Matt Watson, chief creative officer, Sips & Bites (PepsiCo’s in-house creative agency in Europe), shared how in-house agencies can ‘unleash the creativity from within’ at LIA’s Creative Liasons programme.

His secret belief for growth came from ‘4 Cs’, which he revealed during his talk.

Culture

Watson revealed that culture isn’t about having pool tables within offices or going to the pub together as a team.

“It’s about humans and how people team up together. It’s about combining with customers and consumers. People come first, and everything else is second. One should always ground their thinking in human creativity, as it leads to more human ideas. Bite right one’s briefs and don’t write like a sales pitch,” he advised.

He showcased a piece of work that demonstrated a human problem, specifically for gamers.

Collaboration

“It sounds obvious that one has to collaborate. But it’s not within the agency alone. Collaboration needs to be with your clients as well, and one must get them to have skin in the game. That will help creatives fight for that little extra budget, which is sometimes required. Do what one can to be extra close to your client as well as your agency colleagues. That has helped me pitch ideas on WhatsApp, and sometimes they get converted. Wherever one lands, it has to be together, whether it’s positive or negative,” he shared.

An example of this was a Doritos campaign, which required approval from the legal team.

 

 

 

 

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Challenge

Urging creatives to ‘challenge everything’, Watson said, “Think about what you’re asked to do, like a particular brief, and challenge it. Say no sometimes. But don’t do it to be difficult. Saying no is a big deal. But it has been our most powerful tool.”

He revealed a Lay’s campaign in Spain, which came out of this philosophy.

“People in Spain love to get the Christmas look, the Christmas hairstyle. Salons were booked up, so much so that people struggled to get spaces in salons. We found a hairstyle that we called Te Andalado, which means ‘The Wavy Cut.’ We had a crisp called ‘The Wavy Cut’,” he shared.

Celebrate

Watson urged young creatives to celebrate success by talking about it to family and friends, and share it on the likes of LinkedIn too.

He explained, “One should be proud of what is being made. The work is a representation of what is being made. And if one is not proud of what they’re doing, there is an issue. Speak at town halls, creative forums, and creative councils, create an agency newsletter, share it on LinkedIn, and tag everyone who has been involved. The work is a reflection of oneself.”