McCann Worldgroup has significantly contributed to brands’ success throughout its decades of providing solutions as a creative agency. With its global network, the company’s capabilities are spread across countries, yet its team in Southeast Asia (SEA) stands out through its work.
Having offices in key markets such as Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, McCann Worldgroup’s presence in SEA is significant. Still, the agency continues to expand its capabilities to cater to its broad range of clients.
Maintaining this creative momentum has its tricks and tactics, but in MARKETECH APAC’s Agency Leadership Decoded, Nick Handel, president at McCann Worldgroup SEA, shares his strategies to foster a culture of creativity in the agency while it persists through challenges in the industry.
Unveiling the drivers of creativity
Nick has been leading McCann Worldgroup SEA for four years. Throughout his leadership, he has prioritised how the agency promotes creativity, ensuring it is recognised and rewarded within the team.
To sustain the agency’s creative momentum, Nick fosters his three key drivers of creativity: conscious inclusion, collaboration, and client fitness.
“Conscious Inclusion is a philosophy which promotes consistent practices and deliberate actions to foster an inclusive culture. It is through conscious inclusion that we create meaningful experiences for our people and teams, drive better business practices with our vendors and clients, and ultimately, unleash the creative power of our people and our work,” Nick explains.
As Nick shares, collaboration is another crucial aspect that flourishes when different skills and expertise come together effectively.
“We want to create a more integrated and open workplace where the sharing of ideas, skills and efforts isn’t just encouraged but is an intrinsic part of our DNA. Where anyone in McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia – whether they are part of McCann, MRM or CRAFT – can draw from a common well of talent and tools, no matter where they may sit or which logo may appear on their business card,” he said.
According to him, tangible marks of creativity can only be seen if they align with their client’s needs. While these needs evolve, Nick shares how the agency constantly ensures their relationship with clients moves forward.
“In an industry sometimes characterised by its short-termism, we’re proud to count eight clients who have been with us for more than a decade. I’d like to think that constantly assessing our client fitness and our restless search for “what’s next”, has played no small part in that achievement,” he said.
An eye within the agency, the other beyond
Throughout his leadership, Nick has set distinct initiatives to make the agency more effective. In these strategies, he looks both within the agency for the welfare of its employees and outside of it, taking a broader view of its position in the industry.
Citing one of the initiatives for employees, he said, “To create a shared sense of belonging, we launched ‘Day For Meaning’, an annual event where we pause all regular business for one day so that all employees can find the time to create solutions to remove barriers to inclusion.”
He added, “In response to the pressures of modern agency life, we also introduced an innovative annual leave policy. Called ‘Time Well Taken’, the policy allows all full-time staff to take as much additional paid leave as they need, subject to the approval of their managers.”
Building on its client fitness, the agency continued implementing its agency integration model, ‘Open Architecture,’ which groups employees into multi-specialist teams instead of placing them within discipline-driven departments. To further ensure good relationships with clients, the agency engaged in a third-party client satisfaction survey, allowing them to see improvement opportunities.
Last year, McCann Worldgroup SEA also introduced something new to the industry.
“To ensure the agency is ahead of the curve in new and emerging flavours of creativity, we launched three new service offerings: McCann Content Studios, a culture-first editorial and entertainment studio dedicated to creating content, experiences, and conversations that resonate with today’s fast-paced social landscape,” Nick said.
Besides the studio, McCann Worldgroup also worked on a production automation platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) called ‘XD’ and ‘Hedy,’ a delivery centre specialising in integrating content, commerce, and CRM platforms. The agency also commissions its own research that helps brands and businesses in the region.
Challenges as stepping stones
For Nick, the fast-paced nature of marketing technologies and AI came as both a challenge and an opportunity for McCann Worldgroup. Despite the difficulties in remaining on top of these technologies, the agency continued to leverage them in its operations, helping them achieve new heights and even contributing to their remarkable industry awards.
“We also became the first network to partner with [Ai]magination, the world’s leading AI creative studio. The partnership will grant the agency early and preferred access to [Ai]magination capabilities for real-time content creation and asset support for brand campaigns,” Nick shared.
For other leaders in the industry, Nick leaves the advice of never being too big for small things, as other leaders inspired him to be.
“We’re in an industry that often talks about the importance of big ideas. And whilst this is undeniably true, I think it’s important also for leaders to have the humility to resolve the seemingly small things which, like a stone in the shoe, can have a disproportionate impact on someone’s motivation. As in most service industries, details matter,” he said.
Interestingly, Nick also encourages them to “never eat lunch alone.”
“Marketing is very much a people business. Its leaders need to be open and approachable – even if (like me) they may often be guilty of dining ‘al desko,’” Nick concluded.
Nick’s leadership at McCann Worldgroup SEA has redefined creativity as a core value. Through his beliefs as a leader, Nick has shaped the agency’s trajectory as a leader of its own kind, helping the individuals within it achieve success with creativity made tangible for its clients. With a focus on collaboration and client fitness, Nick contributes to how McCann Worldgroup is shaping the creative industry in the region and beyond.
