Enjoy as much as I did.

Patrick

I dared to challenge Marty a bit with my framing, which he graciously evaded, but nonetheless, the aim was to surface some of the unglamorous and less known episodes from Marty’s career.

This conversation went on and on, and (not because of that) took me a year to edit. Twelve o’s later, here it is, split in 2 parts.

In the spirit of exploring epic creative business failures, in the first part, we’ll try to unearth the story behind Marty landing with a garage full of his iconic design magazines (Critique) and… nearly going bust.

From that anchor we’ll steer towards Marty’s current work on designing and experimenting the new way of publishing, all revolving around his design thriller Octavo, which was first serialized here on Substack, and a few moments ago published via Amazon.

Part two coming next week.

Enjoy, as much as I did.

To the outside, Meow Wolf appears to be a mecca for artists.

But in April 2024 the company announced layoffs of over 165 people, about 10% of their staff. It’s not just the reductions, but deeper underlying issues that made Joanna express her concerns in a LinkedIn post, ahead of her planned and deliberate leave at the end of the year.

Unsurprisingly, the post made circles, as many others fueled by the sentiment of ongoing uncertainty and a wider creative industry crisis, that we’re seeing since late 2022.

To me, the truly interesting thing is the tension between creative spirit, or a slightly tamed version of it which you’ll see in creative studios and… the corporate world.

Making wild, groundbreaking, innovative art/experiences/products requires things like free time in the day to get lost in ideas, time and money to do things that inspire you, ways to feel alive in your body, safety and security to take risks, a clear understanding of the 'why' of what you're doing, trust in and from your collaborators, and a regular infusion of the unexpected.

To succeed in a capitalist system requires productivity, efficiency, rapid expansion, measurable and repeatable success, and a top-down hierarchy.

Why and how has it happened that a company whose core value proposition revolves around the wild and raw punk creative energy, has become a place that failed it’s artists?

More broadly, what are the conditions under which creativity can thrive in a late-stage capitalism corporate environment? Can it even be sustained there?

As a creative industry veteran, I know both first-hand — the creative side and the business side of things. To me, the baseline has always been really more about the craft, than art.

As creative professionals we’re paid to deliver, and that takes discipline. To anyone working on the commercial side of things long enough, it’s clear it ain’t a fiesta in the vibes of Burning Man. It’s a shipping business.

One of the remarkable (and ruthless) threads of capitalism is that it’s a system well capable of devouring its own opponents and countercultures.

Is it more of a particular Meow’s culture and leadership failure? Or, perhaps the kind of a Mecca, that Moew was supposed to be, is poised to fail by design?

Is it inevitable that when a company scales from tens to hundreds and above thousands, the hierarchy with disproportionate earnings disparity has to emerge?

And what if we applied creativity not just to the result of our work, but the very way in which we buid and lead our companies?

I feel the need to say a few things that have been on my mind in the hopes that Meow Wolf, and other companies whose success rests on the work of creatives, do the hard work of applying creativity to not just their product but also the internal workings of the company.

All these questions are exactly what made me reach out to Joanna and have an open conversation about the reality of creativity under the corporate realms.

Enjoy.
Stay prolific and till the next one.

Creative industry doesn't.

But it should.

As creatives, we pour so much of ourselves into our work — and often, into our companies. That love can blur the lines between healthy passion and unhealthy attachment.

We celebrate the wins — awards, red carpets, hype, and glory. But we’re silent about our setbacks.

In the uneasy times behind us (and those still ahead), redefining how we view failure and our businesses has never been more important.

I’m no fan of the stereotypical Silicon Valley startup founder mentality, but there’s a lesson worth attention:

This idea has surfaced again and again in my conversations with creative studio founders who’ve experienced it all — the highs, the crashes, and everything in between. My recent talk with Marc Morissette (Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Cluster VFX) was no exception.

One of the most powerful ways to connect is through vulnerability. Not the calculated, cynical kind — that rarely works — but the real kind.

Marc embodied that in a way few do, joining a growing group of leaders willing to drop the shiny social media facades and talk openly about what happens when things fall apart.

Together, we explored not just how Cluster hit the ground, but also the deeper, personal realities behind the rise and fall of creative businesses.

It’s time to get real.

Thanks, Marc, for going there.

Join us for an unfiltered conversation about failure, resilience, and the raw truths of an industry struggling to redefine itself.

My today’s guest, of is actually coming from this background, and we clash similar, yet different perspectives on industry changes.

A blast.
Enjoy!

Érada calls herself a floater, in my lingo an agency fixer — coming in and working with your studio for a few months to a year or two, bringing in her chops to set up your agency operations. Like she’s done for Mimikry.ai, Rocani Studio or Matte Projects, following here career on the corporate side with The Martin Agency and the likes.

Successful, when not needed anymore. That’s honest.

A pod wouldn’t be complete without us diving into transitioning beyond offering generic services, and focus on value — after all, does the world need one more undifferentiated studio or agency in 2025?

Stay prolific,
Till the next one.

Paco

Around the turn of 2021/2022 Innk crashed beautifully. We met with Vicente to talk about this experience, the scars and the lessons.

—

When you work in a creative industry, especially running your own studio, you’re likely quite attached to it. And that means troubles when things go wrong.

Serious troubles.

Because while Silicon Valley startup culture normalized failure with “fail fast” ethos, on the creative side, crashing your studio often means a personal failure.

Especially with today’s social media culture, struggling to keep the business afloat or failing to do so is not normalized. It’s often connected with a sense of shame and personal failure.

It’s absolutely not necessary.

The battles we fought and the scars we have, are invaluable. And so are the lessons from them. Unfortunately, too often they are swept under the rug.

Time to change it.

“Scorched Wings” is my attempt to do so, unearthing the stories of studio and agency owners that closed, crashed or sunsetted their business amid the current tumultuous times.

It’s an effort to reframe personal failure into lessons of resilience, life chapters or whatever that is for you.

Here’s my ask.

This is a labor of love, and has a deep sense of a mission. I would appreciate you for doing two things:

1. ❇️ Please do reach out to me whether by email, in comments, or on LinkedIn, to share your thoughts, or even if just to say hello.

2. ❇️ Please do share it on your fav socials or with a person that may benefit from this.

Thank you!

Enjoy the episode.

Patrick

Here’s how I coined this term:

2023. My company is doing great, and it’s my 18th year in business. But, from a major peak, just in a couple months the landscape of opportunity changes dramatically:

The briefs stop coming.
The lines go silent.
The business stops.

We tick all boxes to get projects and clients, but it’s not helping. I’ve made a lot of good decisions, so we’re sitting in our own and owned comfy studio, all mortgage cleared, no liabilities above the staff. The cash reserve is solid.

I face a really tough decision:

Continue pushing, hoping that “business as usual” will be back. Runway? We could run for about 18-24 months burning through savings with zero new projects.

OR

Join the Early Abandoners Club. The savings would let me live a fine life for a good decade, if not two with the belt tightened.

What would you do?

—

That’s it about me. Join us for the episode to hear Bobby’s story, how he ran his agency with whopping 40% profit margins, how we sold strategy with 90% profit, and how he… joined the club.

We talk the usual agency founders life, selling strategy, defining your vision of success and owning your life.

It’s fun!

The fastest way to lose your agency’s edge is to try to be everything to everyone.

Are you truly focused on doing a few things remarkably well, delivering lasting outcomes, or is your agency stuck in the cycle of churning out projects across 20 different services without real impact?

This week, I sat down with Jeff Meade, the founder of Creative Friction, to get to the heart of what separates thriving agencies from those just keeping busy.

We talked about why positioning is the still so neglected game-changer and how helping agency owners boost their own accountability can unlock their full potential. Most importantly, we explore the shift from selling services to delivering outcomes, and why that’s the key to avoiding commoditization in today’s market.

Here’s a few questions we sparred over:

• How can creative agencies design a positioning strategy that naturally draws clients to them instead of constantly chasing leads?

• What are the dangers of offering too many services, and how can narrowing focus improve an agency’s market position?

• What shifts can agencies make to transition from being service providers to becoming strategic partners who deliver real outcomes?

• How can agencies position themselves as visionary leaders, guiding clients toward strategic goals rather than just fulfilling requests?

• How can improving your own accountability unlock your agency growth?

• What to expect of working with a coach, consultant and advisor?

Last but not least, we pondered:

If that makes you curious, stress test your studio or agency with the free FutureProof Assessment.

Catch the video episode here or via your fav podcasting app, and let me know what resonated with you most!

Stay Prolific,

Patrick

What if we've been looking at strategy all wrong?

We kick things off by trying to pin down what "strategy" really means these days. Spoiler: it's not just about massive decks and overcomplicated methodologies anymore. Rob’s journey from agency life to running his own independent strategy studio, highlights how a more conversational and adaptable approach is taking center stage.

We also touch on how being flexible and wearing multiple hats isn't just a nice-to-have — it's becoming essential. In a world where things move fast (and let's be honest, they’re only getting faster), understanding multiple facets of your industry can be a real game-changer.

But is it replacing a solid, focused positioning?

One of my favs is our sparring on the shift from transactional interactions to building genuine relationships. It's been on my mind a lot, especially with how digital everything has become. Sometimes, going back to basics and having real conversations can make all the difference.

If you're curious about redefining strategy in today's world or just want to hear two people geek out over the intersection of creativity, business, and innovation, this episode is for you.

Grab your favorite drink, get comfy, and let's dive in!

Cheers!

— Patrick

We’ve grown, so a welcome new friends, readers, and listeners! If you’re new, the Futurecrafting™ podcast and archives are here for you. Without further ado…

Futurecrafting™ Fridays

I’ve been having conversations with the smartest minds orbiting creative and digital agencies, where we dig deep on how the industry changes, guesse where it’s going, and how businesses can stay not just afloat, but ahead.

This stuff is too good not to share, so here you go…

Next week we start with Rob Estreitinho of Salmon labs — we chatted everything strategy, how it is different to love, how to use it not to leave money on the table and… how to sell it.

The previous format? Glad you asked. I plan to keep writing the articles, but kill the VO dubbing (unless you persuade me not to).

The Value Mastermind

If you're a studio or agency owner, a solo creative, strategist, or consultant looking for a friendly, casual way to hit your goals faster — or even figure out what they are — this is for you.

Beyond my B2B advisory work, I've found that laid-back yet impactful conversations helped creatives and consultants not just get over humps, but dream bigger and see further.

Since we often touch on similar themes, it makes sense to turn this into a mastermind group.

What to expect:

• Don't work harder, sell smarter. We'll dive into vision & leadership, sales, and marketing — for solos and studio alike.

• To be valued, master value. A big dose of value-centered thinking powered by The Value Method™.

• A relaxed, conversational vibe — just the way we like it, in a tight-knit pack of friends and peers.

Sounds like something for you?

Just reply to this email, and we’ll take it from there.

— Patrick

"Yes, but from there I'll sell them on a $5K project, and earn more trust. Then I'll be in a better position to ask for $30K. Asking for a $50K budget right away is out of question."

As if trust was a continuum… This made me think about the fact of confusing risk with trust.

Assume you don't trust me.

Would you give me $100?

Would you give me $1K?

How about $100K?

You probably wouldn't hand me over a 6-figure check, but depending on your tolerance, you may want to risk a lower figure sum.

That's what you do, buying a can of coke in the vending machine, a train ticket, or hailing an Uber on your way to the airport.

Now, imagine we've known each other for years.

Would you give me $100?

Would you give me $1K?

How about $100K?

Is this situation any different? Surprisingly, not that much.

Trust is a shorthand

It reveals that behind the binary output of every decision, there's a complex net of heuristics helping you arrive at your choice, and that your brain is a power horse doing all the hard work under the hood. If trust is the output, risk assessment is the process.

What does this mean for business?

Trust is a binary gateway

First, that we confuse the nature of trust. We think trust is a continuum. "Earn more trust to get access to higher budgets". It does not work this way. Trust is binary. Either you trust me or you don't. If you don't, you'll probably cross the street and we won't ever talk. If you do, we'll meet at the table. Everything that follows revolves around assessing and managing risk. If so, Trust is often a well-marketed risk calculation.

Trust is overrated

Second, that we probably overestimate the need for trust. We think we need it, but we don't. The illusion of trust is built on the foundation of risk management. A well-thought-out risk mitigation process could be enough. There are countless situations, where trust is not a factor.

What if trust is an illusion?

For a low-ticket offer, it's replaced by a combination of low-stake and signaling that it's a low-risk situation. After all, everyone's using that vending machine, so it's not a scam and even if things go wrong, all you lose is $5.

For a high-ticket, complex scenario, like a $5B M&A, the stakes are too high to even allow for trust to become a thing. Because it's too subjective. It's circumvented by a complex vetting system, company valuation, performance and operations audits, then complex legal frameworks, and ultimately, the founder being held hostage to guarantee the financial performance of an acquired firm for the next few years.

If trust does not come into play in these two, extreme cases, does it in the middle?

Maybe less than you think. And because your business is most likely there, It makes perfect sense to get a more thorough understanding of trust vs risk dynamics.

What if trust is a bump in the road?

The markets are accelerating. The B2B buyers' behavior changes. While a decade or two ago, it was perfectly reasonable to expect your sales to relay the information to the prospect over a meeting. Prospects would call you to learn more about your service.

But these days are gone. Today's buyers prefer to figure out things on their own - do their homework, learn about the solution, and compare options. They would only give you a call when they're near-ready to buy.

This puts way more stress on marketing vs sales.

The world's too fast to run on trust.

Because trust is personal and usually takes time and human interactions to establish, it's becoming a major slowdown in the discovery, vetting, and sales process. If you look at the e-commerce or SaaS market, you'll be astonished by how much 'trust porn' they've developed, primarily to expedite the process, and replace the slow and inefficient process of trust building with trust circumventing. Perceived trust is often just the product of well-managed risk signals.

Guarantees, testimonials, reviews, 3rd party institutions (TrustPilot or G2) — all this is an arsenal to effectively replace slow trust-building with risk management.

A lesson for creative business

There's far more value in teaching one to fish than offering a fish. You've got plenty of food for thought on the subject, and hopefully, my thoughts triggered a mindset shift for you.

To take things home — perhaps by focusing on building trust-based relationships, we're doing ourselves a disservice, slowing the process too much? Maybe your clients don't need to trust you all that much, but what they need is minimal trust to pass the threshold, a solid value proposition, and a robust risk-mitigation package?

All these things can be delivered in your marketing message, making the process self-serve, and freeing your sales and new biz resources to focus on vision, leadership, and a solid value proposition.

Further thinking:

1. What if focusing on building trust-based relationships is slowing down your business growth?

2. How can your business leverage risk management to streamline sales and reduce dependency on trust?

3. What could be the most effective tools for replacing traditional trust-building in your marketing strategy?

4. How can understanding the difference between trust and risk management transform your approach to new business development?

Stay prolific, and till the next one.

The markets remain uncertain, but hey, what is this problem really about – the uncertainty itself or our reaction to it? How is our current approach to uncertainty useful or detrimental to our firm’s success?

Since going back to "business as usual" does not seem to be an option, what if we embraced uncertainty and built our strategies around it? How would our leadership approach change?

Uncertainty is not something that only your creative firm faces. The reason we have it tough is that our clients face it equally. They pull the handbrake for the same reasons.

What happens when we're uncertain? We look for guidance. We look at leaders. That's the chance we're going to explore.

To stay afloat and relevant, creative studios must go past their comfort zones, make smart decisions and bold moves. So, what should we do? […]

Leading with vision and confidence […]. Better understanding (of the market direction) plus business mindset, once demonstrated, will be attractive to brands big and small, and can result in fostering deeper relationships.

If bold, visionary leadership is your go-to reaction to uncertainty, congratulations — you're lucky or well-trained. But for most of us, it's something we need to push ourselves towards because the default reaction is feed-back tactics. We explored that.

How can we deal with the beast and find a path?

What can we do to bolster confidence in our leadership style during challenging periods?

What underlying factors contribute to our lack of confidence in our leadership during uncertain times?

Confidence isn’t about knowing everything; it’s about trusting yourself. It's knowing you'll fall on four feet no matter what. Some people have it innate, others — nurture it.

You have plenty of experience to leverage, and it's not the first downturn. What did you learn from previous challenges that can guide you now? Even reflecting on your track record can help elevate your thinking and confidence.

So, let's talk about visionary leadership now. The myth is that it is only for the highly experienced. But that's far from true. It's for the bold.

What unspoken fears might stop you from leading boldly in uncertain times?

Most likely, it's not knowing clearly what's next. But that's not what leadership is about. That's the modus operandi of bookkeepers.

Leadership is rarely about knowing clearly what's next. Our societies and entire education systems are built around rationalism and claim to run on data and logic. But as we know from Rory Sutherland's perspective, this can only inform us about what was. Because the current situation is not normal but an exception, extrapolating on past patterns rather won't be useful.

Leadership calls for something else: taking a leap of faith in the direction that you feel in your guts, and probably not much more than that. It's vague. It's far from clarity. It's not easy. Leaders are not those who know. Leaders are the ones who have the guts to take that leap. That's all it takes. So little and so much.

That's the point — dare to take that leap, and your clients will see and appreciate your guidance. Of course, you need a bit of market research, open-mindedness, reading of the tea leaves, looking at the shaking needle of the compass or calling a friend… But you have the mindset already. That's the foundation.

Your greatest opportunities lie hidden in the volatility you face today.

Stay prolific,

Till the next one.

"Let the work talk for itself" — I hear this over and over from artists and studio owners, newcomers and veterans alike.

The problem? It's pure BS.

On January 12, 2007, one of the world's greatest violinists, Joshua Bell, plays a 300-year-old Stradivarius for 38 minutes at the L'Enfant Transit Plaza, Washington D.C. 1907 people passed. Only 7 stopped by.

Do you still believe in "let the work do the talk"?

It's not the content. It's the context and packaging.

Visit Cairo. Most tourists gaze up at the Great Pyramids of Giza in awe. But if you're insatiably curious or with an anthropologist, look down. The massive pavement slabs under your feet reveal the real story.

Why do I bring it?

Imagine your clients visit the Great Portfolio of Your Firm, without guidance. You're leaving the fate of your business in hands (or rather eyes) of the unprepared, not knowing where to look, and what to make out of it.

No, the work does not speak for itself. It's your role to sell its value and to start, you have ONE objective:

Demonstrate the impact of the work.

Or, volunteer in the race to the bottom, commoditizing your work further, if the unstoppable industry forces and AI weren't enough.

What's the status quo?

Let's take a look at how creative firms present their work. We'll go through 5 levels. For each, see how well it passes the "So what" test. Simply ask yourself a question: "So what"? The power of this question is that it clearly points to the impact. Or lack thereof.

Level 1: "Let the work speak for itself"

Covered. Nada. You're letting the illiterate or the Chinese judge Shakespeare in the original.

Level 2: Image with a caption. Not a single verb.

"Our latest project for XYZ"

"Our exploration of XYZ"

Does this pass the "So what" question for you?

Level 3: Portfolio with a description

A film, a few stills. A Caption:

"We were approached by Tech Innovators Inc. with the task of creating a launch film for their next-gen smart TV. We delivered an engaging narrative and cutting-edge 3D animations that highlighted the product’s revolutionary features, culminating in a visually stunning film"

Or…

"Green Future Co. approached us to create a promotional video for their new line of eco-friendly products. We delivered a vibrant and dynamic animation that showcased the products’ sustainable features and benefits,"

You've seen these. Chances are, you have one on your website.

So what? How does this demonstrate the project's impact?

Level 4: "Case Studies"

But besides the title reading "case study", and maybe a few screenshots from the 3D or editing software, they're no different to the portfolio project above.

Level 5: Proper Case Studies

We'll explore this in a second.

What's wrong with it?

What's common and wrong about all these?

• They fail to demonstrate the impact

• Do not differentiate your firm

• Fail to engage in any way

What should this look like?

If your work doesn't speak for itself, how do you ensure it gets heard?

An impactful presentation has the following goals:

• Demonstrate client-relevant work impact

• Differentiate yourself from the competition in a client-relevant way

• Engage the prospects, balancing show and tell in a modern, rich firm

Notice the phrase "client relevant". How great your process was, how many hours went into a simulation of particles, rendering, or what camera you used has zero significance for the client. Different is not enough. You need to be different AND relevant.

Do you have to reinvent the wheel?

Good old advertising agencies and marketing firms have long set a standard of demonstrating the impact. Dig their case studies to get the baseline.

Need specific examples? When we rebranded my studio, Kizny, back in 2023, we put a lot of love into our case studies. All of them: show the work with good design, tell a story, demonstrate the impact, and include quotes from both our team and the client. We couldn't have done it any better, maybe except for shooting a dedicated film for each. And yes, we did scramble to find impact metrics. Not saying it's easy.

What's standing in your way?

I hear you saying: "Patrick, I get it, but the problem is, our clients do not share figures or metrics with us". I can't stop the echo hitting the sack in the evening. And I say: perhaps, that's your fault?

If you look at how advisors or consultants sell their work, you'll notice they rarely have deliverables. But what most of them do (and your sales team should too), is clearly defining the success criteria of the project with the client. I've seen only a handful of producers that do this in a broader creative industry. And that's the culprit of the range of problems you face — massive value misalignment, lack of recognition of your hard work, undervaluation, lack of impact, hurt profits, and low client retention… We're back to the core of The Value Method.

The Past & The Future

So, for the projects in retrospective — you'll have to scramble, ask, invent, bend, or be f¨cking creative in other ways to get the metrics. But it's worth it.

For new projects — you need to implement value alignment as part of the process of starting a project and onboarding. Clearly aligning on what constitutes value for the project, and what are the success criteria. That's the proper way.

Do it, and you'll be ahead of the majority of firms out there. Even the shiniest ones.

Further thinking

• How would your new business and marketing transform if every piece of work you presented clearly demonstrated its business impact?

• What would happen if you began each project by defining success criteria with your clients, ensuring mutual value alignment?

• How can your firm shift from showcasing work deliverables to demonstrating impactful results?

Next steps

• Need help in getting unstuck with the way you currently communicate the value of your work?

• Want a brain to strategize and deploy value-driven and value-demonstrating communications, not just for your showcase, but the entire firm?

• Curious about how The Value Method can help not just your showcase, but everything that matters for your business?

Let's talk.

If you're that maverick who takes my advice and implements it all by yourself — give me a shout.

Stay prolific,

Till the next one.

The creative industry is paved with unrecognized value. It's not just motion design studios. It's pretty much entire creative industry.

And now, it's not just us, advisors & consultants.

Take a look at this post from James Callahan of Future Deluxe.

What he says in a self and problem-aware manner, is that us, creative studios, fall into talking pixels, but fail so badly communication outcomes of our work.

Hearing it from one of the acclaimed studios is new, and deserves recognition. Why is it so important?

Between us, advisors and industry veterans, we've long discussed how creative firms struggle to present their work in a way that demonstrates impact, not self-praise. But that's not sufficient.

To tackle these issues we need we need collective awareness and momentum.

#2 The Insight

Now, let's put it in a wider perspective.

What if I told you that the focus on pretty pixels is not a problem, but a symptom?

In my polls, 80% of firms agreed that the frustration of clients not understanding the value and under-appreciating their work is real. But it's not clients being ugly and us being the wonderful.

This problem boils down to one thing:

Lack of alignment of value. Or, value blindness, if you will.In

layman terms? It’s 4 subproblems that are absolutely solvable!

1. We, creatives don't recognize the value we create. It takes a mindset.

2. We don't have clarity about what constitutes value for our clients. This takes understanding of a value chain you're part of.

3. We don't have systems and routines to align with our clients on what constitutes value. Hint: It's not in the brief. It’s between the lines.

4. We lack ability to communicate that value, through our websites, portfolios etc…

Because of all that, our efforts often come unrecognized, for the communication is not there.

We want to overdeliver, but we hit the wall, because we haven't set up the right expectations (value alignment).

#3 The Solution

These observations, made across 2 decades of running my creative firms, and working with countless peers and clients, lead me to distilling the industry problems. From there, I looked for solutions.

And that's exactly how I came to create The Value Method.

The vision?

Isn't it compelling?

That's the vision I have for the industry, and a foundation of Futurecrafting™ — my advisory practice for creative firms.

When I work with studios like yours, we systematically tackle these issues, to turn unrecognized creative excellence into client acclaim and profit.

Hit me up, let’s see if we can push you firm through the hardships or even just to share perspectives.

"I hope the business will be back soon." — heard this from creative firm owners more times than I can count. If you're relying on hope and tightening the belt to survive this downturn, it’s time to rethink. The reality? The markets have been down for 18 months, and studios are closing. So, what's your move?

There are only two approaches: feed-back and feed-forward.

In uncertain times, the instinct is to retreat and protect what you have. Sure, cutting costs and optimizing processes keeps the lights on. But is that a strategy? It's a prolongation tactic at best. Should you take it? Of course! But keep in mind It can only get you so far. Isn't a year and a half enough to realize things changed?

I'm not asking you to take my word that "business as usual" isn't coming back. But as a responsible business leader, shouldn't you assume that's exactly the case?

If so, is relying on feed-back approach going to cut it? Or perhaps, trying to salvage an obsolete business model, we're falling into complacency?

While cutting costs and optimizing processes can improve efficiency, does it truly help push your business forward?

I guess you know the answer.

Managing a business involves maintaining momentum, while taking calculated risks, leaping into the unknown. The business is where the risk is. True leadership involves looking beyond immediate financial pressures and focusing on long-term vision, even if the future remains uncertain.

Take the FutureProof Assesment

Let me share a few examples. Two decades in creative took me a few pivots.

• It's 2007. My digital agency thrives, serving financial sector. Boom! Overnight, we went down. But we stood up, shook it off, and six months later, we're writing a new chapter.

• 2012, our revenue from brand, design and interactive kept dropping. We kept those services, while charging into film, time lapse and motion control, shifting to new value chains. The market was uncertain, but we took a leap of faith.

• 2017, we bet on venturing into 3D animation and visual effects. Was that a safe bet? By no means. More — a mix of calculated risk and intuition, that proved to be the best use of our potential.

Post-covid years were one of the ripest whether you're in design, motion, film or marketing. But now it's over. It accelerated inevitable changes, and we have to wake up.

Are you sure hope-fueled feed-back tactics are going to cut it?

Maybe it’s time to deploy an innovation budget — not just financial, but mental?

With brands relying now on in-house teams, and an influx of new talent with insane visual-crafting capabilities powered by AI, it's time to stop and reflect.

• What new avenues are you ready to explore today?

• What risks are you prepared to take to future-proof your firm?

• What fears are holding you back from taking a leap forward?

Think about it. The future of your business depends on it.

Keeping you on your toes!

Till the next one.

We recently discussed how the creative industry, including studios, agencies, and their clients, suffers from a lack of value alignment.

Today, let's explore how shifting to a value-aware and value-centered mindset can unlock the great potential that creative firm owners dream of — from better team dynamics, efficient production, stronger client relationships, to more profit and impactful work.

Let's start big. Imagine a World…

Imagine a world where your clients fully trust you, making communications and production smooth. You rarely get stuck in revision loops. Nearly everything your team does is fully recognized and appreciated by your clients. Ultimately, you're paid for your expertise, and the work you produce makes the impact you always desired.

Does this sound like a dream?

Many of us have had projects that nearly hit all these marks. But is this the rule or the exception?

Based on my polls, 80% of creative agency and studio founders agree that the frustration of unrecognized effort, friction, and lost impact is real and not infrequent. It sucks.

We often swallow this frustration, accepting it as part of the creative business. Whether we grow thick-skinned or set ourselves on a path to burnout, we often fail to ask a simple question: Does it have to be like that?

Breaking Down Value Alignment

What stands in the way of turning exceptional projects into your standard?

Besides value alignment — not much!

Let's break it down methodically:

1. Clarity of the Business Ecosystem: You have full clarity of the business ecosystem where you deliver your services. Whether it's client-direct or in a complex value chain like advertising production, you know exactly how value is layered and compounded across the chain. This includes understanding the value you bring and what's expected from the players you interact with — clients or partners.

2. Reading between the lines: You have full understanding of what your client truly wants and needs. It's not what they sent you in a brief. It's everything that's between the lines. This ability to read between the lines separates you from nine out of ten competing firms.

3. Policies and Systems: You have implemented policies, systems, and methods so that you never start a project without full clarity on the what, how, and why of the project. Mastered aligning with the client on what constitutes value, uncovering unspoken motivations, and setting clear criteria for evaluating the work and measuring impact.

4. Mastered Value Communication: when you deliver, the client sees that you've met the success criteria you aligned on and recognizes the extra effort you took to not to provide just something, but what they value highly. These extra nuggets are what makes over-delivery a tool for client retention, not a method for systematically hurting your bottom line and team morale.

Moving Beyond "We Need More Leads"

Since I started in the creative business two decades ago, I've seen many studios stuck in the stage of "we need more leads" instead of moving towards "we need better leads" and ultimately, "we need better relationships to make more impact and profit." It took years of my career to evolve past these hurdles and see a better way of doing things.

Unlocking Greatness

Often, I hear: "We don't have the great clients that [big studio name] has. If we did, we could produce equally good work."

This perspective is true on the pixel-level, and therefore misses the point entirely.

Great clients are not found—they're nurtured.

Great relationships are not found—they're forged.

So often, I hear something along the lines of: "oh, but we don't have these great clients that [big studio name] have. If we had, we could easily put our chops to work, and produce the work that's equally good".

It's often true. The catch? It's true on the pixel-level, and missing the point entirely.

Great clients are not found. They're nurtured.

Great relationships are not found. They're forged.

The approach I laid out above is not designed as a way to get more leads, although often it can, simply because it's the best possible framework I know of, to craft a winning company positioning.

The goal is to move past being stuck in revision loops and crying for more leads, turning self-proclaimed creative excellence, that only your team cares for, into systematic, recognized, and profitable client acclaim. This way, you can save on marketing and produce the greatest work that makes both profit and impact.

That's what concepts like adapting value-centered mindset, value chain mapping, value communication and creation are meant to enable and streamline.

It's the main premise of The Value Method.

The Vision

Imagine a world where creative firm leaders no longer struggle with recognizing, communicating, and realizing value, leading to frustration, lost time, profit, and impact.

Instead, they gain full command of the value flow, allowing their firms to excel in competitive edge, resilience, profitability, and client impact. In this world, creative excellence isn’t a destination — it’s a departure.

The Mission

Making this world a reality and helping you take bold steps to get there is the core mission of my advisory practice. I aim to pick up and fix the broken pieces of the creative sector, alleviating the headaches experienced by my creative peers while making a good living.

Driven by a deep understanding of industry challenges and a commitment to improving the dynamics between creatives and their clients, I draw from my own career experiences.

Years ago, I also faced difficulties in navigating the creative ecosystem, often lacking clarity on how value compounds. I’ve felt the frustration of failed recognition — seeing our work and value go unappreciated. I’ve sold myself short — being undervalued and under-compensated despite delivering high-quality work because I was value-illiterate.

Over time, I recognized the potential and actual value that alignment and clear communication between creatives and clients can create. This led to our most successful projects, awards, and profits. And it wasn’t accidental.

Seven pivots down the line, I decided it was time to act. If you’re ready to start an advisory practice aimed not just at making a few dollars but at helping your peers and taking a shot at fixing the industry, you need to go big. That’s why I channeled my trenches-earned experience and everything I learned from the best minds in creative expertise into The Value Method.

The Rally Cry

Interested in reimagining how value flows through your creative firm and projects into the world?

Reach out for a conversation, and we'll explore how The Value Method can help your firm move ahead. Whether you’re thriving and thinking about future-proofing your business or struggling to adapt to the massive disruptions over the last year and a half, there’s a way forward.

Let's turn unrecognized creative excellence into impact, profit and client acclaim.

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Let the revolution begin.

Caveat

I'll often rely on generalization. It's not out of ignorance for nuance, but to see things that are not visible at a micro scale. While there are exceptions to the rules, and some situations break down once you zoom out too far, it's a worthwhile approach.

When I talk about the creative sector and creatives, I mean solopreneurs, individual professionals, and small and large studios. This ecosystem includes boutique marketing firms, branding shops, design and animation studios, production houses, CG & VFX firms, PR, and event agencies. This is my homeland, an area of my core expertise honed over two decades. Chances are, the patterns I reveal will hold for adjacent sectors, too.

That feeling

How often have you poured your heart and soul into a project, only for the client to respond with a disinterested "meh"? All those late nights, the blood, sweat, and tears — met with indifference. No credit, no recognition. And then, adding insult to injury, you have to chase them down just to get paid, wrecking the remnants of what was supposed to be the beginning of the great friendship.

We've all been there. We know that gut-wrenching feeling. It's not just frustrating; it's soul-crushing. If there's one reason why creative industry leaders burn out and lose their love for what they chose their profession for, it's often this exact scenario. The disconnect, the lack of appreciation, the feeling that all your hard work is undervalued — it takes a toll.

The Creative Industry Is Broken

The current ecosystem within creative firms and their clients suffers from a severe disconnect in recognizing, communicating, and realizing value.

This misalignment hampers the effective Value Flow, leading to missed opportunities and suboptimal outcomes for both parties, to put it mildly.

Before we dissect what's specifically broken, and why, let's look into assumptions that lead to the status quo, and set the stage for deeper exploration.

Assumption #1 - Clients understand the value of creative work.

We assume that clients are aware of the importance and impact of creative services. In reality, many clients still see creative work as a cost rather than an investment. It's a long-standing battle. Without a doubt, over the last three decades, the role of design and design thinking in the corporate world has improved. Design has been assimilated and normalized. It's a significant step, but from a wider perspective, the issue persists — assimilation of design has not automatically propagated and elevated everything else creative.

Assumption #2 - Creatives are confident in communicating the value they create.

We assume that creative professionals can easily articulate the value they bring. Sometimes it's true. But more often — not. Whether we look at newborn creatives entering the space, or established firms selling millions of dollars worth of service.

Many creatives struggle with understanding where the value lies, and what value they bring to the table. If there's a problem in recognizing value, the difficulty in articulation only reinforces its severity. We haven't been trained in understanding, recognizing, and articulating value. And we don't have role models.

Need an example? Open LinkedIn, Behance, Instagram, or a website portfolio of any firm. Solo creatives? The work is shared in posts that lack a single verb, not to mention any meaningful sentence to paint a context, problem, solution, and impact of the work produced. We still believe that "the work speaks for itself", but this statement has never been true.

It's not just creatives. It's equally true once we look at the portfolio of established studios — often the work is presented as a summarization of deliverables, in a self-serving manner, accompanied by grandiose vocabulary and client praise. The business results? Forget about it. The impact? Rarely. We still use a borrowed term "case study", but apply it to a gallery display of pixels with no meaning.

If we don't understand the value of what we create, how can we project it outwards, and use it as leverage in negotiations?

The epidemic of "benchmarking", which is mindlessly giving up on our main prowess — creative and critical thinking, and replacing it with copying references, clearly reveals its impact in this area.

No need to reinvent the wheel — just look at some old good ad or marketing agencies, and you'll notice their case studies often truly state not just the outcome, but the impact of the work done.

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Assumption #3 - Procurement processes are efficient and straightforward.

We assume that the process of hiring and working with creative firms is smooth and efficient. But it isn't. In reality, Established, and rarely questioned procurement procedures, bureaucratic hurdles, and misaligned incentives often complicate the process, leading to erosion of the value of the creative work, long before it happens. Procurement teams buy the creative the same way they order office chairs and french fries. For every penny saved, creative buyers get a salary boost, but pretty much everyone else loses — the company ordering it, the creatives, the impact, and the ecosystem. It's plain wrong.

Shoutout to Blair Enns for committing a significant chunk of his career to exploring and fixing these issues. "20% - The Marketing Procurement Podcast" explores these problems from a variety of perspectives.

What's broken?

Issue #1 — Lack of Alignment on Value

There is a significant gap in understanding what constitutes value between clients and creatives. We'll call it The Value Gap.

We, creatives, are particularly connected to what we create — there's love, craft, and commitment, there's taste, artistic sensibility… you name it. All these things make us emotionally invested in the work we do. Way more than in any other profession.

That leads to a significant Value Bias in how the value created is perceived by the creative side: we tend to assume that it is in the pictures, words, or sounds we craft. We never question this assumption. But is it really there?

Not nearly so. Are you ready for the cognitive shift?

Value is in the eye of the beholder.

The client may be expecting absolutely different things than what you think they do. It may be that they value meeting the deadline much higher, than having it pixel-perfect. They may want a piece for the only purpose of kicking a competitor's butt, but you won't read about it in the brief. I could go on and on… You probably follow.

The problem is, that besides basic alignment on the brief, the price, and the deadline, the real expectations are rarely explored deeply.

Why? Simply because it's not easy. And the conditions are rarely right.

As with most projects, this one started with a delay anyway, you're desperate to close it or clear it, there's that dreaded bidding process, and generally the way it starts remains more of a tornado, than a beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Ultimately, everyone's fed up with how much this drags, and ready to assume we're on the same page just for the sake of moving ahead.

We assume we're aligned. But we're not.

Have we talked about the criteria of how do we know the project is successful? More often than not, we assume that it's delivering on time, on budget, and getting approval.

"As long as you stay on a brief, we're in a good place". I heard it more than once running my creative firms. And quickly learned it's a red flag, signaling that things are about to go off track.

Had we fully and truly aligned on the expectations and criteria for the success of the project, would we be seeing and fighting desperately to get out of the endless revision loops? Would we be praying for the deadline to be our salvation? Would we be getting sign-off and payment delays?

Why is it a problem?

This misalignment leads to unmet expectations and unsatisfactory project outcomes. The time is wasted, the budget is burnt, the teams are frustrated, and so are clients. The impact is lost, and so is love.

Issue #2 — Lack of Recognition of Value

Both clients and creatives fail to recognize the true value being exchanged. Without proper recognition, it’s challenging to price, negotiate, and justify the creative work, leading to undervaluation and mistrust.

We think it's deliverables and formats, forgetting about the transformative nature of the creative, and the impact it can make.

Issue #3 — Systemic Problems in Realizing Value

In a society running on an economy dominated by left-hemisphere, systems and processes, the creative potential becomes painfully restricted. Add corporate hierarchies, and data-driven-obsessions fueling past-oriented decision making, and all of a sudden, the entire system is wired to win discussions, not to creatively solve problems. Add the marketing procurement issue, and we have a recipe for disaster, more than an ecosystem benefitting from the true power of creative solutions.

We're so much caught up in the battles we fight, whether on the client side, on the creative side, or in between, that the real value of what's being done flees and finally disappears in a dense fog.

These systemic issues create adversarial incentives and pressure, reducing the potential impact of creative work.

These issues collectively result in a broken system where the potential of creative work is not fully realized, leading to frustration and inefficiency on both sides.

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Why is it all broken?

Now, that we know what's broken, let's think about why. I'll tackle it from the creative perspective, and follow with the clients'.

#1 - Understanding of the Value Chain

Creative firms often lack clarity about their position in the Value Chain and how it looks in its entirety.

They operate with a narrow context window, and the business ecosystem map is drawn from the perspective of a single ship as they sail. Think of early maps of the Earth, from the times preceding the era of the great expeditions. They were fragmentary and often ludicrous, but we only see that knowing how the globe looks today, as charted by the greats over the years, and then captured from space.

Back to Value Chain, I introduced this concept a couple of articles back — in a nutshell, it is a layered ecosystem of firms and services, collaborating in a connected, often hierarchical way. The bottom layers are usually executional and efficiency-oriented. The farther to the top, the more strategic insight, risk, and value we find.

This concept proves invaluable when I advise creative firms looking for avenues for growth. It gives a simple, visual framework to understand the game we play, and intuitive, yet efficient mechanics to work with.

What a map is it? What is its topology? And complexity? Is it hierarchical? Who are the key players? What is their role and what are they looking for? How much leeway there is at each of the nodes? How is the value created and augmented as we go through the layers? And where are we in this value chain?

Once we unearth the shape of the map and plot our position on it, we're empowered to take meaningful, intentional steps. Do we stay where we are, but empowered with clarity, start crafting targeted value? Or, perhaps, we want to move or branch out laterally? Maybe we want to add strategic capability and climb to the top?

And lastly — does it even make sense for us to stick to this map? They say the grass is greener on the other side. Why don't we look for luck elsewhere?

When you lack the map of the business ecosystem, how can you come up with a meaningful, structured plan for growth, marketing and new business?

It's like entrusting your balls to a surgeon, who doesn't have the basics of human anatomy. As reckless as dangerous. Yet, that's the reality so many firms operate in.

#2 Recognizing Value We Create

Creative firms are rarely built top-down. Typically, things start from the bottom and progress up. That is, they're not built by the business people. They're built by the creatives, that add a business component as they grow. Of course, at a certain threshold, business-savvy folks get hired, to spearhead leadership and rock operations.

For this reason, until a certain point, they often operate with limited business knowledge, business and pricing models, market understanding, and perspective.

Lack of confidence and limiting beliefs hinder their ability to recognize and articulate the value they create.

#3 Communicating the Value

Even if we have clarity on the value that we create, often we lack the skills to articulate with impact. This stems from a lack of business experience, and more specific deficits, such as insufficient understanding of branding and communications, PR, or experience in negotiations.

These gaps shine bright in both directions — firstly concerning outward, public communications, as exampled by building portfolios, case studies or decks, and secondly — in the context of one-on-one negotiations on the front of new business, sales, and client relationships.

That's one of the reasons behind the proliferation of cookie-cutter websites filled with cliche, nonsense copywriting, often coming from established firms. In the case of newcomers or less progressive shops, this results in parroting peers and competitors without understanding the unique value proposition.

On an interactive communications front — it often touches on the fear of discussing money and hesitation to ask clients about their real needs, and the bigger aspirations and goals of the work to be done, spreading beyond the fragmentary reality covered in briefs.

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#4 Recognition of Value by Clients

Lastly, there's a range of problems on the client side that stand in the way of recognizing and realizing the full value of creative, with corporate hierarchies, power dynamics, risk management, information flow, and the never-evolved system of buying creative work.

The creative is often specialized and complex. After all, that's what you call experts for. A creative team on a client side may get it, at least in broad strokes. Perhaps even the leadership is aligned. But how can this system work in favor of true value, if these bold goals and calls for the extraordinary are spilled into the brief, and once the bid lands in, they get decapitated by the procurement?

The downward pressure on price and terms of purchasing creative services is in an adversarial relationship with the creative process, and possible impact for the very company ordering the creative.

Conclusions

These issues collectively result in a broken system where the potential of creative work is not fully realized, leading to frustration and inefficiency on both sides.

In the next articles, we'll try to see the possibility of a better world, and explore how looking at the problem from the perspective of Value Chains, Value Flow, and Value Alignment can help unclog the creative arteries.

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Till the next one!