into the work (from illustrators to musicians, to developers, etc.). The corporate world of creative management could be seen to work counter to allowing deviation and exploration to thrive. Is that something you see as a challenge to overcome... or is it an outdated, even irrelevant, perspective? How is the randomness of creativity best encouraged/made room for within all the vital structures and collective practices of a successful organisation?
Carlo As far as we are concerned, as 72andSunny, I don’t think we have that problem. We love to keep things human and non-corpo. All Matt and I have been trying to do here at 72andSunny throughout the years and continue to do now, is to create a platform for people to express their voice. What really gets in the way of experimentation are the projects’ timelines and the fact that space for creative development and production is more and more compressed. But this is the same everywhere, in our industry and beyond. So we just have to adapt and make sure that we keep things as weird and as surprising as we can.
Matt Creativity is a team sport. The REAL WIN is to get un-ignorable ideas off our walls and out into the world. To make creativity that wins, you’ve got to know how to give each person accountability and responsibility as part of the collective whole. A team with focus and fire can move mountains.
What struck you both first, or most strikingly, about the 'change' in your roles? Did you have a 'I didn't expect that' experience or two?
Carlo People now call me “Sir”. Not really. I think the role, especially how we interpret it, is not so different from our previous role. What’s great about the new position though, it’s having an elevated, 10,000 feet perspective that allows us to see how much potential we have collectively in this company. It’s great to create connections between people and to combine different skills. If someone in LA has a great idea for something that happens in Singapore, now it’s really easy to make that collaboration happen. It’s a bit like organising the most amazing and interesting dinner party ever.
Matt The responsibility feels greater to uphold not only the creative excellence in our work, but also the unique culture we’ve built in support of it. The real win for me is allowing our people to thrive, without “leadership” having to feel like they’ve put their stamp on it. I’m a big fan of helping out with the work and/or lending a creative POV - but as we grow — it’s far more rewarding to see other leaders step up and win in a way that is uniquely their own.
72andSunny had a strong year at Cresta 2020, coming close to the top of our winners. A Grand Prix and more for 'Swipe Night', multiple Golds for Smirnoff, #The Real Heroes Project, HackYourFuture... and other winners. How are you going to follow up? Can you give us insight on two or three favourite pieces of work emerging now or in the past few months?
Carlo We had a really good end of the year with work like the Etsy Holiday campaign, which was very simple and emotional. There will be really fun Fanta work coming out from our Amsterdam office.
Really powerful NFL work will come out of LA for the Super Bowl. The great thing about 72andSunny now is that we seem to have momentum in each office, despite the crazy circumstances.
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Matt Play loose. Have fun. Keep it weird. If we live by this, and treat each other kindly, the work just happens. I know it sounds basic, but it’s true. Work wise, the ideas I’m most inspired by focus on unleashing creativity. They’re all born out of the pent up frustration from the pandemic—which begs for a renaissance of making and doing and twisting and trying new things again.
The Creative Leadership Council, is among things, responsible for setting creative standards across the 72andSunny network. 'Creative standards' can sometimes seem like an oxymoron — there's not much that is 'standard' about the constantly changing world of creativity. And yet we know that some work is amazing... and a lot isn't. So how does the Council seek to set and monitor, and drive up, the creative standard?
Carlo The role of the CLC is to recognize, elevate and promote great work throughout 72andSunny. It’s hard to set a bar in abstract terms. We’re just trying to make sure that when something awesome happens or is about to happen here, people can see it, understand why it’s great, and take inspiration from it. We need to be discerning, and selective. Unfortunately, we live in a world (and an industry) that quite often celebrates mediocrity. We’re trying to get to a culture where what’s really outstanding and “awesome” is singled out. It goes up on the wall for everyone to see.
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Matt Creativity is such a beautiful and powerful tool. For me, the simplest creative standard is “Surprise and delight”. When ideas show up this way, they’re playing in a space full of such potential and fearlessness. When I see our creative leaders BEAMING because they’re making work that surprises and delights, in a way that’s uniquely them, great things will follow.
Finally, what question haven't we asked that you would really like to be asked? And answer!
Matt The big question we’re all still in search of is, “Whooooooo let the dogs out?”
Carlo Although the natural answer to Matt’s question would be “Woof Woof" I’d say that the question could be: “Are you having fun?” And the answer would be: “Yes, we are.”
