Most creative agencies treat their talent like battery hens these days.
Chained to a Mac, squeezed for every billable minute, and judged entirely by the utilisation rates on a timesheet. Then their management wonders why the work looks tired and the staff turnover is staggering.
It’s a miserable way to run a business, and a terrible way to generate brilliant ideas.
So, we have always preferred a different approach. It’s not a one-off stunt. We do this every single year, and have done for well over a decade.
Back in July, we hit pause. We shut the studios and flew the entire SomeOne team to Ibiza for three days.
The accountants will tell you this is commercial madness (and they have). The sheer cost of flights, accommodation, and hosting a global team at the height of a Balearic summer is enough to make a CFO weep (and they did).
But it is the smartest investment we make all year.
Exceptional brand work is not built for people by machines (although they assist). It is built by people.
If you want top-tier talent to deliver their absolute best work, to actually push the needle rather than just colouring in, you can’t leave them staring at a screen 52 weeks a year and hope for the best. You have to invest in them as human beings. You have to change the scenery.
We didn’t spend three days staring at pie charts in a sterile hotel conference room. We chartered a yacht for the day. We partied in Pacha. We dined with Roger Sanchez (well, at the table next to him, but we’re claiming it). We debated, we drank the rosé, and we looked at what was working, and what could do with a review.
We broke down the invisible walls that naturally build up when interactions with a colleague have been through a little box on Zoom or a Slack notification for a month.
We clarified how to collaborate better, disagree better, and ultimately, design better.
To our clients: thank you. We know the email replies were a little slower than usual for those 72 hours. But your patience pays immediate dividends in the renewed energy and sharper thinking the team brings back to your brands.
Perhaps the commercially creative sector needs to stop worrying about AI so much and get together, get dancing, get laughing more? Stop squeezing your teams dry. Step away from the screens. Invest in the humans behind the work. The ROI is infinitely better than you think.
Clients notice. We stepped off the plane on Sunday night with the whole team and walked into a pitch on Monday morning with some of them. A big, difficult and very important pitch.
We won it.