Howcroft’s shift to PwC a lightning strike at the heart of creative by the consultants
PwC has hired advertising’s master cheerleader Russel Howcroft to head its new creative practice. Mumbrella discusses if the hiring of the Ten executive means that consultancies have at last breached the walls of the creative industry and are ready to pillage….
Russel Howcroft always had a vision for the industry, from his very early days at Melbourne’s Leonardi Advertising. But his decision to join consultancy giant PwC in the newly-formed role of chief creative officer marks the arrival of the business consultant as a genuine threat to the creative industry. This is a game-changer.
The creative side of the business has been muttering about consultants for the past few years, but the appointment of one of Australia’s highest profile advertising men marks an escalation of the battle for the minds of marketers – and, more importantly, for their budgets.
Intriguingly, Howcroft is not a creative; he is, in fact, the quintessential suit. A salesman for the industry who has achieved well plying his trade on the ABC through various incarnations of Gruen, succeeding in educating a once disinterested nation in the value of advertising. Or the very least, softening a nation’s hatred just a tad.
For the better part of 20 years, Howcroft has been advertising’s master cheerleader.
Working alongside the charismatic continental Cesare Leonardi at Leonardi in Melbourne in the 1990s, Howcroft honed his skills as an industry salesman, almost single-handedly keeping alive the local chapter of the AFA (now the Comms Council).
His career grew, through Arnold and then leading Y&R nationally, before joining Ten, with Hamish McLennan following him later.
He was chair of the AFA, and now sits as chair of the TV cheerleading squad, ThinkTV.
He is, as one old friend observed, the most enthusiastic man in the room. An engaging everyman, quick with a quip and a wry insight. But always with the interests of the industry at heart.
Now that enthusiasm is being turned to what many in the industry see as the dark side. Young Skywalker has become Darth Vader. And he has a significant force at his disposal.
The consultancies have been a nascent threat to the industry and, indeed, some agencies have tried to counter their early influence by reverse engineering themselves.
Earlier this year, WPP opened its own consultancy, 1 Kent Street, importing expat creative Simon Collins back from the UK to take the creative lead.
More recently CX agency Lavender moved into the space with the launch of Lavender Consult.
The threat to the industry has been real and growing, but in Howcroft PwC has gone nuclear, capturing one of the industry’s most consistent and effective weapons with plans to take things to a new level.
Howcroft is saying his passion for the industry and creative remains undiminished. But he knows that in moving to a consultancy he has become a powerful challenge to an industry he once nurtured.
As one observer put it: “Does he realise he is driving the nails into the coffin of the industry that he once celebrated?”
Just how PwC will use Howcroft is still to be made clear.
He could simply become a figurehead, rolled out at opportune times as a Trojan horse for PwC’s broader offers.
Or his remit could indeed be deeply strategic, tasked with forming a team and leading them into battle – a more likely scenario given Howcroft’s partnership status which will demand a revenue return.
As enterprise and marketers continue to try and make sense of the challenges and choice that mark the digital and experiential age, creative agencies are battling to speak the same language, while the consultancies, cashed up and seeing a gap, are speaking the language CMOs and CFO’s want to hear.
Much of the activity is in the digital realm, where the consultancies are seeking to cross sell analytics and strategy with the creative that hooks the punters
And much of the early movement has been in the US where the the top three “agencies” in the 2016 Ad Age Ad Age Agency Report were in fact consultancies – with Accenture at the top of the list.
Agencies that have been swallowed by the consultancy giant in recent years include Karmarama, Reactive and Heat.
Accenture is reported to have acquired 40 marketing firms in the last two years, while PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and even McKinsey have been active buyers and hirers.
Locally, Deloitte acquired storytelling agency The Explainers in August, adding to a number of strategic acquisitions in recent months.
Last year it bought consumer retail specialist Mash Up, adding in store experiences to its digital division.
Deloitte CEO Cindy Hook said, at the time, the expansion of its services was getting the business closer to its client’s customers.
“They very much complement our design thinking approach to problem solving and, as part of our customer practice, will help our clients connect with their customers in ever more engaging ways,” Hook said.
Even the likes of IBM, Adobe, Oracle and Epsilon are adding a creative component to support their marketing dashboards.
Having spent his life nurturing the creative advertising industry, Howcroft may now be cast as the smiling assassin. Sent forth in his suit and jovial demeanour to destroy what he has built.
As one colleague who has enjoyed a close relationship with Howcroft over years surveyed the implications of the defection of the man who once questioned the role of consultancies in advertising, he was left with a single thought: “Perhaps he might offer me a job?”
The fear is real. Mark the date.
I don’t understand the grief expressed here. ‘Defection’, ‘assassin’, ‘fear’; this austere site does very well at pointing out the deficiencies of the traditional creative model, and yet when progress is demonstrated along the lines of number-crunchers buying into the game – with all the improved efficiencies inherent in that concept – suddenly the sky is falling.
If the creative produced by these businesses is inadequate, the market will respond accordingly. Otherwise, who cares where it emanated from?
“Just how PwC will use Howcroft is still to be made clear.”
Does Russel know?
Agree Antony…..agencies have lost traction at the c-suite level for a number of reasons and it’s a great way to get creative back to the table where the big decisions are made. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
Number crunchers equal increased efficiencies? Really? Creativity is just like making widgets is it? No wonder the industry has lost its way.
from his linkedin:
‘Very pleased to be starting a new job in 2017 as the Chief Marketing Officer of PwC. A great opportunity at a wonderfully progressive firm.
Huge thanks to TEN for a great 4 years.’
CMO, not CCO.
I wonder at what point the consulting companies work out that there is very little margin in advertising?
Mentioning Howcroft in the same space as Creativity is an oxymoron
Hi Matty,
I can indeed confirm that Russel’s new title at PwC is Chief Creative Officer and not CMO.
Simon – Mumbrella
@Antony
Couldn’t agree more. I think it’s stems from Canning’s background covering very traditional shops. Anything outside that realm is immediately deemed a threat.
The fact that two creative agencies are giving themselves new names with the word consultant in it misses the point. What’s far more important is that PWC is both global and renowned as an auditor. Based on recent events in the industry and damaged relationships with the clients that pay the bills, it’s pretty easy to imagine what their sales pitch will be to the twenty or so biggest advertisers.
Russel is a terrific guy with unbridled and infectious enthusiasm, yet he’s hardly a game-changer. Being famous and popular does not necessarily equate with being smart. Leonardi Brandhouse disappeared, GPYR imploded and TEN remains the Cinderella of the commercial networks. This is not all Russel’s fault but just one win would offer some reassurance.
Huh? Concultancies have no special powers. If agencies have a proposition that clients value then they will continue to thrive. If they don’t, consultancies are the least of their issues.
If you don’t think any of the Big 4 advisory or even the Tier 1 consultancies are a threat to creative agencies… then you’re the patsy… The good news is that there’s as many “number crunchers” willing to go the other way.
PwC will need to learn how to make creative work work. As we all know there is a lot of creative work that doesn’t work. Just as there is a lot of dull work that works—if you throw enough money at it. But neither are sustainable. Creative work that works is hard work.
Looks like Russell is already getting creative eh?
…”Sydney has a housing bubble that’s about to burst.”
And another decade goes by.
This article is just a tad dramatic.
PwC Australia, particularly in their digital services, have a long track record of hiring individuals and acquiring companies (remember all those UX companies they bought, and burned?) with very little strategy or foresight or ‘best fit’ to their colleagues. This feels like another clutch at “talent”, without an actual strategy how he may be utilised.
I highly doubt it. PwC work at a very high level when introducing roles, that often don’t filter down into reality – however, they’ll still talk it up like it’s the Best Thing Ever.
It was killing off commissions for creative agencies that put all the pressure on the creative function in the first place, and made it ever harder to create creative work that works. If the bean counters can find the magic solution to that one, perhaps they can save creativity from a slow death by financial strangulation. Oh, and if anyone wants to talk about digital solutions, just tell them to make a TV ad.
Are we clamouring for the golden creative era in Australia…did we all blink and miss it. The state of creative advertising in Australia is banal to say the least, the fact is that we are a conservative, risk averse type of people so the entry of PwC and other number crunchers will have no effect on the industry what so ever.
There is no tangible difference between a consultancy and an ‘agency’. It’s all self-perception. Clients pay – by the hour – for smart people to help them grow their business by using either pictures, words, numbers, code or feelings. The most effective people use some unique mix of all those things.
Absolutely, big companies are tired of poor tracking and attribution. Creativity aside PWC can come in and manage media spends, and probably do a better job of it than any media agency.
Perhaps he’s finally realized that it’s not all about awards and creativity for its own sake. Using evidence-based insight to inform business decision making, expressed through constrained creative, will likely outperform the intuitive marketer or creative many times over.
Having spent a good amount of time as Chief Strategy Officer at Accenture EALA before returning to Australia and Foxtel, I am convinced that Adland are blind to the impact that consulting firms such as Accenture, IBMiX. Deloitte Digital; and now PwC are up to, and capable of. Where I disagree with you Simon is not mark the date as in today, this movement started years ago. Last year AdAge listed Accenture, IBMiX, and Deloitte Digital as the three largest Digital Marketing Services companies on the planet. This was before a slew of acquisitions of creative agencies.
Not to mention that this is both a good move for Russell Howcroft who will bring a real depth of advertising, creative, and marketing capability; and a strong move by PwC in building out their Marketing practice.
There is plenty of margin in consulting, though.
There’s a bit more on all this here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/flux-convergence-connected-age-ash-banerjee?trk=mp-author-card
Gee the industry must have a blinkered view to what the average person saw of Howcroft on Gruen. Boring, try hard and stating the bleeding obvious comes to mind. Then again why companies pay agencies for their trash marketing campaigns is anyones guess (well mainly they naivley think the agencies know their customers better than they do). No wonder the consulting companies think they can do just as well (or are at desperate to get their fingers everywhere) They bought him as a figure head for people in the industry to talk about. It worked (but that’s about it).
Russell will soon discover all the titles in the world don’t mean squat when you’re inside a big4 level consulting firm. He’ll have to do exactly what the partners want at every whim. He’s there to bullshit about ‘creativity’ and ‘digital revolutions’ for them. He won’t be a stake-holder, just their in-house marketing gimp.
Hi Jane,
Russel’s not a mate, but I’ve seen a lot of him (mainly on Gruen and speaking at events, but on occasion we’ve crossed paths within the industry too) and I have to disagree. My impression is that he’s always remained a genuinely passionate cheerleader for an industry he loves (possibly more than it deserves). Yes, both he and Todd have become a little predictable on Gruen if you watch every episode, but that’s because of the format as much as anything.
And you say figurehead like it’s a bad thing…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
If PWC hired Lionel Hunt that might be worth talking about
I’m all for some accountability in the industry and consult as an independent too. What is inspiring about this shift is a focus on creative performance and on more than just a cost analysis (which matters too). As much as there is talk about there being no margins in ad agencies, many are actually just inefficient and loading up the head count unnecessarily and then crying poor. The process needs reviewing and it needs to be about much more than just the head hour rates. I know Russel and the comments here really do not fit the man. People are quick to throw mud in Australia and I find it sad. Russel cares about the creative product and knows good creative sells. Having a focus on creative performance is smart as it may finally be valued and also accountable too.
“He’s there to bullshit about ‘creativity’ and ‘digital revolutions’ for them.”
Now that would have made a more accurate and insightfull headline for this total suck-up piece from Mumbrella.