Notable Team of the Week: 88 Creative

It’s no secret that exceptional work stems from the power of collaboration. So in addition to featuring notable young professionals and entrepreneurs every single day, we’ll be chatting to some of Canada’s best teams every Thursday to get an inside look at how they combine talents to stand out in their industry. Today we’re talking to the team behind Toronto-based creative agency 88 Creative

[ad_bb1]

WORK

Describe what you and your team focus on in less than 140 characters. Go.
We’re a creative communications agency providing PR, digital marketing, and design services to clients in the tech and lifestyle categories.

What kick ass projects/programs have you been working on recently?
One of our biggest recent programs is for pet food brand Nutram. We launched their Optimum Transition Challenge, which encourages pet owners to switch to Nutram food, and teaches them how to do it effectively. We’re working with Love it or List It Vancouver host Jillian Harris on the campaign, and it has included a PR campaign, native advertising, social ads, an influencer program, and in-store assets produced by our partner agency, Reset Branding.

We also recently worked on a launch for Akira, a healthcare app that allows Canadians to video chat with a doctor via their smartphone. The app launched on May 18th and was covered by CTV, Bloomberg, and BetaKit. We also coordinated a launch party in the new Breather Toronto space (also a client of ours), which brought together more than 60 tech influencers and media. 

What are some of the benefits of working on a team?
There are so many benefits, especially for a team like ours where we have a variety of different skillsets (from designers to PR professionals). There are the obvious benefits – camaraderie, people to grab a patio drink with on a summer afternoon – but teams also provide opposing viewpoints, poke holes in ideas, and generally make everyone’s work better.

What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced? (tell a funny story here)
Emailing the right client with the right info. Once we were working on a trade show booth for a client; it was in Las Vegas and had a “love” theme. To stand out at the B2B show, they decided to give out branded lube at their booth. I emailed the client and said, “I got the pricing on the lube, it’s $x, do you want me to place the order?” Another client with the same name emailed back and said “Um… is this meant for me?” Big #emailfail, but we had a good laugh. 

unspecified-1

Do you have any advice for other young professionals working within a team?
Be willing to help your team at any time – jump in on clients you don’t normally work on; offer to help with projects if you see team members are overloaded; and have a positive attitude even when projects are frustrating.

Also, the best teams enjoy spending time together outside of the day-to-day. Make an effort to hang out for drinks, go to events together, and get to know your coworkers.

Does your team have a designated leader?
We do. In this case it’s me (Erin Bury, the Managing Director). But we also have a Creative Director who leads our design practice, and a PR Manager who leads our PR practice. We keep things very non-hierarchical: everyone is encouraged to work on strategy, new business, and execution, regardless of job title or experience level.

Within your organization are teams switched up every once in a while or do they maintain the same? What are some of the benefits and cons of that?
We hold team brainstorms for client projects and internal campaigns, and switch up participants to make sure there are differing viewpoints and skillsets. It may seem counterintuitive to have a designer and PR person brainstorm for a digital campaign, but most clients we work with don’t just use one of our services, so it helps to think about how projects can be communicated visually, and how they could be applied to other areas of marketing. 

What does the word collaboration mean to you?
It means working together and making sure everyone’s voice is heard, and that everyone’s input is valued. Doesn’t matter if you throw out a crazy idea that would never work – it just matters that you’re contributing.

What has been you and your teams favorite project/campaign/ initiative to work on and why?
Our favourite 88 Creative campaign was Agency or Porn (agencyorporn.com), our self-promo campaign from summer 2015. It asks people to decide whether a name (TastyPlacement, for example) is the name of an ad agency or an adult film. It was super fun to research and launch (our senior designer has some questionable IMDB search history) and was really well-received, with over 100,000 pageviews to date and coverage in over 20 publications including AdWeek, AdAge, and Marketing. It helped us showcase our sense of humour and our creativity, which helps position us to potential clients (hint: if you don’t think it’s funny, you’re not the right type of client for us).

unspecified

PLAY

Where is your teams favourite place to wine/dine in your city and why?
We usually stick to a four-block radius around our office. Our favourite patios are ones with lots of sun – Oasis, Mascot Brewery, Montecito, etc. Our favourite lunch spots are Flock for chicken salads, Kupfert and Kim for healthy food, and Carver for delicious sandwiches. Coffee spots: Le Gourmand for chocolate chip cookies, and Little Nicky’s for mini donuts.

Do you and your team go out together? Where and why?
Yes! We hold monthly fun events in Toronto. Past months have included the Pursuit OCR obstacle course and a cocktail class at Spirithouse. They give us a break from the day-to-day to help us connect as a larger team. We also go to a lot of events together, from startup launches to workshops. They’re a great excuse to connect with people who work on different teams and to just hang out as a group. Wine breaks are a core part of our creative process! We also do an annual retreat – last year’s was in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Whats the best thing that has happened to you and your team recently?
Our team photoshoot! We worked with photographer Regina Garcia to get new team headshots, and we also did a fun photoshoot that included balloons, Bake Shoppe cake, and giant inflatable flamingoes and pizza slices. These photos help showcase our culture, and will make a great addition to our website, proposals, and Instagram account. 

Are there any other teams within your company or any company that you know of that are killing it?
The teams at all of our startup clients are killing it! Flixel, Rumble, StackAdapt, The Ten Spot, Breather, etc.. Startups have passion and drive, and without the right team they can’t succeed. 

And finally, what does success look like to you and your team? Work, play, or otherwise…
Success means working on interesting projects for companies we’re passionate about while still having enough time to work on our own internal projects. Success also means creating an environment people like to work in, with a team that genuinely likes each other (which we do!)

[ad_bb2]