WHAT'S IN A CABINET SECRETARY?

I am loving the new debate on the streets. The debate about what kind of qualifications someone should have to be a cabinet secretary. Should a doctor head health? Should an accountant head finance? Heck, should a tourist head tourism. Brilliant stuff I tell you, this country is alive and kicking. This sparked a thought – what kind of person should head an ad agency?

Well, frankly speaking it’s any bloody person who can understand the business, inspire people and deliver results. PERIOD! Kenyans take stuff too seriously and hardly give people chances to prove themselves. Lets flip this to the world of ads.

Sir Martin Sorrell – Chief Executive Officer of WPP the largest advertising group in the world was actually a bean counter. Not a creative director or an account director. The man understood the financial aspect of advertising from his experience as group finance director. He then privately invested in Wire and Plastic Products, a British wire shopping basket manufacturer, and joined it full-time as Chief Executive. He began to acquire "below-the-line" advertising-related companies, purchasing 18 in three years. Lets be clear the man clearly understands advertising, he rules it. But was his background in the prominent advertising studios? Nope.

I actually believe that great CEOs have a unique ability to quickly adopt to new situations, inspire change and influence whatever target has been set. So I do not see what doctors are complaining about when given a man with a finance background and not a medical background. Wasn’t their main beef salaries? Or do they just want someone to be giving them sick offs?

Sometimes people who have had experience in the same sector may be great at technical skills but leadership is a whole different ball game. For instance I have worked in an organization where my division was headed by someone who had worked in ad agencies as a suit and even moved up the ladder at several blue chip companies and become senior brand manager – but his methods and practices left a lot to be desired when he was given a division to head which included a creative arm.

Creatives felt misunderstood, briefs were a rumor, deadlines were absolutely horrendous, no time was given to thinking through ideas, no research was done on the companies that we were pitching for, no time was taken to understand the rules that make things go round, management silos were the order of the day. In the end disgruntled staff started finding greener pastures and the creative department started crumbling.

Oh and have you ever heard how guys from agencies always complain that agency alumni make the worst clients?

If we take a look at some creative industry leaders right here in Kenya, you may catch the drift. You do not have to be trained in a particular sector to become a great leader in that same sector. For example; Scanad Creative guru Andrew White is a Lawyer by training, Simon Ball who headed Ogilvy in its 90s glory days was a Zoologist, the ever outspoken former McCann MD Sameer Ambegaonkar was a Geologist but he still rocked (excuse the pun…ha ha ha), heck I studied International Relations. The list goes on and on.

So you see I don’t really see what the fuss is all about. Or should we also start saying that only models who have been cast in adverts should be allowed to run ad agencies.

Hey, that’s just my opinion.