Vox Pop

Last week Bernard Gormley, the founder and chairman of independent group Ziggurat, became its executive creative director with a brief to restore its reputation for creativity. How can rearranging a group’s senior management make a difference to its creative product?

‘Today, clients are looking for creativity in the broadest sense – in design, consulting and programme management – and groups need to continually push their creative standards in all these areas. An appointment like this can make a big difference, sending a signal internally and externally that the organisation is totally committed to continuously “raising the creative bar”.’

Dave Allen, Chief executive officer, The Brand Union and Joint chief executive officer, Enterprise IG

‘Lasting 34 years in design means we’ve had to rejuvenate ourselves many times. Indeed we’ve just been doing it – but felt that the management team was too close to the coal face for such a task. So we hired someone in. Their conclusion? Improved creativity is a company-wide task – briefing better, thinking better, selling better. The result? Joint ownership and improved creativity.’

Andrew Doyle, Managing director, Holmes & Marchant International

‘Design consultancies waste far too much creative energy choosing titles for the legions of creative directors, design directors and creative heads they have. Creative reputation is all about great ideas and working with clients brave enough to see them through. Great ideas come from creative people, wherever they sit in the organisation and whatever it says on their business cards.’

Bridget Ruffell, Managing director, Corporate Edge

‘There’s a lot to be said for allowing key people to step back from the day-to-day minutiae of projects and client relationships so they can focus. So many important issues like training, individual coaching and nurturing get subsumed in the daily “hamster wheel” activity. If you have the right raw material and the right catalyst it is possible to make a huge difference.’

Jill Marshall, Managing director branding and packaging, Design Bridge

‘Not sure it can. A creative company has an ethos, a belief, a set of standards, very often from the founders. You either have it or you don’t. A reputation is given by others and it seems odd to me to seek it – you get it by sticking to what you believe in.’

Tim Fendley, Founder, MetaDesign London (now FutureBrand)