You have one guess where I was for this Quick Conversation 🎤 👀

💡 "The best results are when we go into a room with lots of ideas and come out with something that none of us could have predicted, because it's a synthesis of our shared thinking and our collaboration" 💡

Richard Exon, co‑founder of Joint

I had the pleasure of catching up with my ex-colleague Richard Exon (we worked together many moons ago when he was CEO at RKCR/Y&R) at Joint’s London office....and I asked Richard "What is The Key 🔑 to great creativity?"

Richard Exon’s key?

🤝 Collaboration.

Which he expanded on with these three great points:

1️⃣ 🤝 True collaboration:

Bring the right people together and synthesise their ideas. If you leave with just your own idea intact, you’ve missed out on the magic.

2️⃣ 💡 Creativity belongs to everyone:

Account teams, producers, strategists, designers and clients all contribute. Creative thinking is as essential in strategy and production as it is in execution.

3️⃣ 👫 Co‑creation with clients:

Invite clients into the process from the start. Shared ambition and joint ownership lead to the most effective outcomes.

🫘 🥦 Richard Exon also shared a great example of this in action with Joint’s recent campaign for #RichmondSausages’ "Veggie Tasty" range.

🌽 The line “Your favourite veg has never tasted so sausage” came from that collaborative process 🥕 , and it's a banger!!!! 🤦‍♂️

🙏 Thank you Richard Exon for your thoughts on this and sharing that great creativity comes from Joint thinking.

🎤 I had a really great “Quick Conversation 🎤 ” with Johnny Corbett about creativity and how it should run through everything we do in a marketing function, not just comms and products 🎤

Creativity matters at every level of business, and Johnny Corbett is well placed to have a point of view with this as the founder of WhichWayUp, helping marketing directors, CMOs and CEOs connect business strategy with marketing best practice and then creating a structure around that.

🎥 Do watch the full 3min film (linked in the comments).

A Summary of Johnny Corbett's key points answering "What is The Key to Great Creativity?":

1️⃣ Creativity isn’t just pretty pictures: ⚡

It’s a way of thinking. In business we lean on data and rational “system‑2” decisions. Johnny argues we need to inject creative thinking into those decisions to inspire people and drive belief and behaviour change.

2️⃣ Embed creativity across capability and culture: 💥

Johnny looks at customer activity, internal capabilities and culture. Creativity plays a role in each. You need to train teams to recognise and harness creativity, put processes in place to let it flourish, and use it beyond communications. Then product development, pricing and internal storytelling all benefit.

3️⃣ We’re human: 🧠

Creativity taps into that. Technology and AI are vital tools, but we’re still human beings. Creative approaches unlock emotions and responses that data alone can’t reach. Everyone can be creative if given the systems and encouragement to think differently.

☕ Thank you Johnny Corbett for the brilliant "Quick Conversation 🎤 " by the Hideaway Coffee in Soho (a great 'secret spot' in Soho) and all the best with your new business WhichWayUp.

🌟 “The key to great creativity is twofold: deep audience insight and close client partnership.” 🌟

Jonathan Tapper (AKA JT), Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi UK

On the sunny rooftop of Saatchi & Saatchi UK, behind their iconic “Nothing Is Impossible” sign, I caught up with the sharp, energetic and brilliant JT for a "Quick Conversation 🎤 ".

I asked "What is The Key 🔑 to Great Cretivity" and his answer was very clear:

1️⃣ Deep audience insight:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Know your audience so well that you can create relevance in their lives. Insights should go beyond sounding good, they need to change how people see the world and how they understand the value you provide.

2️⃣ Close client partnership:

🤝 Trust and shared ambition are the only way to unlock transformational work. JT's strong view is that true creative success happens when clients and agencies align on what success looks like and commit to it together.

3️⃣ Creativity that drives growth:

📈 The relationship doesn’t end with an ad. Saatchi & Saatchi UK’s work for EE, John Lewis & Partners and Santander UK goes deep into the business to drive growth, not just produce a great campaign.

💥 What I loved about our chat was that JT brought together the two topics I cover in this "Quick Conversation 🎤 " Series that are so inter-woven: Creativity and Client-Agency Relationships.

To JT, creativity isn’t just about making great ads, it’s about building relationships and insights that make a real difference.

⚡ He seamlessly connected the dots between human insight, collaboration, big ideas and great creativity.

Thank you, JT, for the great chat and to Oli Richards for being part of the conversation "off-camera"!