During our visit to AKQA, we obtained a plethora of valuable insight, advice, and information, but the most important thing I learned was that consumers are people first. Although it seems obvious, it is common to group people into target audiences and label them as consumers. By looking at people as consumers prior to recognizing their human attributes and lifestyle limits the potential insights and depth of the strategy.

Dan, who is a strategist at AKQA shared some insight after expressing that basically, everything about advertising has changed since he started except for the audience and the client. He said, “ always remember fixed endpoints, but be curious enough to always challenge it.” Then he furthered his advice saying “Your viewpoints and what you see in the world are just as important as what you see in the office.” He expanded on this idea through his explanation of what it takes to stay culturally relevant. Explaining that you need to use the tools at your disposal, research, conduct and pay for primary research, make sure strategy and analytics sit together, find other ways to get primary research and don’t be afraid to get scrappy, and most importantly talk to people.

Philipe, who is an art director furthered Dan’s ideas through explaining that “Strategy is ammo for creatives” and that “the best creative comes from good strategy.” He expanded upon the idea saying that strategy and creative should work hand and hand throughout the whole process in order to evolve the idea into something great in the end.

The AKQA panel took a united front expressing the importance of  “knowing your audience no matter who you are talking to.” Sharing the importance of knowing how to talk with clients and colleagues depending on their preference and specialty. Phillipe and Dan shared the importance of a concise strategy, they said that a 2-page strategy is always better than a 10-page strategy for creatives, and that is imperitive for strategy and data to work together to find the most interesting insights to inspire creatives and create the best work.

Overall, AKQA showed me the importance of the collaboration between strategy and creative, and knowing your team, client and audience and keeping that in mind when relaying messages to any audience. Although AKQA leads in utilizing innovative technology to connect with consumers and exceed the goals of their clients, they have a solid foundation of communication, insight, respect, and teamwork that allows them to push the envelope and be a leader in the industry.

-Kate Miller 

5.15.18