Babita’s blog: It’s time to make strange bedfellows.

“Whose Idea is it anyway?” One of my first blogs.

It was about the tussle we sometimes witness between agencies on who owns the idea.

As the year ends, it is time to think audacious.

Let’s be honest. While it was always about the idea, the TV script ruled and still rules supreme, given the reach challenge in the country and the numbers. However, increasingly, we are realising the need to think integrated, think digital, think different.

So while we look at that “other agency” walk in with laptops and layouts and share a nod or a reluctant smile as we walk out, or fight for “our idea” in the boardroom “joint agency meetings”, it may soon end up being a lose-lose situation for everyone.

An integrated idea needs more than one partner.

And it needs collaboration which is much more than common meetings that clients call for with a “must attend” footnote.

It means a partnership which may impact our numbers, at least initially.

It calls for shared ownership, shared pride.

It implies being open to feedback, not just from the client, but from the partners.

It means giving feedback for the brand and not for killing that idea.

More coffee meetings with each other.

Sharing data, sharing insights.

And sharing the project cost, if it comes to that.

The question often asked inside agency rooms will be - why can’t we do it ourselves? We can. Especially when it comes to the idea.

The issue is - we must all be open to embracing and executing the idea in our own specialised way, whosoever’s it may be - digital agency, media agency or any other partner.

The thing that marketers have to do to encourage this kind of collaboration is of course, fair recognition and compensation for all the collaborating partners.

Making this competitive, or making partners fight for revenue, will work against the spirit of this.

So yes, maybe it is time for us to make strange bedfellows as we walk into the new year.

The views expressed are the author's independent views as an ad professional and do not reflect the organisation's viewpoint.