早在今年二月底時DDB中國宣布在上海成立了其大中華區第一個全球創意核心（Global Creative Hub，一個旨在為DDB的全球客戶們世界統一各地作品水準并培養創意人才的機制），吹響了今年這家老字號代理商東進的號角，其全球CCO Amir Kassaei先生也在今年六月底特地飛到了中國推進這項計劃的順利實施。同時我們也相信——時至今日我們也看到了——DDB不會是唯一對中國市場有進一步想法的4A，在這片“遍地流淌著牛奶和蜂蜜”的地方進行布局恐怕是很多大型代理網絡今年的最大議題之一。

這次互動中國有幸在Amir密不透風的行程中搶得了面對面采訪的先機，讓我們通過他一探DDB對中國市場的認知與部署。當然，有如此好機會能接觸到重量級的創意領袖，光是刺探軍情如何能值回票價，在如何經營好廣告公司乃至廣告人的職業生涯方面，Amir也給予了我們很多寶貴的insight。這位人格魅力四溢的廣告人（你們知道DamnDigital一般不夸人）在僅半個小時的采訪時間內給出了遠超我們預期的信息量，那么你要不要來看一看呢？

采訪/編輯: Wayne Tai/Vivian P
采訪協力: Lena Chen/London H
(原創內容，轉載請注明來自數英網)

(數英網=Q / Amir Kassaei=Amir)

The "Hub"

Q：首先我們想問的是，DDB目前在全世界有多少“創意核心”？所謂“創意核心”究竟是什么？

Amir：我們目前有在美國、南美、歐洲與亞洲各有兩座全球創意核心，算上現在上海的這座一共有九座。 Amir：我們設立它的出發點很簡單，它是一個吸引最好的國際與本土人才在全球框架下為我們的全球客戶服務的平臺——一方面，它提供最好的創意；另一方面，它也負責人才培訓。

Q：我們是否可以認為“全球創意核心”是一種對資源的整合？

Amir：我不這么認為。整合代表你要將很多不同的人帶到會議里，整合代表了一種思維方式。就如我所說的，我們的工作不是創造廣告點子，而是解決商業問題。而如果你需要解決一個商業問題，無論如何你都需要“整合的”思考問題。因為你必須控制全局，你必須找出最好的方法來解決問題。在執行層面上你需要不同領域的專家，但是在概念層面上不是這樣。你需要的是頭腦足夠靈活的“通才”們。我不相信那種從N個代理商找N個人坐在一起就能解決概念上的問題。在執行的問題上，你需要數字領域的專家，你需要市場專家，你需要媒介專家。但是在制定概念與策略的層面上，我不認為他們是必須的，你需要的是能夠高處俯瞰全局，把控一切的人才。

Q：還有一個關于創意核心的問題。您剛才說這會是一個聚集人才的平臺，那如果該平臺舉辦一些學習性質的活動，你們會不會對DDB之外的公眾開放呢？

Amir：現在還沒有，我們只有一些對DDB內部開放的課程。不過我們可以想象這件事早晚會發生——因為我們的創意文化就是給那些對廣告有興趣的人機會，讓他們看到廣告業是如何運作的，和他們交流，以此來吸引他們加入我們。

"And Turn Thee Eastward"

Q：您將在上海呆多久？

Amir：在上海已經呆了一周了，我馬上要飛去歐洲，并且在有需要的時候回來——我的生活就是飛來飛去，機艙就是我的家: )

Q：亞洲的其他兩個創意核心在哪里？

Amir：一個在新加坡、一個在悉尼。其中悉尼中心為大眾進行全球服務，新加坡中心則在全球范圍內貢獻了很多數字業務方面的點子。

Q：那位于上海的創意核心是負責中國業務還是全亞洲的業務？

Amir：不，它將參與全球業務。其實今天那些大品牌們，比如大眾、麥當勞等，都希望他們在中國的廣告在質量上能夠與他們在美國與歐洲的廣告媲美。而如今的問題是在中國我們還沒有足夠的人才與資源來實現這個目標。所以我們設立“上海中心“的目標就是吸引國際人才來中國服務，并且訓練本土人才以使作品的質量達到國際水準。

Q：既然上海中心是服務于全球客戶的，那么有朝一日當中國的本土客戶足夠大、足夠好之后，他們能夠利用這項設施么？

Amir：完全沒問題。設立“上海中心”的目標（之一）就是服務本土客戶。我們有一個叫做“Fit for excellence”的計劃，該計劃的目標是鼓勵客戶為先鋒創意買單——不是為了平凡的日常業務，而是為了讓企業成為他應當成為的樣子。我們要建立一個全球化的平臺，好創意將利用這個跳板被呈現到客戶面前。所以雖然“創意核心”是個全球化平臺，但是我們也會根據不同的區域來調整其職能。 本質上，“FFE”是從我們全球客戶那收集，然后提供給各處辦公室的信息概要。之后各個團隊被鼓勵去分解這些摘要。“FFE”能夠帶來目前團隊所缺乏的新鮮感，潛在地那種不受客戶要求束縛的新想法因此誕生。對客戶來說，他們擁有一群不受地域限制的創意團隊，雙方互利共贏。 Amir：最大的變化不在于廣告公司的結構，而在于渠道和流動性，在于世界級的頂尖想法以何種速度傳達給我們在中國的客戶。

Q：您認為DDB中國是否需要準備好迎接“全球創意核心”的到來？

Amir：中國已經是DDB全球網絡中最大的組成之一了，從中國辦公室出來的作品其質量驚人，可以與我們全球其他最具創意的辦公室比肩。并且中國發展的規模和速度都不是歐美可以比擬的。所以我不需要告訴（中國的）同事們他們該去做什么，他們已經做得很好了。我在這里只是個客人而已。

Q：是什么因素使得DDB對中國市場如此有信心，以至于投入了這么多資源？

Amir：是顯而易見的事實。如果你觀察中國前進的步伐，你就知道它早就是全球最大的市場之一，并且會在5到10年內統治全球。所以你必須到中國來，你必須投資中國。

Q：除了全球創意核心之外，DBB在中國有更進一步的計劃么？

Amir：計劃很簡單。再說一遍，我們的目標是成為國家、區域以及全球范圍內最創新的公司，并且統治業界，在中國我們追求的也同樣是這一點。DDB在打入中國市場的征途中已經成果顯著，這點從我們在過去幾年收到的推崇與贊揚中可知一二。在全中國我們有五個辦公點——擴張的空間絕對有余，并且我們目前也正在考察所有的機會。

Q：DDB中國如何看待中國本土企業？

Amir：目前在中國上演的最大的變化是數字爆炸（digital explosion）。大眾傳媒的沖擊只會加速這一進程，當然就中國的具體情況和規模而言，這背后還需要多得多的資金和資源。基于這點和中國獨特的市場環境，中國已經為本地消費者提供進化了的西方互聯網產品，多半還改善了這些服務。 從營銷溝通的角度來看，這意味著我們可以在世界范圍內應用我們的方法與理論，但必須根據當地需求做出具體調整。對我們來說，口碑營銷（WOM）從未如此重要過。不同之處在于由于數字社交媒體（的影響），口碑營銷現在步履維艱。DDB的社會創造性和視消費者為信息傳達人并擁有媒體的6度理論的相關性從未如此高過。 Amir：電子商務是另一個重大的突破。我們從未收到過如此多有關電子商務咨詢方面的請求。這是對中國的數字生態系統有多健康的一個真正的衡量，同時也有助于以更加有效的方式對國內消費增長以及市場營銷者是否有必要擴大市場規模進行權衡。僅僅是在2011年11月11日這一天，中國最大的電子商務平臺淘寶網就達到接近1億美元的驚人銷售額。由于規模和全方位服務的定位(淘寶商品從倉庫出發，送到你家門前并且有自己的支付系統)，以淘寶網為代表的電子商務正在重塑現代產業。

How to be A Creative "Director"

Q：說到“創意”與“概念”，每個ECD乃至CCO的職責描述里有非常重要的部分就是“創意管理”，我們一直很好奇“創意”這種看不見摸不著又不穩定的玩意究竟如何管理？

Amir：對我來說有一件事情很棒，那就是我沒有什么“職責描述”，相反我自己決定我必須干什么，并且我的工作非常簡單——做一切我能做的事情來釋放團隊的潛能，為DDB打好基礎，訂立我們的創意標準，并且設定一個團隊與公司自我成長的目標。我的工作就是幫助團隊，服務團隊。這其中90%都是管理工作，但是以身作則也很重要。因為如果你不言行一致的話，沒有人會聽你話的，（作為管理者）你必須沖在第一線。

Q：根據我們的了解，您在過去的十幾年廣告生涯中遍歷了從客戶服務到策劃到創意等廣告產業中大多數的角色，并且最終選擇成為一位創意人。您是否認為，必須體驗廣告產業所有的角色之后，一個偉大的廣告人才會誕生？

Amir：不，這不是必須的。雖然我的經歷讓我獲得了不同的觀察視角，學到了各個代理商部門各自的長處。但是對其他人來說，看情況吧。而一個廣告人必須做的是擁有一個開放的心胸，他必須理解全局，必須理解客戶部的工作，必須理解雖然他身為一個創意人但同時也必須參與制定策略，必須理解媒介，以此創作出合理的創意。我不認為一個廣告人必須做過以上所有的工作才能理解那些事，但是他必須有一個開闊的心胸去接納它們。

Q：在您看來，“創意人”與創意“總監”之間，最難以逾越的鴻溝是什么？

Amir：以DDB來說，我們的創意總監必須是最好的策略策劃、最好的客戶服務人才、最好的創意人、最好的客戶、最好的執行者以及最好的教師與鼓動者，這七點缺一不可。這是一個非常高的目標。因為創意總監就像一個一邊在參與比賽一邊在管理隊伍的足球教練，如果你做不到，那你就不成為一個創意“領袖”，對我來說，創意領袖意味著很多完全不同的東西。

Q：那以您的標準而言，如何才能成為一個創意領袖呢？

Amir: 如果你有相應的天賦與氣質，你就可以成為成為（創意領袖）。不過DDB有自己的一套內訓系統來幫助他們達到這樣一個目標。要知道成為“創意總監”是非常難的，因為那是一個“教練”型的工作：你不能包辦所有的一切，相反你的任務是釋放團隊其他人的潛能，為好的idea能被接受而戰斗，教育人才，甚至教育客戶。

Q: 關于DDB的內訓系統，您能跟我們透露更多一些么？

Amir: 以年輕人來說，我們有一個叫DDB Launchpad的計劃，這項計劃最開始只在澳大利亞與美國進行，如今我們將它拓展到了全球的范圍。我們每次通過一定的評審程序，在大學生中挑選5到6名參與者與我們共事六個月，期間他們將會接觸到我們最頂級的brief，并且接受專人指導。在六個月的參與期結束之后，我們會對他們的表現進行評判，并最終邀請最有潛力的那位學生加入DDB。 在資深人才的層面上，全世界只有DDB與柏林學院——世界上唯一家頒發“創意MBA”學歷的大學——展開了緊密合作。一方面我們每年會提名內部的管理人員去學習該MBA課程。另一方面我們正在建立一個新的、節奏更快的機制。每年兩次DDB會將公司內最好的創意總監們送去參加這項課程(MBA)，學習得以成為一個“創意CEO”的全部本領。因為對我們來說，一個創意總監必須如同公司CEO那樣了解業務的全貌。

Q: 您怎么看待風險問題？DDB在人才培訓上投資如此之大，有沒有想過萬一這些人才在DDB受了培訓之后跳槽走人怎么辦？

Amir: 沒有，道理很簡單。培訓人才需要花大筆錢，所以如果你是DDB的富有創造性的總管，如果你想要在2年內完成MBA培訓計劃，你必須事先簽署一份協議，該協議要求在培訓計劃結束之后，你必須在DDB呆滿5年。

Q: 說到跳槽問題，我們也和中國的其他廣告代理商談過這個話題，他們對人才的需求很大，然后大部分公司選擇用高薪來與競爭對手搶奪人才資源。因為目前大的經濟環境不景氣，人們自然趨向于選擇高薪的崗位，這就是中國本土的現狀，您對這一策略是怎么看的？

Amir: 我們所能做的也是這個公司最根本的理念和最牢固的目標——如果你能夠將創意和人性兩者合二為一，那么你就可以讓世界變得更好，這是DDB自1958年以來的宗旨。它不再是關于做出好廣告，而是關于我們利用創意和人性來改善這個世界。參考我的職業生涯來說，我相信如果你一生只是追逐金錢，那你最終會一事無成。 所以如果有這樣的青年才想要更多的錢，讓他們走人是上策——因為他們不夠優秀，不夠專注于正確的事情。所以我們不僅要對DDB負責，還要對中國社會負責。事實上，建立一個偉大而事業并不意味著擁有很多金錢——當然有錢是件好事。但當你第一次不得不就你的專業知識和性格建立一個平臺的時候，你心里必須對自己想要達到怎樣的質量標準有一個目標，這就是我們在DDB能實現的東西。 如果你有興趣知道我們能給予你何種支持但你又只對錢感興趣，我會告訴這樣的年輕人你該去做別的事情。因為要是我對賺錢上心，我不會來做廣告。但是我認為在DDB就業的偉大的人，他們不只是想要賺錢這么簡單，他們想要一個能夠充實自我的工作，他們覺得自己做的事情有益于自己和社會。沒錯他們是想要達到某種優裕生活的質量標準，但那不是首要目標，這是我想對年輕人說的東西。我想對中國的年輕才俊們傳達這種理念：毫無疑問錢很重要，但是錢只是成為偉大的人的一部分。 Amir: 但是想要做到這一點，像我之前說的那樣你必須對自己真誠，領導和教育意味著你本人必須身體力行。光站在教室里面說些有的沒的，自己卻不那么去做是遠遠不夠的。所以你必須自己先符合這個標準，要是你在那說廢話年輕人很快就心不在焉不在聽你說什么了，相反如果你認真對待這件事，你身體力行，那別人自然就會理解，別人會相信你在嚴肅對待這件事。這是我的觀點。

Last But Not Least：

Q：在最近幾年DDB已經創造了很多獲獎的數字作品，我們可以說在過去幾年中DDB變得更數字化了么？

Amir：我不能保證說是這樣。我們想要成為的是其他代理商的榜樣。我們不會成為以數字為主導的代理商，因為我們不是技術公司。我們想要成為的是創意進化的制造者，并使用數字技術作為工具來達成這一目標。而當你想成為業界主宰與最先鋒的公司時，你必須在數字、移動等領域給出一份與傳統廣告相同質量的答卷，以此來與不同的目標群體交流。我們不是一家完全的數字代理商，如果我們比五年之前更棒了，這也是我的愿望。再說一次，我們的目標始終是在國家、區域與全球范圍內，統治業界。

Q：我們始終相信好廣告是由20%的好點子與80%的好執行組成的，我們也接觸過很多“好點子壞執行”的廣告。我想問的是，執行是否需要在創意產生的最初階段就被考慮在內？我們如何確保好的創意能夠得到完美的執行？

Amir：我不擔心這點，因為其他代理商還沒有意識到你所說的問題。答案很簡答，我們做的不只是廣告，我們所做的是找出相關的事實：一件產品、一個服務、一個品牌、一家公司，將他們以新鮮的方式呈現在消費者面前。我們制造消費者的關注，并且讓他們談論我們創造的東西。 Amir：（實現創意）需要很多方面的支持，而如果你想要實現一個創意，那么在創意發想的同時就要考慮到執行問題——但是沒有很多代理商是這么做的。再者，我們創造的是解決方案，解決方案意味著你必須考慮全局，明白你的創意在市場里是否行得通，并且如何執行與傳播，不論如何這些都是創意流程的一部分。但是你說的對，你需要一個至少和你的代理商一樣好的執行者來保證作品的落實。不過作為一個全球網絡的好處就是我們可以與全世界的好制作公司們合作。就中國來說，也是這樣。

Q: 所以您的意思是會有一個很強力的組織來把上述所有資源整合到一起？

Amir: 不。就像我說過的，我不需要很多“人”，我需要“想法”。創意和架構無關，和流程無關，和有多少人坐著開會無關，創意關乎你是否有勇氣與熱情去做不可能的事，關乎你從一開始就需要一個怎樣的團隊。

Q：您已經談過貴公司的招聘標準了，那另一方面，你們選擇客戶的標準又是什么？你們的確會去選擇客戶，不是嗎？

Amir: 標準同樣非常簡單，我想任何一個良好的客戶與廣告代理商的關系都建立在信任的基礎上。信任意味著尊重雙方，把對方當做合作伙伴，而不是生硬地區分他是客戶你是廣告公司這樣。我們理想中的合作伙伴追求的標準是能夠為自己的業務升值的。但這是一個態度問題，一個時間問題，也是一個奮斗精神的問題。因為世界上沒有完美的客戶，所以你必須在客戶與廣告代理商的關系問題上費點心思，這也是我在做的事。 并且我認為許多客戶恰恰也在尋找這樣的廣告公司。但是也有不少廣告公司不具備這種把對方當做合作伙伴的大目標，他們把自己定位為服務公司，而不是一個咨詢伙伴，這就是為什么許多廣告不堪入眼的原因。所以我們努力成為一個值得信賴的伙伴，支持我們的客戶。成為值得信賴的伙伴意味著你必須像客戶一樣去理解業務，這是非常困難的工作。 Amir：我認為人生目標也與你和客戶之間的關系的目標有關。DDB的目標不只是賺錢，更是為了幫助客戶解決他們的問題。如果你以才華橫溢的方式做這份工作那么錢自然滾滾來，因為我們能夠提供別人難以企及的優質服務。換個角度來說，如果你做出來的東西別人都能做，那么你的麻煩就大了。 DDB一直致力于讓我們的客戶確信你只要選擇了DDB，你就能在市場上占據先機，然后再和客戶協商錢的問題就要簡單得多。我的想法就是如果你沒辦法提供優質的產品，你就有麻煩了。但是出于同樣的目的，你可以想盡辦法去賺客戶的錢，但你提供的不是高質量的產品，這是我的感受。在我看來態度與我們的企業文化休戚相關，因為DDB是一個充滿創新精神的公司所以實踐這個理念比較簡單。我們是創意革新的發明人，所以對我們來說以這個方式思考問題，然后做一個有創造性思維的公司然后嘗試把自己改造為一個創意公司是更容易一些的。 但是危險之處是，這也是過去幾年中頻頻發生我想要改變的一個現象：DDB的許多人漸漸失去了對DDB的核心力量的關注。而我和領導層的許多人的工作就是時時提醒他們我們每天的工作是什么。正如我說的那樣，尋找和創造真實，用大眾關心的新鮮的方式傳達信息是DDB的核心，這自然也是我們一直在努力做的事情。

Original Interview Transcription English:

Q: First question, what exactly is a “global creative hub”? How many of them are there?

Amir: We have already two in the United States, two in South America, two in Europe, two in Asia. And, we are adding another one in Shanghai, so that makes nine of them. Amir: The idea is very simple: we want a place or platform where we can attract the best national and international talents to work on a global scale on global brands. On one hand, it helps foster strong creativity; on the other hand, it helps educate national talent.

Q: Is Shanghai’s hub responsible for Asia’s business or only China’s business?

Amir: No, it is responsible globally. If you look at what‘s happening at the moment, the big global brands like Volkswagen or McDonalds are asking for the same kind of quality from China as that of Europe’s or the United States’. The problem in China currently is that we do not have enough talent or resources to match that goal. So, the idea is to build a hub here to attract international talent to China and educating the existing Chinese talent to increase the quality of work to global standards.

Q: Where are the other creative hubs in Asia?

Amir: In Singapore and Sydney. Sydney, for example, is working globally on Volkswagen. Singapore is contributing many ideas in terms of digital marketing around the world. DM: What makes DDB have so much confidence in the Chinese market to invest so much in it?

Amir: It’s a matter of fact. If you see where China is going, it’s already one of the biggest markets in the world. It will dominate the world in next 5-10 years. So you have to be here, you have to invest here. That’s what we believe.

Q: The hub is aimed to serve global clients, but what if Chinese local clients are big enough and good enough, could they leverage the hub?

Amir: Exactly. The hub’s goal is supporting existing national brands. We actually have a project called “Fit for excellence”. “Fit for excellence” is a very simple idea, which is to motivate our clients towards accepting and buying innovative ideas in terms of not doing the day-to-day business. Instead, we are building springboards to help develop ideas that can be worked on by the whole global network, and then presenting it to the clients. It’s run globally but the regions are adapting to the needs based on the program.

Q: I would like to ask more about the hubs. You just said it’s a platform for gathering talent. So if the hub runs events or education seminars, will they be open to public or just DDB internally?

Amir: Not yet. We are trying out different initiatives to educate our DDBers in different categories first. However, what we can imagine happening is basically what we are doing now anyways; because of our creative culture, we give people who are interested in the advertising industry the possibility to just get a sneak of how advertising is working, meeting and talking to them to attract them into the industry. Again the job we have in is to educate the creative talent we have, to bring them to a position that they can deliver work that is of the same quality globally. And that’s just a question of time. I don’t believe that it will take long. It will happen anyway.

Q: DDB has created many award-winning digital works in past years. How has DDB become more digital in recent years?

Amir: I’m not sure if it’s happening now or if it happened in the past year, but what we are doing is to try to be ahead of the other agencies. We’re not solely being a digitally driven agency because we are not a technology company. We are the company who invented the creativity evolution, and we are using technology as a tool to make it happen. And, if you want to dominate the industry and become the most innovative company, you have to deliver solutions which are mainly driven by digital, mobile and cyber space as good as those in the traditional space because you have brands, products and services, especially in China, when you have to use traditional media to communicate with different targets. So we are not solely a digital agency. The goal is to dominate industry in every region, every country and on a global scale.

Q: What do you think that DDB China Group should do to be prepared for the new hubs?

Amir: I think China is already one of the biggest important parts of the network. If you look at the quality of the work coming from our Chinese offices, it’s amazing, and it’s among the best creative offices that we have. China is growing in a scale and a speed that is not visible in the States or in Europe. So they don’t need much direction on what to do, since they’re already doing great. I’m a guest here and I get a coffee every day, that’s fine.

Q: How long will you stay in Shanghai?

Amir: I arrived around one week ago, and will fly to Europe and come back here when needed. I basically live on the plane, I don’t have a home.

Q: So is the hub a kind of an integration of resources?

Amir: No. I don’t believe that integration is a question; if you bring different people to the table, integration is a mindset. Because our job, as I said earlier, is not delivering advertising ideas, but instead solving a business problem, which requires integrated thinking anyway. Because you have to hold your own ground, you have to find the best way of solving a problem. It’s not about coming from different disciplines, because aside from concept development, execution requires experts from different disciplines. You need people who are bright-minded enough to understand that they have to be generalists. That’s my belief, because if you are executing an idea, you need experts. You need digital experts, you need the target market experts and you need the media experts. In terms of developing the concepts and strategies, I believe that you need people who understand and oversee the bigger picture.

Q: On the topic of concepts and creativity, I’ve always wondered how creativity is managed. Being intangible and unpredictable, how do ECD or CCOs manage to always deliver quality work to clients?

Amir: It’s a nice thing not having a job description. I coined the job description myself. My job is very simple; it is doing everything that I can to build the infrastructure, to build the tools, to motivate people and unleash the potential of all the people at DDB. It’s about setting a creative standard and setting a goal that we would like to pursue ourselves. That’s my job. Helping people, servicing people, that’s my job. It’s 90% management, but 10% role model as well, because if you don’t walk the talk, then nobody will follow you. So you have to be in the forefront.

Q: According to your bio, you have worked in different roles in advertising as an account, a planner and finally as a creative. Do you think a great adman should experience different roles in the industry?

Amir: It’s not necessary, but I think it helped me get to where I am today. It allows you see the different point of views and strengths of different functions in an agency. For other people, it depends. You could do it, but you don’t have to. What you do have to have is an open mind and think of the whole picture, and it really helps to understand what the account guys are doing. Your job may be creative, but is also taking involved in strategies. You have to understand media to develop concepts which make sense.

Q: Other than the hub, do you have any further plans in China’s market?

Amir: The future plans are very simple, again, our goal as a company taking national, regional or global is to be the most innovative company the marketplace, and dominating the industry, that’s the goals for China also.

Q: You’ve mentioned the concept and the execution, and I’ve always believed that good advertising consists of 20% good ideas and 80% good execution. Here we have many cases that start with good concepts but due to bad execution, cannot be called good advertising. What I want to ask is whether the execution part should be during initial stages of creative generation? How can you assure to follow through a great concept with great execution?

Amir: I don’t worry about that because all the other agencies don’t get it. It’s very simple. What we are doing as a job is not advertising, what we are doing is finding or creating a relevant truth in the form of a product service, brand or company. Then, we have to deliver to people in a fresh way. If we are doing this, people will start to care about what we do. And as we connect the world, they will talk about it.

Amir: So you have the multiple kind of support about what you are doing. If you really want to deliver a creative idea, part of the job means that you have to think about the execution at the same time. Not a lot of agencies are doing it. Again, we are talking about solutions. Solution means you have to think about the whole, and understand if the idea is working in the marketplace and how you can execute it and spread it, that’s part of a creative process anyway, but you’re right. You need execution partners who are as good in the quality as your agency to deliver it till the end. But the nice thing about having a global network is that you can work around the global with all production companies. So if this is the idea from China, we have a good network they can took almost everybody to execute the idea.

Q: So you mean it shall be a very strong organization to integrate all resources together.

Amir: No, as I said, I don’t need a lot of people. I need the minds. Creativity is not a question of structure, is not a question of process. It’s a question of are you courageous or passionate enough to do the impossible? That’s creativity at DDB. It’s not a question of how many people you’re sitting here and how you structured people. It’s about what do you want a team first time.

Q: I have a question about the gap between a creative guy and a creative “director”. What do you think the gap is?

Amir: A creative director at DDB is the best strategist, the best account guy, the best creative, the best client, best executer, best teacher and motivator. If you don’t deliver these seven goals, you are not a creative director. It’s high goal. It’s about being like a soccer trainer. You are playing but at the same time but you’re managing and motivating a team. And if you can’t make it, you are not a creative leader. To me a creative leader is something completely different.

Q: So how does one become such a creative leader?

Amir: If you have the talent and the personality, you can become it. What we are doing is to have our leadership program and educating our talents towards the position to give them the needed skills to do the job. So it’s difficult to be a creative director because a creative director is a trainer job. It’s not about doing the stuff by yourself. It’s about unleashing the potential of your people, educating your talents to them, fighting for the ideas of other people and educating your clients.

Q: So can you tell us more about the internal training system DDB has?

Amir: What we do for example at DDB for the young talents is the DDB Launchpad. The DDB Launchpad is a program started in Australia and the US and now we are scheduling it globally. The idea is you’re bringing young talent from universities to an assessment process and you’re choosing 5-6 people who are spending six months in an agency in one room, getting all the best briefs of the agency, having people who are taking care of them. And throughout the whole process they are working in an agency on a day-to-day base, and at the end of six month, you are sitting together with them, and realize or judge the potential candidates for the agency. That’s what we are doing.——on the junior level.

Amir: On the senior lever, we have a corporation with the Berlin school of creative leadership. There’s only one school in the world who is giving creative MBA. It’s a problem to develop creative CEOs.

And we are the only network who is working closely to them. We are nominating people from the network to make the MBA at one side and we are also developing a program which is more intense. Twice a year we send the best creative directors from DDB to do this program to exactly get the skills they need to be a creative CEO. Because, again, a creative director should understand the business as well as a CEO of the agency.

Q: How about the risk? DDB invest so much on training talent, what if they just go away after that…

Amir: No, it is very simple. Cause it costs a lot of money, so if you’re a creative director at DDB, you want to do that MBA program for two years, and sign a contract that after the MBA program, you must stay another 5 years in DDB.

DM: Talking about the job hopping, we’ve talked with many agencies in China, they are eager for talent, and many of them just use high salary to compete each other for attracting talents, the whole environment is not very healthy, people will just naturally go somewhere can pay them higher, and that’s what’s happening here now.

Amir: What we can do and that’s the solid goal and foundation of this company, since 1958, is if you combine creativity and humanity you can change the world for the better. It’s not about doing good advertising. It’s about how we can change the world using your creativity and humanity. And I don’t believe, looking at my own career, that if you’re running after money you won’t achieve anything in your life. So if there is young talent wanting more money, you should let them go because they’re not good enough, they’re not focused enough on the right things. So our responsibility is not only for DDB, but also for the Chinese society. To say, building a great career doesn’t mean to own a lot of money. It’s nice to have a lot of money but first you have to build a platform and substance in terms of your expertise, personality and your character. You have to have a goal in your life in terms of what you want to achieve as a quality standard. That’s what we can deliver in DDB. And if you are interested in that we can support you but if you’re only interested in money I’m saying to the young guys you should do something completely different. Because if I was interest in making money, I will not be advertising, But I think the great people in DDB, they are not solely interested in making money, they want to have a great job which fulfill themselves. They have the feeling that they’re doing something good for themselves and the society. Yes they also want to achieve kind of nice quality of life standard. But that’s not the first goal, that’s what I’m telling the young guys. I think if it can help the Chinese young talents to give them the feeling: Yes money is important, but money is only part of being great.

Amir: But, to do that, you have to be truthful to yourself because like I said, leading and educating means that you have to walk the walk. It’s not enough to stand in the classroom talking bullshit and are not behaving like that yourself. So you have to live this standard because young people are fleeing very fast if you’re bullshitting around. If you’re serious about it, it’s because you’re living it. If you’re living it, people understand it, and they will be convinced that you are serious about it. That’s my impression.

When I was young, there were teachers coming in, you will feel immediately if the guy is just talking, or if he is really serious about it. You have to find people who are role models and living it. Then you can educate the young people. The problem that you describe, it really exists and in the next 5-10 years as you are becoming even bigger and bigger, ever stronger society and economy. It won’t be a question of money but I think it could be a wrong strategy for DDB to try to compensate a non-existing personality with money. We always said we wanted to hire people who are nice and talented. If you are nice and you are not talented, you shouldn’t join DDB; if you are talented but you are an asshole, you shouldn’t join DDB. So I think that part of what’s nice is that we do everything such that everybody can be the way that they want to, if they have substance and quality, and not only solely interested in money. But if you talk to other companies, they might not have same kind of perspective, but that was the foundation of DDB and I think it’s the right way to go, because money will come anyway.

Q: You’ve talked about the recruitment standard, but on the contrary, what is your standard of choosing clients? You do choose client, right?

Amir: It’s also very simple. I think every great client-agency relationship should be based on trust. Trust means you are respecting each other and you’re regarding each other as partners, not as I’m the client and you’re the agency. And we try to find partners who want the value we can add to their business that they don’t have alone. But it’s the question of attitude, time and of fighting sprit because no client in the world is perfect, so you have to work in the relationship. And I think lots of clients are looking for that also but a lot of other agencies don’t have this big goal of being regarded as partner; that’s the reason a lot of advertising are looking like shit. Because agencies find their roles as the service company, not as a consulting partner. So what we are trying to do is being a partner, supporting our clients. And to be a partner means that you have to understand that business are as good as they do. So it’s hard job.

Amir: Well, the goal of your life is also related to the goal of your relationship with your client. The goal of DDB is not solely earning money. The goal of DDB is helping the client solving their problems. If you’re doing it in a brilliant way, the money comes automatically because we have superior product nobody else can deliver. If we deliver the same shit like all the other ones, you have a problem. What we are trying to do is to convince our clients all the market place, if you come to DDB, you will get something which helps you being superior in the market place, then, it’s also easier to negotiate with them about money. If you are not delivering the superior product,you have a problem.

That’s what I believe. But as the same goal, the only way to earn money with your client, you can do it, but you are not delivering quality. That’s my feeling.I think attitude is related to our culture, it’s easier for DDB to live it because we are a creative-mind company. We are the inventors of creativity revolutions. So it’s easier for us to think about that way then to be a creative-mind company then you try to transform yourselves being a creative company. But, the danger is, that’s what happened in the last few years I’m trying to change is a lot of people at DDB will lose their focus, about what is the core strengths of DDB, and my job and the job of a lot of people in the leadership is to remind them what is our job every day. As I said, finding and creating relevant truth, delivering in a fresh way that people start to care. That’s the main focus of DDB, so that’s what we trying to do.

Q: While establishing a global creative hub is Shanghai, what’s DDB China’s further plan to expand Chinese local market?

Amir: DDB has made significant inroads into China and this has paid off with the accolades we have received over the past few years. Across Greater China we have five offices – there’s definitely room for expansion across the country and we are currently reviewing all opportunities.

Q: How does DDB China think about Chinese local business?

Amir: The biggest change in China is ongoing– the digital explosion. The onset of social media has only accelerated this and, of course, with the scale in China, there is much more funding and resources behind it. Because of this and China’s unique market environment, China has evolved all of the West’s Internet offerings for the local consumer, and more often than not improved these services too. From a marketing communication perspective, it means that we can apply methodologies and mechanics tested and proven in the world – but adapted specifically to local needs. From our perspective, WOM (word of mouth) has never been so important, the difference being that it’s now on steroids because of social media/digital. DDB’s social creativity, together with our 6 degrees philosophy that sees consumers as transmitters, media in their own right, versus just targets, has never been more relevant.

Amir: E-commerce is another huge movement. We have never received so many request for e-commerce consulting. It’s a real measure of how a) robust the digital eco system in China is, b) the domestic consumption growth and c) the need for marketers to grow and conquer the scale that is China in a more cost effective way. Just on one day, 11-11-2011, Taobao, China’s biggest e-commerce platform sold close to US$1 billion in goods. Because of the scale and full service orientation (they warehouse, deliver to your doorstep and have their own payment systems), they are reshaping complete industries.

Q: What preparation should DDB China (From human resource to company structure) do while establishing such a hub in Shanghai? How much has been done and how much has yet to be done?

Amir: The Global Creative Hub was established with our multi-national clients in mind. The hub will provide them access to our creatives around the world, no longer restricted by country or region. The hub complements my “Fit for Excellence” project which matches the Hub’s objectives and gives our multinational clients access to creative from wherever in the world. Essentially, FFE are briefs that have been collected from our global clients – which are then supplied to all offices. Teams are then encouraged to crack the brief. FFE brings back a freshness that an existing team may have been lacking, and potentially new ideas by those not bogged down by every day client requests. For the client, they have access to a world team of creatives not limited by country or region. This works the other way as well. In terms of talent and recruitment we are very excited by our new programme, Launchpad, a global mobilisation programme for young creatives over three months to Shanghai or vice-versa for local teams to be in other DDB offices around the world. The biggest change in not the structure in the agency, but the access, mobility and speed of which world-class ideas can reach our clients here in China.