In the 2005 film War Of The Worlds, Tom Cruise’s character, Ray, is being a bit of a jerk to his estranged son, Robbie, who is being a jerk right back. In an effort to bond, Ray decides to take his son and daughter outside to throw a baseball around in the backyard. During their conversation, Ray says to his son, “Haven’t you heard? Between me and my brother, we know everything.” Ray’s daughter then asks, “What’s the capital of Australia?” Ray says, “That’s one my brother knows”. Intelligent Collaboration. There’s a simple genius at the heart of that joke: you don’t have to know everything. With the rapid rate of change of technology and with it, the constant shape shifting of social media and influencers, there’s increasing pressure to be something of an expert in all the things, all the time. But the saying “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing” cautions us all, drink deep or not at all. Of course there’s a simple alternative to having to know everything, surround yourself with people from different disciplines and different ways of thinking, and talk to them. It takes the pressure away and allows you to focus on what you do well. At LOLA, we like to call it Intelligent Collaboration. I’m sure everyone has an idea of what collaboration is, but I’ll tell you what it’s not. Collaboration isn’t just saying nice things about other people’s ideas while you quietly push your own agenda. Being nice while working in parallel might feel like collaboration because, in theory you’re working on the same project, but in reality you’re not building a stronger solution — you’re potentially destroying it. Right People. Right Time. Collaboration, like insights, should be at the heart of any project, and though it’s a liberating creative exercise, it does benefit from throwing some process around it. For instance, let’s say one of your team, has an idea for a client and brings it to you. As a group, you’d want to throw it around and ask, “Is the idea viable? Have we done it before? Is the client predisposed to this kind of thinking?” Then you should push and prod a little, and try to poke holes to see if the idea is leaking. If it seems robust, expand on it as a group and challenge the team to think about what it might look like if it were a campaign, a Superbowl spot, an outdoor billboard, or a digital ad on Facebook a YouTube pre-roll. Do all this to figure out if the idea has legs. How big can it go and how little can it be and still make sense? You don’t want to run to the client with a pie in the sky idea that could never work in the real world. Next, bring in your subject matter experts. Sure, you can google anything, but what you want is an expert opinion — an outside influence. Doing this doesn’t change the big idea, instead, it opens it up to other possibilities. At this point you want to be open to following the expert’s lead into other areas. The process of collaboration let’s you adapt and evolve, and leads to a solution that you can sell with conviction, safe in the knowledge that you could actually pull this off. “Well, duh”, I hear you say, and it sounds a bit simple, a bit obvious, it’s because it is. So why aren’t we all doing it? Well, some clients are cautious by nature and want the agency focused on the day-to-day. Fair enough, it’s their money. With that in mind, before pitching a new idea, you want to arm yourselves with the best information and make sure your argument for this brave new idea is compelling. We do this by collaborating from the start. The more we collaborate, the better we can ballpark what the investment will need to be and show what the results could be. Take the risk away and it becomes a return on ideas, not just a return on investment. Leave Your Ego At The Door. Just remember, true intelligent collaboration isn’t just about outside opinions; everyone has an opinion, some more helpful than others. However true collaboration means you’re going to have skin in the game. Don’t swoop in at the 11th hour with information the team could’ve used three days ago. Get involved. Run the risk of your idea not getting up. And be ok with that. Be part of building something you couldn’t have thought up by yourself. You might even impress yourself. Realize that there are a million jobs out there that only require effort from the neck down. No matter what your role in this industry, you’re in an industry that actually wants you to think and rewards you for doing it well. Think about it, you’re solving problems — with your brain! That’s rad. You’re making things that never existed before. Why would you not collaborate? Seriously! The odds of getting to something truly great are stacked in your favour if you have smart people to bounce ideas off of. Anything I’ve ever been awarded for came as a result of working with a team of brilliant collaborators. Management and creatives alike need to recognize the benefits of collaborating for the sake of their own careers. Only then will they become more valuable in an industry that pays them to think and create. I say, collaborate or die. Ultimately, as creative problem solvers, “the more, the better, and the different” we can think, the more successful we will all be.

GRRRL Clothing, working with creative agency LO:LA, posted Instagram videos calling for an end to racism, body-related bullying, domestic violence, sexual assault and inequality. One video opens with a voiceover saying: “When we told you ‘no,’ that should have been enough. When we say ‘stop,’ you stop.” To get that message through, the women in the video leave messages behind at stop signs in downtown Los Angeles.

As part of the “The Better Neighbor Project,” the LO:LA Agency recently teamed up with our client Garden Fresh for an inspiring volunteer day at Feeding San Diego. An affiliate of Feeding America, Feeding San Diego works to connect people with food and end hunger. The organization works with 16,000 individuals who dedicate their time to help feed more than 485,000 children, families and seniors in need every year.

How did you get started in advertising? What’s been your career road map? I started in advertising at the age of 19 in London, when I left school all I wanted to do was draw. I wanted to find a job that allowed me to make a living out of my passion, and I was lucky enough to do so. Over the last 30 years, I worked my way up from intern, to Executive Creative Director, to Agency owner. All that time it’s been about connecting with people, creating work that truly resonates with people. Our mantra at LO:LA is that everything is “Made with Love” and I’m proud to say that that resonates in everything I’ve done and that we do. What has been an important, perhaps the most important, lesson you’ve learned in your career so far? Being open and transparent about how you feel, about the work or a situation or a problem we have to solve for. Being myself and being honest have been great guides for developing more interesting and effective solutions. What keeps you motivated? Do you have a personal motto? I so love making great work. The actual process and craft of creation are things I have always loved, and I really believe that the newness of getting a new challenge and then creating to work to meet that challenge keeps me constantly motivated – it never gets old, you know? After all, this job beats working for a living. What excites you most about this industry? So many things! Off the top of my head, I’d say the convergence of technology with the immediacy of access to information, storytelling, the changing role of brands in people’s lives… are all exciting. Navigating this always-evolving industry for our clients is more exciting than ever! Where is advertising heading? What do the next five years look like? In advertising, we’re all creatively driven, and the industry continues to evolve as technology and how we interact with each other changes, so with so many variables, I don’t think I can make an accurate prediction on where advertising will be in five years. But what I’d like to see, and what we’re trying to accomplish at LO:LA, is making sure that the work serves our clients and the people that they’re trying to reach in a more human way. We’ve stopped talking at each other and have finally started talking to each other. I’d really like to champion the humanness of our industry and see where that goes. What advice do you have for emerging professionals just starting in advertising? Be a sponge. Soak in, and soak up, different types of media to see how things work. Be tenacious, be true to yourself and never give up. What’s been one of your favorite ThinkLA memories? Winning a ThinkLA creative award for our creative work on the Toyota Camry. Any closing thoughts for the ThinkLA community? It’s an honor to be part of this community. I look forward to learning, collaborating and contributing to the creative industry. Together we are stronger. Cheers.

Love and happiness are human necessities and should be at the root of everything we do. In business and the workplace, it’s easy to lose sight of those values for the sake of revenue and quantity over quality. But not for LO:LA (London: Los Angeles). Created in 2017, LO:LA is a creative agency with native roots in London, nurtured by the vibrant, collaborative culture of Los Angeles. The agency is fueled by the mantra “Made with Love” and guiding client partners towards the “Pursuit of Happierness.” Their client partners include Cycle Gear, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, GRRRL, Halo Circus, Souplantation, Sweet Tomatoes, The Creative Coalition, and Total Wine and More. We sat down with Founder and CEO Nick Platt to learn more about his award-winning agency.

LO:LA received honors from the industry’s Davey Awards, honoring outstanding work from the best and brightest small shops worldwide. The Davey Awards recognize creativity and innovation in the areas of Web, Design, Video, Advertising, Mobile, Social, Branded, and Immersive & Experiential. LO:LA won four Davey Awards in total, one Gold and three Silver. Their Gold Davey Award win was in the Experiential & Immersive category for “Napa Valley Wine Harvest” for Fleming’s Steakhouse and Wine Bar. They also received two Silver Davey Awards for their “Just Round the Corner” campaign for Cycle Gear in the Integrated Campaign: Business to Consumer and  Commercials: Consumer Products/Services categories. Team LO:LA also snagged a Silver Davey Award in Brand Awareness: Comedy for Total Wine & More.

LO:LA (London: Los Angeles), the full-service creative agency launched by RAPP veterans earlier this year, hired Dave Scott as creative director. Scott will be tasked with leading creative strategy along with founder and CEO  Nick Platt, as well as supporting new business development efforts with partner and head of client relations Rosanne Ramos. “At LO:LA, we’re always looking to add innovative, seasoned talent to the family,” Platt said in a statement. “When the opportunity to integrate Dave – a close mate and longtime colleague – into the LO:LA team arose, we jumped at it with no hesitation. His track record speaks for itself.” Scott joins LO:LA from RAPP, where he spent the past two years, most recently serving as senior vice president, group creative director and creative lead on the Toyota account. Before joining the Los Angeles office of RAPP, Scott spent nearly a year as a group creative director with WPP’s Ford unit, GTB. Prior to that he spent over five years with OgilvyOne in Melbourne, serving as creative director and working with brands including BMW, Mini, Bank of Melbourne and OfficeMax. “Dave has been close to the LO:LA team from its infancy, even before we were a fully-fledged concept, based on our previous working relationship at RAPP,” Ramos added. “The time finally came to make it official and we couldn’t be more pleased.”

Ad shop LO:LA , with offices (as you might guess) in Los Angeles and London, has been retained by athleisure brand GRRRL, for “ongoing creative services.” So not quite AOR status, but more than project work. The agency is tasked with building GRRRL’s brand awareness via creative advertising, social media and experiential campaigns beginning in the fourth quarter through first-quarter 2019. “For LO:LA our mantra is that everything be ‘Made with Love,’ ” stated Nick Platt, founder and CEO. “That couldn’t be truer for the powerfully inclusive, uplifting culture and brand that GRRRL has inspired across the globe.” The brand has developed a loyal following that strongly believes in its culture of female empowerment. It has come a long way in a short time, founded in 2015 by Kortney Olson. Earlier this month, Forbes called it a “billion-dollar brand in-waiting.” Olson is a force of nature. In addition to her entrepreneurial skills, she is a body builder and arm wrestling champion who hass overcome a lot in her relatively young life (she’s 36). Forbes has some of the details if you’re interested. Entertainment impresario Stan Lee has called Olson “the woman with the world’s deadliest thighs” for her ability to crush watermelons between them, which she has demonstrated in videos on YouTube. Olson had this to say about the appointment of her brand’s new agency: “It’s never been more important to reach and inspire women to celebrate, nurture and be proud of our bodies and what we can do with them. We needed a creative partner that understands that and isn’t afraid to push limits like we do, to break down walls. LO:LA is that partner.” Sounds like you got a live one your hands, LO:LA. It will be interesting to see how you take this brand to the next level.

LO:LA has partnered with Upcomers, a creative career accelerator designed to connect current/recently graduated arts and design students with the creative industry by helping build their portfolios based on real-world client experiences. If selected, participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with the partnering brand. For Upcomers’ Creative Challenge event on July 7, LO:LA’s CEO and Founder Nick Platt will present a client brief for creative submissions alongside MOCEAN’s Mitch Monson. Featured clients include body-positive women’s sportswear brand GRRRL and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.