Digitize, Disrupt, Democratize

I saw a wonderful tweet the other day:

'Rage Against the Machine never clarified exactly which machine they held a particular vendetta against, but I’m pretty sure it was a printer.'

They say three things happen when computers enter an industry: once you digitize it, the rulebook changes forever, granting access to all.

1. Digitize.

2. Disrupt.

3. Democratize.

While generative AI aims to mimic human actions, doing things faster and more effectively, creative AI revolves around human imagination harnessing the machine's capabilities to conjure that magic.

The democratization of creativity stands as a reality. Meme culture alone exemplifies how anyone wields the digital prowess to initiate movements.

Making things will only continue to get easier. Yet, here's the catch:

We, as creative agencies, resist. We favor the status quo, reluctant to reimagine our methods. Reskilling or altering our approach is unwelcome. This current setup suits us just fine thanks, regardless of the 'rapid' pace of change. So, why do we persist in this stance? Because we can.

Here is one of my favorite quotes about the pace of change:

“The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”

Attributed to Elbert Hubbard, a writer, artist and philosopher.

He died on May 7, 1915.

Surprise! People have always been astounded by the rate of change, because people are scared of change. But the reality is nothing really changes as much as we like to think it does.

Don’t believe me? Please sit back while I hallucinate with reference to specifics.

Consider a corporate film production budget from 2007. Now, fast-forward a decade and a half, and examine a recent budget you've written or received. Surprisingly, they appear virtually identical.

Despite significant advancements in technology, the core principles of corporate video production remain unchanged. I assure you, they won't transform anytime soon (neither will our other creative disciplines). Clients struggle to implement rapid change within their organizations, and agencies aren't presenting feasible options to facilitate a transformation.

There's a bigger intention to why I've labeled this endeavor 'Unreasonable Creativity.' It's because this reluctance to reevaluate how we operate drives me nuts:

'The reasonable person adapts themselves to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to them. Therefore, all progress depends on unreasonable human beings.' (it’s almost George Bernard Shaw, just more inclusive)

Don’t be seduced by the pornography of change.

Jeff Bezos builds businesses around enduring principles. He knows that consumers want low prices, fast delivery and vast selection. He knows these desires remain unchanged over time. So he invests heavily in these areas. Warren Buffett, does the same when it comes to investing, and it's evidently going pretty well for those guys.

But what if there came a moment when we had the opportunity to completely reinvent everything from scratch? Wouldn’t that be cool?

Have you heard of Tom Goodwin? He's the one behind the statement, 'Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.' He's the unsung source everyone borrows from (plagiarizes).

He wrote a book titled 'Digital Darwinism'—decent read. But there's this standout notion that struck a chord with me. Let me paraphrase:

He talks about airports in perpetual renovation. Terminal three gets a year's worth of upgrades, emerges fresh and gleaming, then attention shifts to terminal four. But as that unfolds, terminal one feels outdated, and the third runway needs attention. His point? Airports run, stuck in a cycle of patchwork improvements. As do many things. What if, instead, we could knock the whole thing down and start from scratch? How would we optimize it for today?

Significant breakthroughs happen when newfound capabilities meet pressing needs. Well a lot of what we do doesn’t work, and if you really delve into Midjourney, and Chat GPT and all our other robot ‘friends’ - your head will spin at the possibilities. But optimizing this breakthrough will require an agency to start from a blank slate.

Unless a dramatic shift occurs, our industry seems set to maintain its routine of creating, capturing, and delivering content in the same manner for the foreseeable future, particularly in corporate communications. It's a bitter truth I loathe admitting and I don’t see light at the end of the tunnel. Unless.

We tackle issues like 'The Trained Eye' (coming in Ep 07) or alter the way we speak to each other (keep an eye on Ep 06), unless we opt for different storytelling approaches rather than dressing up the same narratives (Ep 08, of course), progress will stall.

It's an arduous path, and time isn't on our side.

We urgently need to find a way to effectively blend and leverage technology, data, and creativity in equal parts to achieve substantial advancements.

Ideology versus Practicality:

We must fully embrace this distinction, above all else.

Ideology encompasses strong beliefs or ideas about how things should function or how the world operates. It’s why we’re stuck in our ways.

Practicality, however, revolves around realism and sensibility. It's about adopting the most effective approach in a given scenario, irrespective of firm beliefs, because we have the data to support it.

At times, they clash because what you believe might not always align with the most feasible or practical course of action.

We find ourselves in a 'Moneyball' scenario. We possess the data. Our clients seek what Bezos' clients desire: low prices, fast delivery and vast selection. As a world we've become math’d out – but there’s a real difference between having the data and actually using it. Many times a client just needs someone who can get on base. That’s a Brad Pitt joke for you there.

Don’t come at me with the Fast, Cheap, Good triangle anymore. It worked for a while but it doesn’t play today. Use the correct tools and you should only be focussed on one point of the triangle. Making it good.

'If you challenge conventional wisdom, you will find ways to do things much better than they are currently done.' I'm beginning to realize I'm committed to leading that charge.

As you were

MrMcK.

Read: The first 100 or so pages of Thomas L. Friedman’s ‘Thank you for being late’. It charts a really nice timeline of what happened in 2007 that kicked off the smartphone revolution.