Threepipe’s Jim Hawker asks whether it matters who owns the big idea

As I sat at the PR Week awards (smugly with a campaign award I might add) I watched Ogilvy PR head up onto the stage a couple of times to pick up an award for its gnome-based campaign for Kern & Sohn. The creative idea was fantastic and was superbly executed against. It wasn’t just the PR Week jury that recognised the campaign as it also scooped numerous other awards throughout 2012 including doing very well at the Cannes Lions awards. The creative team behind the campaign has been acknowledged as being James Nester and Graham Jenks who work at OgilvyOne, the “UK’s leading digital and direct agency“. Ogilvy PR says this was an integrated campaign, and on its website in a discussion about creativity in PR writes: “We at Ogilvy PR London and OgilvyOne can be immensely proud of ‘The Gnome Experiment’s’ exceptional achievements which showcase a truly captivating and successful integrated marketing campaign.”

When campaigns are integrated it can be hard to pinpoint who owns the idea, but the issue of creative ownership got me thinking about whether a PR agency should be awarded a campaign which has been inspired by another agency. A while ago I noticed that a PR agency scooped loads of awards for implementing a creative idea of an ad agency. Personally, when I have judged awards I have always recognised those agencies that have demonstrated both creative ownership as well as impeccable execution.

Ideas are what ultimately define a campaign. Fantastic ideas are behind the campaigns that we really remember and provide an emotional distance between an organisation and its competitors. Without an idea, there is no campaign.

As we move into a more complicated communications landscape as agencies jostle for ownership of key channels then ideas become even more important. The ability to develop ideas that work across multiple channels is what, in my opinion, will elevate one agency above another. Financial reward will come from creativity and consultation and not from execution against those ideas in a commoditised world.

I am concerned that yet again the PR industry has provided a platform for an advertising agency’s creative ideas in such a public way. If we are to truly compete then we must showcase and celebrate our own ideas – we have enough great ones without relying on others.

I know this is part of a bigger debate about hierarchy of agencies and perhaps it was the case that Ogilvy PR did genuinely not develop an idea as good as its sister agency. I just hope it was given the opportunity by Kern & Sohn to pitch its own creative ideas alongside OgilvyOne.

Not everyone will agree with this at all, but as long as I continue to judge PR awards, those that demonstrate creative ownership will continue to do well.

Jim Hawker is co-founder of Threepipe