Interview with Ward Cuiper, former strategist of Dawn, Virtue & Mindshare

Podcast

Independence is the most important asset for the agency of the future
Ward Cuiper is a Creative Strategist. He taught himself social media marketing and subsequently gained experience at renowned advertising, content and media agencies such as Dawn and Mindshare. According to Ward there is a big gap between traditional creative agencies, media agencies and marketing specialists. Traditional agencies want to win prizes with compelling campaigns. A media agency however, would say everyone needs a 13-second video. What a client really needs however, remains unanswered. For Ward, the office of the future is about independence. The only way an agency can give an honest advise that truly satisfies the needs of their clients, is if they remain independent from the creation and the production process. This means a sole focus on strategy and concept development. According to Ward this requires a change in business model, away from billable hours and towards a royalty. A big idea that gives direction to your brand for a few years is just worth a lot of money. That's why Ward is freeing up as much time as possible to develop his own formats and pitches them after they are done.