Ideas man joins Carat to aid creative process

by MediaWeek, Media Week 26-Oct-04, 07:52

Carat is trying to give its planning team a creative edge by bringing in an innovations specialist.

Steve Taylor, who has yet to be given a job title, has joined the Aegis agency from innovations consultancy What If, to a newly created position, which will see him play a key role in driving creative thinking with the planning team.

The move seems to reflect a trend developing across agencies, with ZenithOptimedia recruiting a creative director earlier this year and PHD sending its planners to work on specific projects with its sister creative agency, Abbott Mead Vickers.

OMD and MediaCom have recently made forays into the world of creative agencies, launching in-house production facilities to service their clients.

Taylor, who joined Carat just in time to contribute to the £31.5m Diageo pitch, which the agency retained last week, previously worked for innovations consultancy What If as well as claiming to be the first employee at now-defunct mag The Face .

He explained: “Carat has already begun to reap the rewards of a more dynamic, structured creative process with its decisive win in the recent Diageo pitch.

“It’s been extremely satisfying to spend my first few weeks here contributing to the team’s winning efforts.

“My task is to enhance the creative culture within Carat by evolving creative processes and developing creative skills, tools and techniques. I’ll also be facilitating creative sessions on a range of client-oriented projects and initiatives.”

Taylor will work alongside Alex Altman, head of communications planning, and Kate Rowlinson, head of communications strategy.

Altman said of Taylor’s appointment: “It’s enormously exciting to be working with Steve. He brings a wealth of experience and will help ensure we place creativity at the very heart of what we do.

“He’s creative not in the sense of content; his role is in recognition that ideas are just as important as insight. In today’s world we’ve got to have great ideas to bring insight to the customer. We need to be creative, pushing the boundaries all the time.

“For us, it’s simply that Carat embraces what’s going on. This is such an exciting time; every day there’s a new opportunity and that’s not something to be scared of, for smart advertisers it gives them the chance to engage customers. But you’ve got to have great ideas.”

By Julia Martin