I have just come back from 6 months off travelling. I am currently freelancing as an account director but since I have come back, my boyfriend and I are thinking of moving back to Bristol as after the space of travelling we are feeling claustrophobic in London. Is this a good time to look for a job elsewhere? My boyfriend is not convinced.

I haven’t worked in Bristol but have worked for London agencies with a Bristol office. Also I have clients in Bristol and funnily enough an old colleague has just moved there. You are the best to decide depending on your circumstances but you should bear in mind the following:

1) The chances of you both getting ideal jobs will be quite small just because the opportunities are more limited as you know.

2) I don’t know whether you have worked in Bristol agencies before and where you are now but my ex-colleague’s experience is worth mentioning. The agency he moved to was very interested in his big agency experience but not having worked in a small agency before, he did not realise that he would be not only fulfilling the account director role but an account manager role too and also changing the photocopier toner when necessary. Which is more typical for a small agency.

3) Bristol has a wealth of financial services companies so previous experience will be invaluable.

4) You need to seal contact with the recruitment consultants in the area. I hear good things about Direct Experience so this may be a starting point.

5) I hear at the moment that there are probably more client jobs going than agency jobs so you should give this consideration.
I have a lot of time for the companies I deal with in Bristol. For example Unigraph I think is a really strong operator. So there are some quality companies there but back to your original question, times are tough –particularly for agencies for less critical mass than those in London so you may have freelance to get a foot in the door.

Good luck.

4 Seconds to Save the World

Mike, I am just about to take up a post as head of the account handling resource in a small integrated agency. Having worked with you, I wondered whether you had advice for what I should be doing in my first month. I want to make a difference quickly.

Oh yes. “New girl” syndrome at a more senior level is a bit more difficult. Remember those more junior halcyon days when nobody expected you to prove yourself in the first week because you were just learning the ropes in the new account manager role. Now you are faced with everybody trying to work out on the first day whether you are any good, what your appointment means for them and whether you are going to fire them or give them that pay rise they have been expecting for the last 6 months.

I remember in my first job that we had a new marketing manager start and at the end of the first day he very gracefully shouted across the small office thanks to people for making his first day so easy. Having gained the attention of the whole office, he then proceeded to exit into the fuse cupboard rather than the main door.

It is an enduring image of minor embarrassment but it has always stayed with me showing me that your first days can be fraught with the tension of such potential traps. So when you arrive at a new agency at a senior level with a certain amount of expectation, you have to be ready to hit the ground running very quickly to secure the confidence of your colleagues and clients.

Here would be my 5 point plan as a rough guide to the terrain:

1. Look at the data
The best source of info which is going to tell you more about the state of play of your team is the income, utilisation and profitability figures. They will, in association with any client account plans and customer satisfaction surveys, give you invaluable pointers on your some of your future priorities. Have you got the right shape of team on the business? Where should you directing your efforts? Are there some major issues around the corner?

2. Talk to the clients
In your first few days you are going to have a lot of staff giving you their opinions about the clients, the work and the agency. I personally would go straight to the clients and get their views as their opinions – albeit just as subjective – are definitely more defining. What do they think of the agency as a business partner? Who do they rate on the team? What do they think of the work, process, agency costs etc? Where are the opportunities, issues etc?

3. Identify the players
No doubt you will be spending some time with the creative director to understand the work? But who else is key? Planning Director? Financial Director? Head of Project Management? And who are the less obvious influential characters – the receptionist, the CEO’s PA, Head of HR, the social secretary?

4. Understand what makes the agency tick
An agency is an organism made up of an internal culture of values, personalities and practices. Get to grips with this quickly. Where does information exchange really go on? Down the pub at Friday lunchtime? In the kitchen? Who are the real opinion formers in your department? Is the culture determined by a few personalities?

5. Set out your stall
Your client services guys may be looking for the leadership you will provide. They may however be very cynical about your role - as the last person who they really liked got fired. They need to know who you are and what you are going to do for them. Meet them individually so you can get up to speed with them and their accounts. But then convene a departmental meeting and in brief terms give them your view and what your plan is going to be. Knowing you, you will get them on your side every easily. So don’t take too long in doing this as the waiting and uncertainty can cause inertia and ructions which can be very counter-productive.

Son, You Can't Handle An Idea!

I have just started in my new agency and I am looking for tips how to evaluate creative work. Nobody asks my opinion in WIPs yet but I want to get to a point quickly that I can talk about the work with some sense of knowing what I am on about. Some of the concepts presented I get right away but others I struggle with to know whether the client will like them. My boss and the creative director make it look so easy.

This takes time and experience but there are a few shortcuts which will help you. What you trying to achieve is judgement based on knowledge of the brief and objectivity as the person evaluating the creative work.

Life is pretty hectic in agencies as we know and it is not unusual for people to forget to remind themselves of the brief. As someone learning the ropes, make sure you have re-read the brief and have the proposition in the forefront of your mind when you go into the WIP.

I talk about objectivity for clients when evaluating work in Working with Agencies – Chapter 5 (yes, this is a shameless bookplug) and the principles are the same. You are looking at the creative from the perspective of 1) a strategist, 2) a consumer and also 3) the client.

As a strategist you are looking at the work in terms of: Is it on brief/brand/proposition? Is it differentiating?

Putting yourself in the shoes of the target audience, you are looking at the work in terms of : Do I ‘get’ the work straightaway? What does it give me? (A new way of looking at the brand? Entertainment? Exclusive content? Intellectual satisfaction?) What insight about me, the target audience, does the work draw on? Am I inspired and motivated by the idea What does it ask me to do – is it reasonable?

From the client’s perspective, you are looking at the work in terms of: Have we done anything like this before? Is the work on brand guidelines? Can it be produced within the timeline and the budget?

This is all theoretical and correct. But you need to feed your perspectives with real life examples. A good way to do this is through a number of sources such the media your clients’ customers consumer (to put yourself in their shoes) Adverblog, creative award annuals and The FWA (for understanding of impactful creative work), the trade press and Google Alerts (relating to your client’s business.

Also observe how the creative director and your boss approach work. They no doubt can help you get you to the point you want. And your creative director hopefully won't be as harsh as our friend Jack!