Organizational roles in the agency setting have always been fairly standard: copywriters write, designers design, sales people sell, developers develop… you get it. But what happens when a copywriter crafts a 4-line headline that completely breaks on mobile design? When a videographer’s final cut isn’t optimized for social? When the context of the intent is lost along the assembly line?
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Why the Shift Towards Hybrid Creativity is Happening
Enter the Hybrid Creative
While it is important to lean on subject matter experts in certain disciplines, we need more multi-disciplinary thinkers (or as they are being called nowadays, hybrid creatives) who can bridge the gaps.
We aren’t talking about professional “unicorns” who can produce Oscar Award-winning documentaries while also being a full stack developer who can write 3,000 word technical white papers. Let’s be real… those kinds of talents are few and far between.
Hybrid creatives are the copywriters with an eye for design, the videographers who understand attention-grabbing clips for social media, and the designers who know a little bit of code.
For example, a copywriter with an eye for design drafts content for a landing page. They know that this landing page will need conversion points, callout boxes, and other visual elements that draw the viewer in. When they write the content, they think about how the elements will interrupt reading patterns, and then craft content that is easy to scan and translates well down the page to minimize disruption (and make design easier).
The copywriter is not necessarily an expert in the design discipline, but they know enough to understand how their specific piece of the puzzle (content) affects the others (design and development), and how they can create work that doesn’t need additional context before it’s handed over to someone else.
Why the Shift Towards Hybrid Creativity is Happening
The marketing industry changes every day, and so do the challenges that come with it. As a result, the lines between traditional content, UX, strategy, design, development, etc. continue to blur.
Tool Crossover
Simplified video editing software and apps, templated design platforms, no-code prototyping. The list goes on and on. New tools pop up every day that reduce the technical barrier to entry across disciplines.
Multi-Channel Marketing
A single campaign may live across multiple formats: a static ad (maybe even in print), a 15-second vertical video for TikTok, an interactive landing page, a set of emails, and some social media posts. Waiting for every discipline to do their part and pass items through the assembly line is a luxury most agencies can’t afford when timelines are tight.
Lost Intent
Every handoff to another creative can result in lost context and intent that is potentially valuable. That leads to friction between disciplines when items they deemed important are cut to fit the vision of whoever’s next in the assembly line.
Great Ideas Can Come From Anywhere
Sometimes the best concepts come from creatives outside of the process. A designer may have an idea for an attention-grabbing headline. A developer may have an interactive component for a landing page that refreshes the initial design. Agencies who only listen to people in the right seat miss out on value.
Embracing Hybrid Creativity
Agencies move at a fast pace, often fighting to meet tight deadlines. When you have people on your team who can pressure-test concepts in real-time, you prevent fires three weeks down the road when initial concepts don’t translate in the final product.
Agencies that value multi-disciplinary thinking bring in hybrid creatives who are naturally curious, able to problem-solve, and want to make a difference. These agencies still value deep expertise in specific areas, but they also create environments where people are encouraged to have their hands in multiple disciplines to make the whole thing move faster, together. And that mindset leads to more collaborative and impactful work for clients.
At Vendilli, we pride ourselves on being hybrid creatives. If you’re looking for a team that gets it, reach out to us.
