早在今年二月底時(shí)DDB中國(guó)宣布在上海成立了其大中華區(qū)第一個(gè)全球創(chuàng)意核心（Global Creative Hub，一個(gè)旨在為DDB的全球客戶們世界統(tǒng)一各地作品水準(zhǔn)并培養(yǎng)創(chuàng)意人才的機(jī)制），吹響了今年這家老字號(hào)代理商?hào)|進(jìn)的號(hào)角，其全球CCO Amir Kassaei先生也在今年六月底特地飛到了中國(guó)推進(jìn)這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃的順利實(shí)施。同時(shí)我們也相信——時(shí)至今日我們也看到了——DDB不會(huì)是唯一對(duì)中國(guó)市場(chǎng)有進(jìn)一步想法的4A，在這片“遍地流淌著牛奶和蜂蜜”的地方進(jìn)行布局恐怕是很多大型代理網(wǎng)絡(luò)今年的最大議題之一。

這次互動(dòng)中國(guó)有幸在Amir密不透風(fēng)的行程中搶得了面對(duì)面采訪的先機(jī)，讓我們通過(guò)他一探DDB對(duì)中國(guó)市場(chǎng)的認(rèn)知與部署。當(dāng)然，有如此好機(jī)會(huì)能接觸到重量級(jí)的創(chuàng)意領(lǐng)袖，光是刺探軍情如何能值回票價(jià)，在如何經(jīng)營(yíng)好廣告公司乃至廣告人的職業(yè)生涯方面，Amir也給予了我們很多寶貴的insight。這位人格魅力四溢的廣告人（你們知道DamnDigital一般不夸人）在僅半個(gè)小時(shí)的采訪時(shí)間內(nèi)給出了遠(yuǎn)超我們預(yù)期的信息量，那么你要不要來(lái)看一看呢？

采訪/編輯: Wayne Tai/Vivian P
采訪協(xié)力: Lena Chen/London H
(原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容，轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明來(lái)自數(shù)英網(wǎng))

(數(shù)英網(wǎng)=Q / Amir Kassaei=Amir)

The "Hub"

Q：首先我們想問(wèn)的是，DDB目前在全世界有多少“創(chuàng)意核心”？所謂“創(chuàng)意核心”究竟是什么？

Amir：我們目前有在美國(guó)、南美、歐洲與亞洲各有兩座全球創(chuàng)意核心，算上現(xiàn)在上海的這座一共有九座。 Amir：我們?cè)O(shè)立它的出發(fā)點(diǎn)很簡(jiǎn)單，它是一個(gè)吸引最好的國(guó)際與本土人才在全球框架下為我們的全球客戶服務(wù)的平臺(tái)——一方面，它提供最好的創(chuàng)意；另一方面，它也負(fù)責(zé)人才培訓(xùn)。

Q：我們是否可以認(rèn)為“全球創(chuàng)意核心”是一種對(duì)資源的整合？

Amir：我不這么認(rèn)為。整合代表你要將很多不同的人帶到會(huì)議里，整合代表了一種思維方式。就如我所說(shuō)的，我們的工作不是創(chuàng)造廣告點(diǎn)子，而是解決商業(yè)問(wèn)題。而如果你需要解決一個(gè)商業(yè)問(wèn)題，無(wú)論如何你都需要“整合的”思考問(wèn)題。因?yàn)槟惚仨毧刂迫?，你必須找出最好的方法?lái)解決問(wèn)題。在執(zhí)行層面上你需要不同領(lǐng)域的專家，但是在概念層面上不是這樣。你需要的是頭腦足夠靈活的“通才”們。我不相信那種從N個(gè)代理商找N個(gè)人坐在一起就能解決概念上的問(wèn)題。在執(zhí)行的問(wèn)題上，你需要數(shù)字領(lǐng)域的專家，你需要市場(chǎng)專家，你需要媒介專家。但是在制定概念與策略的層面上，我不認(rèn)為他們是必須的，你需要的是能夠高處俯瞰全局，把控一切的人才。

Q：還有一個(gè)關(guān)于創(chuàng)意核心的問(wèn)題。您剛才說(shuō)這會(huì)是一個(gè)聚集人才的平臺(tái)，那如果該平臺(tái)舉辦一些學(xué)習(xí)性質(zhì)的活動(dòng)，你們會(huì)不會(huì)對(duì)DDB之外的公眾開(kāi)放呢？

Amir：現(xiàn)在還沒(méi)有，我們只有一些對(duì)DDB內(nèi)部開(kāi)放的課程。不過(guò)我們可以想象這件事早晚會(huì)發(fā)生——因?yàn)槲覀兊膭?chuàng)意文化就是給那些對(duì)廣告有興趣的人機(jī)會(huì)，讓他們看到廣告業(yè)是如何運(yùn)作的，和他們交流，以此來(lái)吸引他們加入我們。

"And Turn Thee Eastward"

Q：您將在上海呆多久？

Amir：在上海已經(jīng)呆了一周了，我馬上要飛去歐洲，并且在有需要的時(shí)候回來(lái)——我的生活就是飛來(lái)飛去，機(jī)艙就是我的家: )

Q：亞洲的其他兩個(gè)創(chuàng)意核心在哪里？

Amir：一個(gè)在新加坡、一個(gè)在悉尼。其中悉尼中心為大眾進(jìn)行全球服務(wù)，新加坡中心則在全球范圍內(nèi)貢獻(xiàn)了很多數(shù)字業(yè)務(wù)方面的點(diǎn)子。

Q：那位于上海的創(chuàng)意核心是負(fù)責(zé)中國(guó)業(yè)務(wù)還是全亞洲的業(yè)務(wù)？

Amir：不，它將參與全球業(yè)務(wù)。其實(shí)今天那些大品牌們，比如大眾、麥當(dāng)勞等，都希望他們?cè)谥袊?guó)的廣告在質(zhì)量上能夠與他們?cè)诿绹?guó)與歐洲的廣告媲美。而如今的問(wèn)題是在中國(guó)我們還沒(méi)有足夠的人才與資源來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目標(biāo)。所以我們?cè)O(shè)立“上海中心“的目標(biāo)就是吸引國(guó)際人才來(lái)中國(guó)服務(wù)，并且訓(xùn)練本土人才以使作品的質(zhì)量達(dá)到國(guó)際水準(zhǔn)。

Q：既然上海中心是服務(wù)于全球客戶的，那么有朝一日當(dāng)中國(guó)的本土客戶足夠大、足夠好之后，他們能夠利用這項(xiàng)設(shè)施么？

Amir：完全沒(méi)問(wèn)題。設(shè)立“上海中心”的目標(biāo)（之一）就是服務(wù)本土客戶。我們有一個(gè)叫做“Fit for excellence”的計(jì)劃，該計(jì)劃的目標(biāo)是鼓勵(lì)客戶為先鋒創(chuàng)意買(mǎi)單——不是為了平凡的日常業(yè)務(wù)，而是為了讓企業(yè)成為他應(yīng)當(dāng)成為的樣子。我們要建立一個(gè)全球化的平臺(tái)，好創(chuàng)意將利用這個(gè)跳板被呈現(xiàn)到客戶面前。所以雖然“創(chuàng)意核心”是個(gè)全球化平臺(tái)，但是我們也會(huì)根據(jù)不同的區(qū)域來(lái)調(diào)整其職能。 本質(zhì)上，“FFE”是從我們?nèi)蚩蛻裟鞘占?，然后提供給各處辦公室的信息概要。之后各個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)被鼓勵(lì)去分解這些摘要?！癋FE”能夠帶來(lái)目前團(tuán)隊(duì)所缺乏的新鮮感，潛在地那種不受客戶要求束縛的新想法因此誕生。對(duì)客戶來(lái)說(shuō)，他們擁有一群不受地域限制的創(chuàng)意團(tuán)隊(duì)，雙方互利共贏。 Amir：最大的變化不在于廣告公司的結(jié)構(gòu)，而在于渠道和流動(dòng)性，在于世界級(jí)的頂尖想法以何種速度傳達(dá)給我們?cè)谥袊?guó)的客戶。

Q：您認(rèn)為DDB中國(guó)是否需要準(zhǔn)備好迎接“全球創(chuàng)意核心”的到來(lái)？

Amir：中國(guó)已經(jīng)是DDB全球網(wǎng)絡(luò)中最大的組成之一了，從中國(guó)辦公室出來(lái)的作品其質(zhì)量驚人，可以與我們?nèi)蚱渌罹邉?chuàng)意的辦公室比肩。并且中國(guó)發(fā)展的規(guī)模和速度都不是歐美可以比擬的。所以我不需要告訴（中國(guó)的）同事們他們?cè)撊プ鍪裁?，他們已?jīng)做得很好了。我在這里只是個(gè)客人而已。

Q：是什么因素使得DDB對(duì)中國(guó)市場(chǎng)如此有信心，以至于投入了這么多資源？

Amir：是顯而易見(jiàn)的事實(shí)。如果你觀察中國(guó)前進(jìn)的步伐，你就知道它早就是全球最大的市場(chǎng)之一，并且會(huì)在5到10年內(nèi)統(tǒng)治全球。所以你必須到中國(guó)來(lái)，你必須投資中國(guó)。

Q：除了全球創(chuàng)意核心之外，DBB在中國(guó)有更進(jìn)一步的計(jì)劃么？

Amir：計(jì)劃很簡(jiǎn)單。再說(shuō)一遍，我們的目標(biāo)是成為國(guó)家、區(qū)域以及全球范圍內(nèi)最創(chuàng)新的公司，并且統(tǒng)治業(yè)界，在中國(guó)我們追求的也同樣是這一點(diǎn)。DDB在打入中國(guó)市場(chǎng)的征途中已經(jīng)成果顯著，這點(diǎn)從我們?cè)谶^(guò)去幾年收到的推崇與贊揚(yáng)中可知一二。在全中國(guó)我們有五個(gè)辦公點(diǎn)——擴(kuò)張的空間絕對(duì)有余，并且我們目前也正在考察所有的機(jī)會(huì)。

Q：DDB中國(guó)如何看待中國(guó)本土企業(yè)？

Amir：目前在中國(guó)上演的最大的變化是數(shù)字爆炸（digital explosion）。大眾傳媒的沖擊只會(huì)加速這一進(jìn)程，當(dāng)然就中國(guó)的具體情況和規(guī)模而言，這背后還需要多得多的資金和資源。基于這點(diǎn)和中國(guó)獨(dú)特的市場(chǎng)環(huán)境，中國(guó)已經(jīng)為本地消費(fèi)者提供進(jìn)化了的西方互聯(lián)網(wǎng)產(chǎn)品，多半還改善了這些服務(wù)。 從營(yíng)銷溝通的角度來(lái)看，這意味著我們可以在世界范圍內(nèi)應(yīng)用我們的方法與理論，但必須根據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)匦枨笞龀鼍唧w調(diào)整。對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，口碑營(yíng)銷（WOM）從未如此重要過(guò)。不同之處在于由于數(shù)字社交媒體（的影響），口碑營(yíng)銷現(xiàn)在步履維艱。DDB的社會(huì)創(chuàng)造性和視消費(fèi)者為信息傳達(dá)人并擁有媒體的6度理論的相關(guān)性從未如此高過(guò)。 Amir：電子商務(wù)是另一個(gè)重大的突破。我們從未收到過(guò)如此多有關(guān)電子商務(wù)咨詢方面的請(qǐng)求。這是對(duì)中國(guó)的數(shù)字生態(tài)系統(tǒng)有多健康的一個(gè)真正的衡量，同時(shí)也有助于以更加有效的方式對(duì)國(guó)內(nèi)消費(fèi)增長(zhǎng)以及市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷者是否有必要擴(kuò)大市場(chǎng)規(guī)模進(jìn)行權(quán)衡。僅僅是在2011年11月11日這一天，中國(guó)最大的電子商務(wù)平臺(tái)淘寶網(wǎng)就達(dá)到接近1億美元的驚人銷售額。由于規(guī)模和全方位服務(wù)的定位(淘寶商品從倉(cāng)庫(kù)出發(fā)，送到你家門(mén)前并且有自己的支付系統(tǒng))，以淘寶網(wǎng)為代表的電子商務(wù)正在重塑現(xiàn)代產(chǎn)業(yè)。

How to be A Creative "Director"

Q：說(shuō)到“創(chuàng)意”與“概念”，每個(gè)ECD乃至CCO的職責(zé)描述里有非常重要的部分就是“創(chuàng)意管理”，我們一直很好奇“創(chuàng)意”這種看不見(jiàn)摸不著又不穩(wěn)定的玩意究竟如何管理？

Amir：對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)有一件事情很棒，那就是我沒(méi)有什么“職責(zé)描述”，相反我自己決定我必須干什么，并且我的工作非常簡(jiǎn)單——做一切我能做的事情來(lái)釋放團(tuán)隊(duì)的潛能，為DDB打好基礎(chǔ)，訂立我們的創(chuàng)意標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，并且設(shè)定一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)與公司自我成長(zhǎng)的目標(biāo)。我的工作就是幫助團(tuán)隊(duì)，服務(wù)團(tuán)隊(duì)。這其中90%都是管理工作，但是以身作則也很重要。因?yàn)槿绻悴谎孕幸恢碌脑挘瑳](méi)有人會(huì)聽(tīng)你話的，（作為管理者）你必須沖在第一線。

Q：根據(jù)我們的了解，您在過(guò)去的十幾年廣告生涯中遍歷了從客戶服務(wù)到策劃到創(chuàng)意等廣告產(chǎn)業(yè)中大多數(shù)的角色，并且最終選擇成為一位創(chuàng)意人。您是否認(rèn)為，必須體驗(yàn)廣告產(chǎn)業(yè)所有的角色之后，一個(gè)偉大的廣告人才會(huì)誕生？

Amir：不，這不是必須的。雖然我的經(jīng)歷讓我獲得了不同的觀察視角，學(xué)到了各個(gè)代理商部門(mén)各自的長(zhǎng)處。但是對(duì)其他人來(lái)說(shuō)，看情況吧。而一個(gè)廣告人必須做的是擁有一個(gè)開(kāi)放的心胸，他必須理解全局，必須理解客戶部的工作，必須理解雖然他身為一個(gè)創(chuàng)意人但同時(shí)也必須參與制定策略，必須理解媒介，以此創(chuàng)作出合理的創(chuàng)意。我不認(rèn)為一個(gè)廣告人必須做過(guò)以上所有的工作才能理解那些事，但是他必須有一個(gè)開(kāi)闊的心胸去接納它們。

Q：在您看來(lái)，“創(chuàng)意人”與創(chuàng)意“總監(jiān)”之間，最難以逾越的鴻溝是什么？

Amir：以DDB來(lái)說(shuō)，我們的創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)必須是最好的策略策劃、最好的客戶服務(wù)人才、最好的創(chuàng)意人、最好的客戶、最好的執(zhí)行者以及最好的教師與鼓動(dòng)者，這七點(diǎn)缺一不可。這是一個(gè)非常高的目標(biāo)。因?yàn)閯?chuàng)意總監(jiān)就像一個(gè)一邊在參與比賽一邊在管理隊(duì)伍的足球教練，如果你做不到，那你就不成為一個(gè)創(chuàng)意“領(lǐng)袖”，對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，創(chuàng)意領(lǐng)袖意味著很多完全不同的東西。

Q：那以您的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)而言，如何才能成為一個(gè)創(chuàng)意領(lǐng)袖呢？

Amir: 如果你有相應(yīng)的天賦與氣質(zhì)，你就可以成為成為（創(chuàng)意領(lǐng)袖）。不過(guò)DDB有自己的一套內(nèi)訓(xùn)系統(tǒng)來(lái)幫助他們達(dá)到這樣一個(gè)目標(biāo)。要知道成為“創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)”是非常難的，因?yàn)槟鞘且粋€(gè)“教練”型的工作：你不能包辦所有的一切，相反你的任務(wù)是釋放團(tuán)隊(duì)其他人的潛能，為好的idea能被接受而戰(zhàn)斗，教育人才，甚至教育客戶。

Q: 關(guān)于DDB的內(nèi)訓(xùn)系統(tǒng)，您能跟我們透露更多一些么？

Amir: 以年輕人來(lái)說(shuō)，我們有一個(gè)叫DDB Launchpad的計(jì)劃，這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃最開(kāi)始只在澳大利亞與美國(guó)進(jìn)行，如今我們將它拓展到了全球的范圍。我們每次通過(guò)一定的評(píng)審程序，在大學(xué)生中挑選5到6名參與者與我們共事六個(gè)月，期間他們將會(huì)接觸到我們最頂級(jí)的brief，并且接受專人指導(dǎo)。在六個(gè)月的參與期結(jié)束之后，我們會(huì)對(duì)他們的表現(xiàn)進(jìn)行評(píng)判，并最終邀請(qǐng)最有潛力的那位學(xué)生加入DDB。 在資深人才的層面上，全世界只有DDB與柏林學(xué)院——世界上唯一家頒發(fā)“創(chuàng)意MBA”學(xué)歷的大學(xué)——展開(kāi)了緊密合作。一方面我們每年會(huì)提名內(nèi)部的管理人員去學(xué)習(xí)該MBA課程。另一方面我們正在建立一個(gè)新的、節(jié)奏更快的機(jī)制。每年兩次DDB會(huì)將公司內(nèi)最好的創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)們送去參加這項(xiàng)課程(MBA)，學(xué)習(xí)得以成為一個(gè)“創(chuàng)意CEO”的全部本領(lǐng)。因?yàn)閷?duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，一個(gè)創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)必須如同公司CEO那樣了解業(yè)務(wù)的全貌。

Q: 您怎么看待風(fēng)險(xiǎn)問(wèn)題？DDB在人才培訓(xùn)上投資如此之大，有沒(méi)有想過(guò)萬(wàn)一這些人才在DDB受了培訓(xùn)之后跳槽走人怎么辦？

Amir: 沒(méi)有，道理很簡(jiǎn)單。培訓(xùn)人才需要花大筆錢(qián)，所以如果你是DDB的富有創(chuàng)造性的總管，如果你想要在2年內(nèi)完成MBA培訓(xùn)計(jì)劃，你必須事先簽署一份協(xié)議，該協(xié)議要求在培訓(xùn)計(jì)劃結(jié)束之后，你必須在DDB呆滿5年。

Q: 說(shuō)到跳槽問(wèn)題，我們也和中國(guó)的其他廣告代理商談過(guò)這個(gè)話題，他們對(duì)人才的需求很大，然后大部分公司選擇用高薪來(lái)與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手搶奪人才資源。因?yàn)槟壳按蟮慕?jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境不景氣，人們自然趨向于選擇高薪的崗位，這就是中國(guó)本土的現(xiàn)狀，您對(duì)這一策略是怎么看的？

Amir: 我們所能做的也是這個(gè)公司最根本的理念和最牢固的目標(biāo)——如果你能夠?qū)?chuàng)意和人性兩者合二為一，那么你就可以讓世界變得更好，這是DDB自1958年以來(lái)的宗旨。它不再是關(guān)于做出好廣告，而是關(guān)于我們利用創(chuàng)意和人性來(lái)改善這個(gè)世界。參考我的職業(yè)生涯來(lái)說(shuō)，我相信如果你一生只是追逐金錢(qián)，那你最終會(huì)一事無(wú)成。 所以如果有這樣的青年才想要更多的錢(qián)，讓他們走人是上策——因?yàn)樗麄儾粔騼?yōu)秀，不夠?qū)Ｗ⒂谡_的事情。所以我們不僅要對(duì)DDB負(fù)責(zé)，還要對(duì)中國(guó)社會(huì)負(fù)責(zé)。事實(shí)上，建立一個(gè)偉大而事業(yè)并不意味著擁有很多金錢(qián)——當(dāng)然有錢(qián)是件好事。但當(dāng)你第一次不得不就你的專業(yè)知識(shí)和性格建立一個(gè)平臺(tái)的時(shí)候，你心里必須對(duì)自己想要達(dá)到怎樣的質(zhì)量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)有一個(gè)目標(biāo)，這就是我們?cè)贒DB能實(shí)現(xiàn)的東西。 如果你有興趣知道我們能給予你何種支持但你又只對(duì)錢(qián)感興趣，我會(huì)告訴這樣的年輕人你該去做別的事情。因?yàn)橐俏覍?duì)賺錢(qián)上心，我不會(huì)來(lái)做廣告。但是我認(rèn)為在DDB就業(yè)的偉大的人，他們不只是想要賺錢(qián)這么簡(jiǎn)單，他們想要一個(gè)能夠充實(shí)自我的工作，他們覺(jué)得自己做的事情有益于自己和社會(huì)。沒(méi)錯(cuò)他們是想要達(dá)到某種優(yōu)裕生活的質(zhì)量標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但那不是首要目標(biāo)，這是我想對(duì)年輕人說(shuō)的東西。我想對(duì)中國(guó)的年輕才俊們傳達(dá)這種理念：毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)錢(qián)很重要，但是錢(qián)只是成為偉大的人的一部分。 Amir: 但是想要做到這一點(diǎn)，像我之前說(shuō)的那樣你必須對(duì)自己真誠(chéng)，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和教育意味著你本人必須身體力行。光站在教室里面說(shuō)些有的沒(méi)的，自己卻不那么去做是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的。所以你必須自己先符合這個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，要是你在那說(shuō)廢話年輕人很快就心不在焉不在聽(tīng)你說(shuō)什么了，相反如果你認(rèn)真對(duì)待這件事，你身體力行，那別人自然就會(huì)理解，別人會(huì)相信你在嚴(yán)肅對(duì)待這件事。這是我的觀點(diǎn)。

Last But Not Least：

Q：在最近幾年DDB已經(jīng)創(chuàng)造了很多獲獎(jiǎng)的數(shù)字作品，我們可以說(shuō)在過(guò)去幾年中DDB變得更數(shù)字化了么？

Amir：我不能保證說(shuō)是這樣。我們想要成為的是其他代理商的榜樣。我們不會(huì)成為以數(shù)字為主導(dǎo)的代理商，因?yàn)槲覀儾皇羌夹g(shù)公司。我們想要成為的是創(chuàng)意進(jìn)化的制造者，并使用數(shù)字技術(shù)作為工具來(lái)達(dá)成這一目標(biāo)。而當(dāng)你想成為業(yè)界主宰與最先鋒的公司時(shí)，你必須在數(shù)字、移動(dòng)等領(lǐng)域給出一份與傳統(tǒng)廣告相同質(zhì)量的答卷，以此來(lái)與不同的目標(biāo)群體交流。我們不是一家完全的數(shù)字代理商，如果我們比五年之前更棒了，這也是我的愿望。再說(shuō)一次，我們的目標(biāo)始終是在國(guó)家、區(qū)域與全球范圍內(nèi)，統(tǒng)治業(yè)界。

Q：我們始終相信好廣告是由20%的好點(diǎn)子與80%的好執(zhí)行組成的，我們也接觸過(guò)很多“好點(diǎn)子壞執(zhí)行”的廣告。我想問(wèn)的是，執(zhí)行是否需要在創(chuàng)意產(chǎn)生的最初階段就被考慮在內(nèi)？我們?nèi)绾未_保好的創(chuàng)意能夠得到完美的執(zhí)行？

Amir：我不擔(dān)心這點(diǎn)，因?yàn)槠渌砩踢€沒(méi)有意識(shí)到你所說(shuō)的問(wèn)題。答案很簡(jiǎn)答，我們做的不只是廣告，我們所做的是找出相關(guān)的事實(shí)：一件產(chǎn)品、一個(gè)服務(wù)、一個(gè)品牌、一家公司，將他們以新鮮的方式呈現(xiàn)在消費(fèi)者面前。我們制造消費(fèi)者的關(guān)注，并且讓他們談?wù)撐覀儎?chuàng)造的東西。 Amir：（實(shí)現(xiàn)創(chuàng)意）需要很多方面的支持，而如果你想要實(shí)現(xiàn)一個(gè)創(chuàng)意，那么在創(chuàng)意發(fā)想的同時(shí)就要考慮到執(zhí)行問(wèn)題——但是沒(méi)有很多代理商是這么做的。再者，我們創(chuàng)造的是解決方案，解決方案意味著你必須考慮全局，明白你的創(chuàng)意在市場(chǎng)里是否行得通，并且如何執(zhí)行與傳播，不論如何這些都是創(chuàng)意流程的一部分。但是你說(shuō)的對(duì)，你需要一個(gè)至少和你的代理商一樣好的執(zhí)行者來(lái)保證作品的落實(shí)。不過(guò)作為一個(gè)全球網(wǎng)絡(luò)的好處就是我們可以與全世界的好制作公司們合作。就中國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)，也是這樣。

Q: 所以您的意思是會(huì)有一個(gè)很強(qiáng)力的組織來(lái)把上述所有資源整合到一起？

Amir: 不。就像我說(shuō)過(guò)的，我不需要很多“人”，我需要“想法”。創(chuàng)意和架構(gòu)無(wú)關(guān)，和流程無(wú)關(guān)，和有多少人坐著開(kāi)會(huì)無(wú)關(guān)，創(chuàng)意關(guān)乎你是否有勇氣與熱情去做不可能的事，關(guān)乎你從一開(kāi)始就需要一個(gè)怎樣的團(tuán)隊(duì)。

Q：您已經(jīng)談過(guò)貴公司的招聘標(biāo)準(zhǔn)了，那另一方面，你們選擇客戶的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)又是什么？你們的確會(huì)去選擇客戶，不是嗎？

Amir: 標(biāo)準(zhǔn)同樣非常簡(jiǎn)單，我想任何一個(gè)良好的客戶與廣告代理商的關(guān)系都建立在信任的基礎(chǔ)上。信任意味著尊重雙方，把對(duì)方當(dāng)做合作伙伴，而不是生硬地區(qū)分他是客戶你是廣告公司這樣。我們理想中的合作伙伴追求的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是能夠?yàn)樽约旱臉I(yè)務(wù)升值的。但這是一個(gè)態(tài)度問(wèn)題，一個(gè)時(shí)間問(wèn)題，也是一個(gè)奮斗精神的問(wèn)題。因?yàn)槭澜缟蠜](méi)有完美的客戶，所以你必須在客戶與廣告代理商的關(guān)系問(wèn)題上費(fèi)點(diǎn)心思，這也是我在做的事。 并且我認(rèn)為許多客戶恰恰也在尋找這樣的廣告公司。但是也有不少?gòu)V告公司不具備這種把對(duì)方當(dāng)做合作伙伴的大目標(biāo)，他們把自己定位為服務(wù)公司，而不是一個(gè)咨詢伙伴，這就是為什么許多廣告不堪入眼的原因。所以我們努力成為一個(gè)值得信賴的伙伴，支持我們的客戶。成為值得信賴的伙伴意味著你必須像客戶一樣去理解業(yè)務(wù)，這是非常困難的工作。 Amir：我認(rèn)為人生目標(biāo)也與你和客戶之間的關(guān)系的目標(biāo)有關(guān)。DDB的目標(biāo)不只是賺錢(qián)，更是為了幫助客戶解決他們的問(wèn)題。如果你以才華橫溢的方式做這份工作那么錢(qián)自然滾滾來(lái)，因?yàn)槲覀兡軌蛱峁﹦e人難以企及的優(yōu)質(zhì)服務(wù)。換個(gè)角度來(lái)說(shuō)，如果你做出來(lái)的東西別人都能做，那么你的麻煩就大了。 DDB一直致力于讓我們的客戶確信你只要選擇了DDB，你就能在市場(chǎng)上占據(jù)先機(jī)，然后再和客戶協(xié)商錢(qián)的問(wèn)題就要簡(jiǎn)單得多。我的想法就是如果你沒(méi)辦法提供優(yōu)質(zhì)的產(chǎn)品，你就有麻煩了。但是出于同樣的目的，你可以想盡辦法去賺客戶的錢(qián)，但你提供的不是高質(zhì)量的產(chǎn)品，這是我的感受。在我看來(lái)態(tài)度與我們的企業(yè)文化休戚相關(guān)，因?yàn)镈DB是一個(gè)充滿創(chuàng)新精神的公司所以實(shí)踐這個(gè)理念比較簡(jiǎn)單。我們是創(chuàng)意革新的發(fā)明人，所以對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)以這個(gè)方式思考問(wèn)題，然后做一個(gè)有創(chuàng)造性思維的公司然后嘗試把自己改造為一個(gè)創(chuàng)意公司是更容易一些的。 但是危險(xiǎn)之處是，這也是過(guò)去幾年中頻頻發(fā)生我想要改變的一個(gè)現(xiàn)象：DDB的許多人漸漸失去了對(duì)DDB的核心力量的關(guān)注。而我和領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的許多人的工作就是時(shí)時(shí)提醒他們我們每天的工作是什么。正如我說(shuō)的那樣，尋找和創(chuàng)造真實(shí)，用大眾關(guān)心的新鮮的方式傳達(dá)信息是DDB的核心，這自然也是我們一直在努力做的事情。

Original Interview Transcription English:

Q: First question, what exactly is a “global creative hub”? How many of them are there?

Amir: We have already two in the United States, two in South America, two in Europe, two in Asia. And, we are adding another one in Shanghai, so that makes nine of them. Amir: The idea is very simple: we want a place or platform where we can attract the best national and international talents to work on a global scale on global brands. On one hand, it helps foster strong creativity; on the other hand, it helps educate national talent.

Q: Is Shanghai’s hub responsible for Asia’s business or only China’s business?

Amir: No, it is responsible globally. If you look at what‘s happening at the moment, the big global brands like Volkswagen or McDonalds are asking for the same kind of quality from China as that of Europe’s or the United States’. The problem in China currently is that we do not have enough talent or resources to match that goal. So, the idea is to build a hub here to attract international talent to China and educating the existing Chinese talent to increase the quality of work to global standards.

Q: Where are the other creative hubs in Asia?

Amir: In Singapore and Sydney. Sydney, for example, is working globally on Volkswagen. Singapore is contributing many ideas in terms of digital marketing around the world. DM: What makes DDB have so much confidence in the Chinese market to invest so much in it?

Amir: It’s a matter of fact. If you see where China is going, it’s already one of the biggest markets in the world. It will dominate the world in next 5-10 years. So you have to be here, you have to invest here. That’s what we believe.

Q: The hub is aimed to serve global clients, but what if Chinese local clients are big enough and good enough, could they leverage the hub?

Amir: Exactly. The hub’s goal is supporting existing national brands. We actually have a project called “Fit for excellence”. “Fit for excellence” is a very simple idea, which is to motivate our clients towards accepting and buying innovative ideas in terms of not doing the day-to-day business. Instead, we are building springboards to help develop ideas that can be worked on by the whole global network, and then presenting it to the clients. It’s run globally but the regions are adapting to the needs based on the program.

Q: I would like to ask more about the hubs. You just said it’s a platform for gathering talent. So if the hub runs events or education seminars, will they be open to public or just DDB internally?

Amir: Not yet. We are trying out different initiatives to educate our DDBers in different categories first. However, what we can imagine happening is basically what we are doing now anyways; because of our creative culture, we give people who are interested in the advertising industry the possibility to just get a sneak of how advertising is working, meeting and talking to them to attract them into the industry. Again the job we have in is to educate the creative talent we have, to bring them to a position that they can deliver work that is of the same quality globally. And that’s just a question of time. I don’t believe that it will take long. It will happen anyway.

Q: DDB has created many award-winning digital works in past years. How has DDB become more digital in recent years?

Amir: I’m not sure if it’s happening now or if it happened in the past year, but what we are doing is to try to be ahead of the other agencies. We’re not solely being a digitally driven agency because we are not a technology company. We are the company who invented the creativity evolution, and we are using technology as a tool to make it happen. And, if you want to dominate the industry and become the most innovative company, you have to deliver solutions which are mainly driven by digital, mobile and cyber space as good as those in the traditional space because you have brands, products and services, especially in China, when you have to use traditional media to communicate with different targets. So we are not solely a digital agency. The goal is to dominate industry in every region, every country and on a global scale.

Q: What do you think that DDB China Group should do to be prepared for the new hubs?

Amir: I think China is already one of the biggest important parts of the network. If you look at the quality of the work coming from our Chinese offices, it’s amazing, and it’s among the best creative offices that we have. China is growing in a scale and a speed that is not visible in the States or in Europe. So they don’t need much direction on what to do, since they’re already doing great. I’m a guest here and I get a coffee every day, that’s fine.

Q: How long will you stay in Shanghai?

Amir: I arrived around one week ago, and will fly to Europe and come back here when needed. I basically live on the plane, I don’t have a home.

Q: So is the hub a kind of an integration of resources?

Amir: No. I don’t believe that integration is a question; if you bring different people to the table, integration is a mindset. Because our job, as I said earlier, is not delivering advertising ideas, but instead solving a business problem, which requires integrated thinking anyway. Because you have to hold your own ground, you have to find the best way of solving a problem. It’s not about coming from different disciplines, because aside from concept development, execution requires experts from different disciplines. You need people who are bright-minded enough to understand that they have to be generalists. That’s my belief, because if you are executing an idea, you need experts. You need digital experts, you need the target market experts and you need the media experts. In terms of developing the concepts and strategies, I believe that you need people who understand and oversee the bigger picture.

Q: On the topic of concepts and creativity, I’ve always wondered how creativity is managed. Being intangible and unpredictable, how do ECD or CCOs manage to always deliver quality work to clients?

Amir: It’s a nice thing not having a job description. I coined the job description myself. My job is very simple; it is doing everything that I can to build the infrastructure, to build the tools, to motivate people and unleash the potential of all the people at DDB. It’s about setting a creative standard and setting a goal that we would like to pursue ourselves. That’s my job. Helping people, servicing people, that’s my job. It’s 90% management, but 10% role model as well, because if you don’t walk the talk, then nobody will follow you. So you have to be in the forefront.

Q: According to your bio, you have worked in different roles in advertising as an account, a planner and finally as a creative. Do you think a great adman should experience different roles in the industry?

Amir: It’s not necessary, but I think it helped me get to where I am today. It allows you see the different point of views and strengths of different functions in an agency. For other people, it depends. You could do it, but you don’t have to. What you do have to have is an open mind and think of the whole picture, and it really helps to understand what the account guys are doing. Your job may be creative, but is also taking involved in strategies. You have to understand media to develop concepts which make sense.

Q: Other than the hub, do you have any further plans in China’s market?

Amir: The future plans are very simple, again, our goal as a company taking national, regional or global is to be the most innovative company the marketplace, and dominating the industry, that’s the goals for China also.

Q: You’ve mentioned the concept and the execution, and I’ve always believed that good advertising consists of 20% good ideas and 80% good execution. Here we have many cases that start with good concepts but due to bad execution, cannot be called good advertising. What I want to ask is whether the execution part should be during initial stages of creative generation? How can you assure to follow through a great concept with great execution?

Amir: I don’t worry about that because all the other agencies don’t get it. It’s very simple. What we are doing as a job is not advertising, what we are doing is finding or creating a relevant truth in the form of a product service, brand or company. Then, we have to deliver to people in a fresh way. If we are doing this, people will start to care about what we do. And as we connect the world, they will talk about it.

Amir: So you have the multiple kind of support about what you are doing. If you really want to deliver a creative idea, part of the job means that you have to think about the execution at the same time. Not a lot of agencies are doing it. Again, we are talking about solutions. Solution means you have to think about the whole, and understand if the idea is working in the marketplace and how you can execute it and spread it, that’s part of a creative process anyway, but you’re right. You need execution partners who are as good in the quality as your agency to deliver it till the end. But the nice thing about having a global network is that you can work around the global with all production companies. So if this is the idea from China, we have a good network they can took almost everybody to execute the idea.

Q: So you mean it shall be a very strong organization to integrate all resources together.

Amir: No, as I said, I don’t need a lot of people. I need the minds. Creativity is not a question of structure, is not a question of process. It’s a question of are you courageous or passionate enough to do the impossible? That’s creativity at DDB. It’s not a question of how many people you’re sitting here and how you structured people. It’s about what do you want a team first time.

Q: I have a question about the gap between a creative guy and a creative “director”. What do you think the gap is?

Amir: A creative director at DDB is the best strategist, the best account guy, the best creative, the best client, best executer, best teacher and motivator. If you don’t deliver these seven goals, you are not a creative director. It’s high goal. It’s about being like a soccer trainer. You are playing but at the same time but you’re managing and motivating a team. And if you can’t make it, you are not a creative leader. To me a creative leader is something completely different.

Q: So how does one become such a creative leader?

Amir: If you have the talent and the personality, you can become it. What we are doing is to have our leadership program and educating our talents towards the position to give them the needed skills to do the job. So it’s difficult to be a creative director because a creative director is a trainer job. It’s not about doing the stuff by yourself. It’s about unleashing the potential of your people, educating your talents to them, fighting for the ideas of other people and educating your clients.

Q: So can you tell us more about the internal training system DDB has?

Amir: What we do for example at DDB for the young talents is the DDB Launchpad. The DDB Launchpad is a program started in Australia and the US and now we are scheduling it globally. The idea is you’re bringing young talent from universities to an assessment process and you’re choosing 5-6 people who are spending six months in an agency in one room, getting all the best briefs of the agency, having people who are taking care of them. And throughout the whole process they are working in an agency on a day-to-day base, and at the end of six month, you are sitting together with them, and realize or judge the potential candidates for the agency. That’s what we are doing.——on the junior level.

Amir: On the senior lever, we have a corporation with the Berlin school of creative leadership. There’s only one school in the world who is giving creative MBA. It’s a problem to develop creative CEOs.

And we are the only network who is working closely to them. We are nominating people from the network to make the MBA at one side and we are also developing a program which is more intense. Twice a year we send the best creative directors from DDB to do this program to exactly get the skills they need to be a creative CEO. Because, again, a creative director should understand the business as well as a CEO of the agency.

Q: How about the risk? DDB invest so much on training talent, what if they just go away after that…

Amir: No, it is very simple. Cause it costs a lot of money, so if you’re a creative director at DDB, you want to do that MBA program for two years, and sign a contract that after the MBA program, you must stay another 5 years in DDB.

DM: Talking about the job hopping, we’ve talked with many agencies in China, they are eager for talent, and many of them just use high salary to compete each other for attracting talents, the whole environment is not very healthy, people will just naturally go somewhere can pay them higher, and that’s what’s happening here now.

Amir: What we can do and that’s the solid goal and foundation of this company, since 1958, is if you combine creativity and humanity you can change the world for the better. It’s not about doing good advertising. It’s about how we can change the world using your creativity and humanity. And I don’t believe, looking at my own career, that if you’re running after money you won’t achieve anything in your life. So if there is young talent wanting more money, you should let them go because they’re not good enough, they’re not focused enough on the right things. So our responsibility is not only for DDB, but also for the Chinese society. To say, building a great career doesn’t mean to own a lot of money. It’s nice to have a lot of money but first you have to build a platform and substance in terms of your expertise, personality and your character. You have to have a goal in your life in terms of what you want to achieve as a quality standard. That’s what we can deliver in DDB. And if you are interested in that we can support you but if you’re only interested in money I’m saying to the young guys you should do something completely different. Because if I was interest in making money, I will not be advertising, But I think the great people in DDB, they are not solely interested in making money, they want to have a great job which fulfill themselves. They have the feeling that they’re doing something good for themselves and the society. Yes they also want to achieve kind of nice quality of life standard. But that’s not the first goal, that’s what I’m telling the young guys. I think if it can help the Chinese young talents to give them the feeling: Yes money is important, but money is only part of being great.

Amir: But, to do that, you have to be truthful to yourself because like I said, leading and educating means that you have to walk the walk. It’s not enough to stand in the classroom talking bullshit and are not behaving like that yourself. So you have to live this standard because young people are fleeing very fast if you’re bullshitting around. If you’re serious about it, it’s because you’re living it. If you’re living it, people understand it, and they will be convinced that you are serious about it. That’s my impression.

When I was young, there were teachers coming in, you will feel immediately if the guy is just talking, or if he is really serious about it. You have to find people who are role models and living it. Then you can educate the young people. The problem that you describe, it really exists and in the next 5-10 years as you are becoming even bigger and bigger, ever stronger society and economy. It won’t be a question of money but I think it could be a wrong strategy for DDB to try to compensate a non-existing personality with money. We always said we wanted to hire people who are nice and talented. If you are nice and you are not talented, you shouldn’t join DDB; if you are talented but you are an asshole, you shouldn’t join DDB. So I think that part of what’s nice is that we do everything such that everybody can be the way that they want to, if they have substance and quality, and not only solely interested in money. But if you talk to other companies, they might not have same kind of perspective, but that was the foundation of DDB and I think it’s the right way to go, because money will come anyway.

Q: You’ve talked about the recruitment standard, but on the contrary, what is your standard of choosing clients? You do choose client, right?

Amir: It’s also very simple. I think every great client-agency relationship should be based on trust. Trust means you are respecting each other and you’re regarding each other as partners, not as I’m the client and you’re the agency. And we try to find partners who want the value we can add to their business that they don’t have alone. But it’s the question of attitude, time and of fighting sprit because no client in the world is perfect, so you have to work in the relationship. And I think lots of clients are looking for that also but a lot of other agencies don’t have this big goal of being regarded as partner; that’s the reason a lot of advertising are looking like shit. Because agencies find their roles as the service company, not as a consulting partner. So what we are trying to do is being a partner, supporting our clients. And to be a partner means that you have to understand that business are as good as they do. So it’s hard job.

Amir: Well, the goal of your life is also related to the goal of your relationship with your client. The goal of DDB is not solely earning money. The goal of DDB is helping the client solving their problems. If you’re doing it in a brilliant way, the money comes automatically because we have superior product nobody else can deliver. If we deliver the same shit like all the other ones, you have a problem. What we are trying to do is to convince our clients all the market place, if you come to DDB, you will get something which helps you being superior in the market place, then, it’s also easier to negotiate with them about money. If you are not delivering the superior product,you have a problem.

That’s what I believe. But as the same goal, the only way to earn money with your client, you can do it, but you are not delivering quality. That’s my feeling.I think attitude is related to our culture, it’s easier for DDB to live it because we are a creative-mind company. We are the inventors of creativity revolutions. So it’s easier for us to think about that way then to be a creative-mind company then you try to transform yourselves being a creative company. But, the danger is, that’s what happened in the last few years I’m trying to change is a lot of people at DDB will lose their focus, about what is the core strengths of DDB, and my job and the job of a lot of people in the leadership is to remind them what is our job every day. As I said, finding and creating relevant truth, delivering in a fresh way that people start to care. That’s the main focus of DDB, so that’s what we trying to do.

Q: While establishing a global creative hub is Shanghai, what’s DDB China’s further plan to expand Chinese local market?

Amir: DDB has made significant inroads into China and this has paid off with the accolades we have received over the past few years. Across Greater China we have five offices – there’s definitely room for expansion across the country and we are currently reviewing all opportunities.

Q: How does DDB China think about Chinese local business?

Amir: The biggest change in China is ongoing– the digital explosion. The onset of social media has only accelerated this and, of course, with the scale in China, there is much more funding and resources behind it. Because of this and China’s unique market environment, China has evolved all of the West’s Internet offerings for the local consumer, and more often than not improved these services too. From a marketing communication perspective, it means that we can apply methodologies and mechanics tested and proven in the world – but adapted specifically to local needs. From our perspective, WOM (word of mouth) has never been so important, the difference being that it’s now on steroids because of social media/digital. DDB’s social creativity, together with our 6 degrees philosophy that sees consumers as transmitters, media in their own right, versus just targets, has never been more relevant.

Amir: E-commerce is another huge movement. We have never received so many request for e-commerce consulting. It’s a real measure of how a) robust the digital eco system in China is, b) the domestic consumption growth and c) the need for marketers to grow and conquer the scale that is China in a more cost effective way. Just on one day, 11-11-2011, Taobao, China’s biggest e-commerce platform sold close to US$1 billion in goods. Because of the scale and full service orientation (they warehouse, deliver to your doorstep and have their own payment systems), they are reshaping complete industries.

Q: What preparation should DDB China (From human resource to company structure) do while establishing such a hub in Shanghai? How much has been done and how much has yet to be done?

Amir: The Global Creative Hub was established with our multi-national clients in mind. The hub will provide them access to our creatives around the world, no longer restricted by country or region. The hub complements my “Fit for Excellence” project which matches the Hub’s objectives and gives our multinational clients access to creative from wherever in the world. Essentially, FFE are briefs that have been collected from our global clients – which are then supplied to all offices. Teams are then encouraged to crack the brief. FFE brings back a freshness that an existing team may have been lacking, and potentially new ideas by those not bogged down by every day client requests. For the client, they have access to a world team of creatives not limited by country or region. This works the other way as well. In terms of talent and recruitment we are very excited by our new programme, Launchpad, a global mobilisation programme for young creatives over three months to Shanghai or vice-versa for local teams to be in other DDB offices around the world. The biggest change in not the structure in the agency, but the access, mobility and speed of which world-class ideas can reach our clients here in China.