Customer Reviews

Creative Company: How St. Luke's Became "the Ad Agency to End All Ad Agencies"

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Don't be taken in. No question about it, Andy Law is an extremely charismatic man and the concept of St Luke's is highly inspiring. But the reality is somewhat otherwise.

I worked at St Luke's, so i should know. Libel laws undoubtedly prohibit me from speaking my mind here, so suffice to say that the gap between image and reality is every bit as big as that between ads and the products they flog.

When this book was published, many employees at St Luke's were flabbergasted by the inaccuracies contained within it. It certainly is a very imaginative book.

The painful reality is that whichever way you wrap it, advertising (as opposed to marketing) is a very un-21st century idea. For the most part it consists of making pretty billboards to disguise the less pleasant faces of the brands we think we know and love.

This is one such billboard.

If you want to really open your mind as to how to do business in the 21st century, you'll need more than this book. If you are reading this, however, you are already interacting with a much more powerful and future-facing tool...

Don't let the blurb fool you. Andy Law has not written a how-to book about manging creative businesses. If you pick up some tips about how to do so, that's bonus.

Rather, the author poses some fundamental questions about the role of work, and the interplay of one's economic, intellectual and emotional lives. A subject which ought to exercise us more than it does.

I personally wouldn't like to work in the St. Luke's style. But that a company looks first at its role in the community of its stakeholders, and second at how it might make money, makes it an example for companies far beyond the creative sphere.

Unfortunately, I have heard rumours that St. Lukes has actually had to, er, let people go. Not easy in a co-operative. Does some better-informed reader know if it's true? Sad, if it is. And it doesn't discredit Law's philosophical arguments, nor diminish their importance.

BTW, Andy Law writes beautifully.

This is a great book for at least 2 key reasons :

1) they did it and it works ! They created a SUCCESFUL agency with an 100% ownership equally allocated between every employees ! Whatever are the next step of the story (we enter in recession, and their model will be tested) they had the courage to do it and it worked both one "our" terms (money, growth, ...) and theirs (fun, creativity, ...). I seriously doubt you can export the model beyond the "professional services" sector given the "agency cost" (not ad agency, but "Jensen annd meckling" agency problem) and even but forget theories : this book is about practice and St luke will remain in the history of "organisation design" beyond the agency. Anyway, they did it and it score 1 - 0 for them versus the rest of us.

2) The other point is that the book is very well written and that is not so common to find corporate history with such good writing skills combines

All done, a very good book where you learn as much about business that about "how ready you are to do it" (being myself an entrepreuneur)

I just completed this book last week, and it really made me think about my business, where I wanted to go (I don't want my employees to be employees... so this opened up new ideas on how to work on projects, with clients, and run an business).

This book does give information about how salary's were done, vacation time, benefits, and even how shares are allotted, etc. It is a very personal testimony of a life ambition.

What this book is not: it is not a book about how a one person business became like St. Lukes. It is about how a merger happened, and a group of people joined together to keep the big-name clients they already had and make a new company. You won't find tips on how to take a 1 person shop to a 5 person shop, but the book will certainly make you think about how to organize your business, how you will work with clients, and give you a glimpse of a company that runs very well.

I just completed this book last week, and it really made me think about my business, where I wanted to go (I don't want my employees to be employees... so this opened up new ideas on how to work on projects, with clients, and run an business).

This book does give information about how salary's were done, vacation time, benefits, and even how shares are allotted, etc. It is a very personal testimony of a life ambition.

What this book is not: it is not a book about how a one person business became like St. Lukes. It is about how a merger happened, and a group of people joined together to keep the big-name clients they already had and make a new company. You won't find tips on how to take a 1 person shop to a 5 person shop, but the book will certainly make you think about how to organize your business, how you will work with clients, and give you a glimpse of a company that runs very well.

Law gave an interesting account on the birth of St. Luke's and the wonderful approach in operating a business in the modern age. Even having read the book, I could not believe the concept would work despite Law's accounts.

Bizarre as it is, I have to say the concept is both inspiring and touching. As so, I made an effort in calling Law in London in the hope of congratulating him and others at St. Luke's. However, shock came to me when I found out that Law has a personal sec. to handle phone calls and appointment dates (when the book confirmed everyone at St. Luke's does their own nitty-gritty stuff).

Anyhow, whether the concept was practiced, is still being practiced or even has yet to be practiced, the idea is fresh, democractic and inspiring. While they have been called the various names (socialists/mormons), I believe a more appropriate one would 'Capitalism with social responsibilities'.

Overall, a well-worth read and a book that will make you begin to question your worth at the place you worked at today.

Bloody Amazing!

Now my Art Director and I can't wait to work there, as soon as we get back from our Australian Adventure in Advertising...

We have another dream to live and that's at St.Lukes.

I envisioned someday building a company like St. Luke's even before I picked up the book. I read an article about them in Fast Company and knew I had to pick it up. Amazing "too good to be true" stuff that I believe can really happen if everyone involved is on the same page. Unfortunately, politics and red tape take over in 99.9% of all companies. Egos get in the way and everything the creators had in mind has changed.

It's for people who want to be in business to make a great living, not necessarily great money!

Whether you plan on starting a business in advertising or animal husbandry (or perhaps they're the one and the same ;-) you would do well to read this book. Not only is it a tremendous source for innovative ideas on how to start and run a small business, it's also an engaging and inspiring read. While St. Lukes' ideas and methods certainly aren't for all businesses, all business owners, big or small, will benefit from this story of dogged determination in the face of trememdous odds and the power of a shared idea.

As I stand on the brink of growth in my own company I struggle with the transportability of the ideas of Andy Law. How will it survive if not all your work is creative by nature? And can the same effect ever be realised without handing over the shares to all of those that work in your company? It certainly must demand pretty stern selection methods!