Do you want to know 5 secrets of our Creative Agency?
10 years. 120 months. 3,652 days. That’s how long I’ve been managing 1000ideas. In fact, I’m honoured to lead this amazing group of talented people. For a decade, we’ve had the opportunity to work with hundreds of clients on thousands of projects. We’ve continued to gain new experiences: many successes, but also some failures.
Although there were definitely more times when we celebrated winning a tender and the launch of a great campaign than there were failures, I won’t pretend that the latter did not happen. We’ve experienced setbacks more than once. They were often painful. However, we treated them as valuable lessons, and in 10 years, we’ve learnt a lot from them.
10 years. Is it sentimental? Maybe. But there’s something about a milestone anniversary that makes you stop and take stock. And perhaps it’s a good thing. I mean, not perhaps – definitely.
Because it just so happens that 1000ideas scored very highly in the latest Marketing Services & Digital Agencies report.
I feel honoured by this distinction and I know that I’m not speaking only for myself. This is an honour for all of 1000ideas. It represents excellent confirmation of the path we have chosen and the decisions made by the agency. They weren’t always easy, but mostly right. At the same time, it gives us a huge motivation boost to do even better.
10 years. We not only survived in a difficult and competitive business environment, but also grew so much that today we enjoy a strong market position. The Marketing Services & Digital Agencies report is the best proof of this.
How did we do it?
The key is the 5 mechanisms that guide 1000ideas. Are you curious about them? Here they are:
1. Openness in communication.
For real, not just on paper. We have clear and transparent methods of giving feedback. We’re not afraid to express our opinions out loud, regardless of who we’re speaking to. A junior staff member criticising the director’s ideas? In many agencies, this means saying goodbye to your job. At 1000ideas, we welcome such criticism with open arms. Because sometimes not only is it needed, it’s even helpful.
2. Partnership with clients.
We never want to just sell our services. We don’t force ineffective solutions on our clients either – even if the brief requires this from us. We sometimes say that something is bad and won’t work. We only offer what works and is effective; therefore, clients not only come back to us, but also trust us, so much so that negotiations are more like a meeting with good friends.
3. Aggregation of knowledge.
We treat know-how as capital. Special emphasis is placed on improvement, training and knowledge sharing. We remember what works while working on a project and often implement that process as standard procedure. This means that our knowledge grows each day, and we stay one step ahead of the competition. This approach is also appreciated by our clients.
4. A culture of innovation.
Our environment is constantly changing, and so are we. Stagnation and relying only on old and proven tools are out of the question. That’s why we constantly test out new technologies and experiment with innovative marketing tools. If something works, we successfully implement it in projects for our clients; if not, we admit our mistake and take a step back – but we’re still moving forward.
5. Value implementation
With every project, no matter how big or small. We always remember that the result of our work should have as many as possible of the features valued by our clients and by us. If the previous mechanisms were the arms and legs, this one is the eyes, ears and mouth. After all, as the old saying goes – they say it how they see it. And trust me, we wouldn’t have received such a glowing write-up in the Marketing Services & Digital Agencies report if it weren’t for our:
- Quality – both in project work and in our relationships with clients. From the beginning to the end. No exceptions, no compromises.
- Commitment – we give 100%, sometimes even more. We strongly encourage everyone to take initiative and help exceed the client’s expectations.
- Creativity – treated as a skill that should be trained and developed. We believe that there are never bad ideas, but in the end, we leave only the most interesting ones.
- Honesty – mutual respect and simple rules for cooperation, which apply already at the beginning of cooperation, during the project quote stage. We are fair to ourselves and our clients.
- Development – constantly learning, including from our mistakes; driving one another to gain knowledge. Each of us, apart from being a specialist in our field, is up-to-date with other fields.
It’s a lot, I admit.
However, these mechanisms and values aren’t just a set of inspirational quotes that can be framed and hung on the wall. Nothing could be further from the truth – each of these elements has proved to be a strong pillar of our success over the last 10 years, and in a totally practical way.
Because we apply these in our everyday work, overtime is extremely rare and is treated only as an emergency. At 1000ideas, we treat our clients as partners and we never leave them with a problem without a solution. Moreover, we avoid spreading negative emotions, be it from the client to the team or vice versa. We try to only air the positive ones.
And mistakes? They’ll always happen. The trick is to eliminate them as soon as they appear. 1000ideas has successfully implemented problem response procedures some time ago. The values we follow don’t allow us to provide sub-standard solutions.
We don’t play the blame game either. Only 15% of mistakes are made by employees; the rest are due to a faulty process. We prefer to fix any mistakes and improve our processes to make us even better in future, rather than to find a scapegoat.
It all really works – better and better each day, for the past 10 years. We know it ourselves, and the authors of the Marketing Services & Digital Agencies report know it. Finally, our clients know it. Become one of them and find out the reason behind all the many good reviews of our work and our results.
I’ll be happy and honoured if you decide to join the ranks of our partners. Just fill in the form at the bottom of the page and 1000ideas will contact you ASAP!
