West Coast US: A Wave Of Innovation

Innovation has always been embedded in the West Coast’s creative DNA – and today’s new media landscape is no exception as progressive ideas and a sense of optimism flow through the area like a particularly cheeky Chardonnay.Simon Wakelin takes an aerial view of a creative region where big-hitters and hungry start-ups find their feet on a level playing field.

Aldous Huxley once described Los Angeles as a “city of dreadful joy”, while Kerouac uncovered a “huge desert encampment”. However, David Thompson hit the mark by imagining Los Angeles as “Marilyn Monroe, 50 miles long, lying on her side, half buried on a ridge of crumbled rock”.

In many ways, Thompson’s poetic vision is befitting to both the region and to American branding today: advertising half-buried in the past, a ridge of crumbling ideals no longer pertinent as a new media-swamped landscape reveals its ware.

“It’s the era of proliferation, with new digital devices that are very disruptive to the traditional advertising model,” offers Ed Ulbrich, president of transmedia company Mothership. “This is why we are seeing the rise of indie hybrid agencies. In many ways it’s leveled the playing field. Now digital distribution mediums play a critical part of any overall strategy.”

Understanding new technology and knowing how to harvest ideas is paramount to new upstarts in the region. The challenge today is to create ideas and campaigns that can live on in different mediums. That, with the ability to deliver measurement and metrics back to clients will secure success.

“Everybody realises that it’s all about the idea and then the distribution of that idea,” says @radical.media president Frank Scherma. “You’ll always have your Goodby’s and Chiat’s on the West Coast. It’s part of the history and allure.

The pioneer route

“It’s mobile, it’s online, on tablets, pads and pods that are all connected to other devices,” he says. “This is what is forcing such radical change in the industry – but it is also the great equalizer. We’re seeing some fascinating smaller companies pop up and stake claim with some pioneering work. Audiences today expect to be entertained by commercials, just not on TV.”

While the best agencies change to fit the environment, their methodology still tends to flow down from the founder. Indeed, here on the West Coast, advertising agencies have been seen as being run by counter-culture figures.

“I think agency ideals tend to flow down from the founder of the company,” says LA-based director Josh Gordon of Speck/Gordon. “The West Coast agencies have these iconic figures – Lee Chiat, Jeff Goodby – all these people who bucked the system, who came out and set up their own agencies. Even though those companies have become global and autonomous, there is still some of that culture from its founders that survives.”

John Patroulis, co-founder of San Francisco-based agencytwofifteen, notes a wider cultural difference between East and West Coast advertising was prevalent a decade ago. Now it’s not as marked.

East meets West Coast

“You really felt that New York agencies were very good at the creative work but very account-driven, whereas West Coast agencies seemed far more creatively led,” he says. “California still has that sensibility, that all the fruits and nuts are out here surfing before they go to work.”

“The cultural divide still stands but less so,” adds Mike Parsons, co-founder of agencytwofifteen. “Before it felt like a group of hippies from San Francisco sitting down with a bunch of suits and ties in New York. It’s always been a little more irreverent and wild out here. But it’s not like that as much anymore. Take a look at Amsterdam and London. It’s no longer creative hippies coming into meetings anymore.”

Pelle Nilsson, exec producer and a founding member of Venice-based B-Reel, notices that there is plenty afoot in the region to ignite the advertising and film industries. “It’s very good for us to be here right now,” says Nilsson of the ad vibe. “There is an exciting progressive but laid-back feel here and we have seen a huge difference for us on the car accounts.”

New faces in LA

“The stars are aligning to make LA a more relevant place to do great marketing,” says managing director/partner Peter Cline at 180 LA. “New media, content, marketing, big motoring clients are all coalescing which is making the region more relevant for a company like ours. That’s not to say it’s been easy for us. We are a small agency but the game has completely changed now and levelled the field. We are excited by the road ahead, seeing others venture out to the Pacific.

“Things have changed a lot since we arrived four years ago,” he notes. “With BBH out here now plus Crispin Porter + Bogusky, it is a good time for us to be here.” Cline notes an influx of West Coast work of late for his agency amid a more competitive environment, but believes it will force smaller agencies like 180 to be more tenacious to survive.

A general feeling here is that the region is expanding with opportunities as more companies serve clients that are opening their eyes to non-traditional ways of delivering advertising to their audience.

West Coast expansion

The brand’s story, once enshrined in stained glass windows, told through printed words or sung by poets, is now a multimedia being that allows consumers new perspectives on its identity. But the idea will always be the most important element of any brand’s dominance, no matter what medium is used.

Scherma recognizes that splintering the message across different media may be savvy business, but it’s a pointless exercise if the initial idea is a dud: “You need to come up with a great idea then figure out how to reach as many consumers as possible,” says Scherma. “I also think making the work more creative is key.”

“The creative is still at the heart of the brand today,” concludes Cline. “The idea is to sustain a depth of experience across different platforms to motivate consumer consumption – but if the idea isn’t strong enough the brand will never survive.”