Strands of Genius: Andy Headington + Insights Report 2024
featuring: an interview with our guest editor and a research report
Welcome to the Bonus edition of Strands of Genius! On Fridays, we’ll be publishing interviews from our guest editors, and sharing a research report. Thanks for being along for the ride. Oh and by the way, you look great today :)
:: STEAL THIS THINKING | RESEARCH REPORT ::
This analysis dives into the discussions from the One Show Jury Rooms and 2024 winners, distilling it all into six industry-defining trends for the year ahead. The insights within this report are based on responses from over 150 of this year’s One Show jurors, as well as global entrant data. The One Show has a rich legacy of honoring groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.
:: DIVE IN | THE INTERVIEW ::
ANDY HEADINGTON, CEO OF ADIDO, BOURNEMOUTH
>> Andy Headington guest curated Strands on October 3rd 2024. Read it here.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what keeps you busy. How did you end up doing what you’re doing today?
I helped to start Adido in 2003 as my first job out of Uni and haven't done anything else then! But I've probably had 5 or 6 jobs in that time from web developer (ha!), SEO/PPC manager, account manager, strategic direction and now largely as a Speaker/blogger/consultant
What excites you most about what you do?
Despite being in my 22nd year of doing this, I still find the challenge of solving our clients problems a motivating and powerful one. I find that most clients have many challenges internally as well as in their market, and if me and my team can help make some of them a little easier to improve then that's a very good thing and helps everyone sleep a little better at night.
What beliefs define your approach to work? How would you define your leadership style?
It's taken a while to find 'our thing' at Adido, but we have and it's about being candid and curious. There are so many agencies out there that want to take clients money and just say yes but for the last few years we've done as much as we can to tell our clients what we believe as experts, whether they really want to hear it or not. Often this means we don't take on as many clients or projects as we could but we've learnt along the way that just saying yes to everything leads to frustration and disappointment for both clients and team, and so we do as much as we can now to filter our opportunities based on what we believe to build better relationships for the long term.
What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on and why?
I don't have a classic agency CV and haven't really worked on 'big campaigns' like some of your other guests so it's a bit hard to answer this one. I guess my most rewarding thing over my career is that fact that Adido is still here, with a great team of people and good selection of clients after 21 years and that I'm still enjoying the challenge of things. I've had a few points in that time where I've questioned if I'm doing the right thing but honestly can't say I've ever thought of changing or doing anything different, so look forward to many more years ahead!
We are big believers in diversity -- Not only because we believe in equality, but because we also think it’s better for business. How do you frame these kinds of conversations, both internally and with clients? Is there an emphasis on action, or are the conversations really more about communication?
I 100% agree that diversity and equality are better for business but also because it's the right thing. I guess I've been very fortunate having made my own agency work for so long that I've never had to work for anyone else or battle biases/unfair structures and see the bad side of that. I've always had a fundamental belief that if you're good enough then you're good enough, doesn't matter if you're old, young, abled less able, one gender or another, it's all irrelevant to me. We've had great people work for us in their 20s who are far more capable than those twice their age and have done as much as we can to support and fast track them to improve their skills. For most of the last decade we've been predominantly female led which again to me is just the way it is. We hire on ability and talent and have been fortunate to find so many great people who happen to be female but when I hear of other agencies with biases towards various groups it makes me feel very sad and still shows that there is much work to be done to make things more inclusive. We're getting there and I'm hopefully things will improve in the coming decades (we've come some way in the last 20 years) but gosh, it'd be great if things moved faster...
Switching gears a bit, how do you find time to balance personal interests with your career? Do you believe work/life balance is possible? Anything you’ve implemented that you recommend that others try?
I guess over 20 years I've learnt to let go of feeling that things every client is life and death. At the end of the day we're not saving lives or changing the world, we're trying to help clients do their marketing better and 99% of the time, no matter how fast we go, they will be the ones to hold things up.
So I guess I've tried to prioritise myself and my own well being as much as possible in recent times as if I'm in a good place, then that should filter though to work and home and everything else. One thing that has helped me is to have a big goal to work towards to help keep motivation. One year is was to run 600k in a year, the next it was to build a home office... so having that big thing and breaking it down into smaller chunks has definitely helped push me on and achieve some good stuff.
What’s your media diet? Where do you find inspiration?
I've always been a bit of a music geek, so if I hear of an artist I like, I tend to follow up on their inspirations. It's the same with good marketing folk. I listen to them speak on interviews, here people they mention, and then follow them up. How I found Rory Sutherland, Dave Trott, Tom Goodwin, Scott Galloway or others I've no idea now, but I find them in the end if they are good enough! It's a constant journey of learning and discovery I think so I just try and keep pulling the thread and see where it takes me...
What’s the best piece of advice/knowledge you’ve stolen, and who/where’d you steal it from?
Ooosh, that's a hard one! I guess the one that has stayed with me for a few years now is the notion of risk and how brands as there are social markers to help people make less risky choices. I think it was Rory Sutherland who made the point that people don't go McDonalds because they want a great meal, they want to reduce the chance that the meal isn't shit. We know what we will get and whilst we know it won't be amazing, we also know it won't be bad, or at least, it's less risky than going to someone we've never heard of before. Brands are a proxy of risk and the more we can make our brand signal less risk to our buyers, the better our chance of success.
You've seen a lot of tech come and go over the last two decades. What are your thoughts on AI?
Is it the big game changer some hype it to be? I'm sure that there will be some companies and industries that go under all sorts of change in the next few years, but to think that it's going to change our world completely is total BS. The pace of change inside most businesses is still incredibly slow, their data is usually poor at best and adoption of any new tech always takes ages. I expect some big AI bubbles to burst next year and then I predict it'll just become another thing that becomes business as usual in a few areas with the exception perhaps of media where I can see it taking over large chunks of jobs sadly.
You can keep in touch with Andy on LinkedIn.
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rockON,
faris & rosie | your friends over at geniussteals.co
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