Advertising heavyweights launch new model centred on strategy and creativity

Cam Blackley and Em Taylor have launched a business centred around combining strategy and creativity to solve client problems.

Cam Blackley and Em Taylor launch new office Bureau of Everything

Two advertising heavyweights have launched a new business, which aims to solve brand problems and create solutions grounded in a partnership of strategy and creativity.

Bureau of Everything has opened its doors promising world- class strategy and creativity as the nucleus for all projects, led by creative founder Cam Blackley and strategic founder Em Taylor.

The pair previously worked together at M&C Saatchi as chief creative and chief strategic officer, respectively, on clients such as Tourism Australia, Optus and Woolworths.

The creative office – the duo are purposely not positioning as an agency – is already working with technology retailer Fone King, which specialises in repairs and tech accessories, to help position the business for future growth and expansion.

The duo told The Growth Agenda the business was formed from a shared belief in the need for greater integration across the two core disciplines.

“This is a response to what we have been hearing from clients for years,” said Mr Blackley.

“It’s a model built around a strat/creative directorship and that stewardship from end-to-end rather than the dipping in and out. The value of that is there’s creativity in the problem-solving upfront and there’s a strategic thread that is keeping the creativity honest all the way through.”

Too often, they said, the departmental divide of agency structures creates distance in the work, whereas the Bureau of Everything will see Blackley and Taylor working together on every step to ensure the solutions are both creative and strategically-led.

Ms Taylor said “The reality is when you strip an agency back to the most critical part for a client, and to do really effective work, it’s strategy and creative. And that is not to say we don’t see value in all abilities, but this is the critical part to build around.

“Our partnership means that we can help a client identify what the problem to solve is, and articulate it in a way that is creatively rich. That is what is going to take us somewhere really interesting. It feels as an industry we’ve lost that, and while there’s some great work in the market, there’s also a lot that feels very one-note.”

The “purposely senior, leaner, and flexible” model will see Blackley and Taylor bring in specialists to create a bespoke team to help execute each project.

“It’s designed to be a faster, more focused model that can help us set the course for growth,” said Mr Blackley. “Right at the very start it’s that strategic creative partnership, and then whatever we do feeds into digital, social, experiential, whatever it is.”

Bureau of Everything joins a growing list of independent agencies created by senior advertising talent who have left network agencies and holding companies to launch their own businesses, such as Super Massive, Howatson+Company and Today the Brave.

The duo are leaning on the wealth of relationships they have built from years in the industry both locally and abroad in the UK and US. Between them they have worked at some of the industry’s most prestigious agencies including Droga 5, AMV, AKQA, Leo Burnett and BMF, and have been highly decorated with awards.

Bureau of Everything is also ­focused on the idea that brands need to create work that is entertaining enough to sit among the worlds where consumers encounter it, said Blackley.

“We want to make things that are as unmissable as the world they live in. Streaming, entertainment and gaming have outpaced us and we’ve got to be smarter to level up.”

Taylor added: “I think at some point we started to think that we’re just buying attention, and we took our eye off the earning-it bit. And, as an industry, we’ve just started to try and jump on cultural trends, but the risk of doing that if it’s not connected to the rest of your brand, positioning and platform, it’s just marketing landfill.”