Today is ‘International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation’. As named days go it’s a bit of mouthful and doesn’t quite convey the level of the problem. Unfortunately, the stats are clear - on average every 10 seconds a young girl is painfully mutilated by FGM. They’re usually under 5 when this happens.

20 years into our digital skills-driven century, the need for creativity in the workplace is taking centre-stage again. Unlocking people’s potential to think creatively can energise a business and fuel success. But have we lost our ability to do this, and if so how can we best recapture it? We take a look at the case for creativity, and how embracing the season’s natural instinct for reflection and renewal to build creativity into your company’s learning and development resolutions for the coming year is a great way to underpin those freshly-minted business objectives. 

The mind is like a toolbox.

It’s a metaphor that’s particularly useful in pitch situations. It’s why having a pitch team is so important – adding more tools to the toolbox. Expanding group knowledge, skills and experience.

But what if all these additions were pretty much different shades of the same thing? All the same kind of tool you might say.

Next up in our series of short conversations with our diverse Firehaus Crew, we discuss collaboration, having a surplus of ideas and the perils of too many inputs with Rich Smith, lead singer and songwriter with The Lasting Days.

Lemon? What are you talking about?

Last week, as part of their Effweek programme, the IPA released their latest effectiveness report - Lemon, by Orlando Wood of System1.

What’s the central argument of the report?

That left-brain type thinking is taking over marketing and advertising, resulting in a loss of effectiveness…

In the latest of conversation series with our talented Firehaus Crew, we talk career leaps, the writing process, drive and channelling creativity with executive coach and former agency CMO Janine Woodcock, author of ‘The Power of Choices: 7 steps to smarter decisions about work, life and success’.

At our recent Cannes Insider event with guest presenter and Firehaus pal Patrick Collister, a couple of things struck me – again. 

For once it wasn’t a bottle of cider flung by an outraged observer (we’re a rebellious bunch out west). It was how sections of the industry seem to be complicit in a Big Problem Solved merry-go-round.

Most general understanding of Zen includes the concept of Zen koans, short questions of stories which are difficult, sometimes impossible, to answer. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Can a submarine swim? That kind of thing.

Can AI ask questions to prompt us to think in a different way? Could an AI open our minds with a Zen koan that makes us think more creatively (useful, new and surprising). The benefits would be great.

If there’s one thing that seems to unite all marketers right now it’s how busy they are. Everyone. Busy, busy, busy. Late for meetings. Lunch at the desk. Can’t make drinks after work. Miss the offsite event. No time to think. A real busy bunch. With all that energy, effort and expertise expended, we must be having the time of our lives?

Howard Luck Gossage (1917-1969), one of the ad industry’s true mavericks, died 50 years ago this year. On the anniversary of what would have been his 102nd birthday on 30 August, Beth Pope takes a look at his legacy, and the light it shines on the world we operate in today.

Let me guess - you think creativity at work is important, right?

Great, you should do. McKinsey found that companies in the top quarter of their creativity score ranking performed better on three key measures - organic revenue growth, return to shareholders and EBITDA, in their 2017 'Creativity’s bottom-line - How winning companies turn creativity into business value and growth' report.

Our Crew is a big part of how Firehaus approaches challenges differently. In this month’s Meet the Crew we chat to Dawn Walter, social anthropologist and founder of the Anthropology + Technology Conference 2019, about how the field of anthropology can help brands glean richer consumer insight.

UN Women UK has selected Firehaus to handle its 2019 #DrawALine campaign. 

The appointment follows hot on the heels of Firehaus’ strategic support for the organisation’s upcoming #SameBoat fundraising activation with Anna and Cameron McLean.

Nope. Human shaped marketing is, rooted in creativity.

Our brilliant band of associates, provocateurs and collaborators - otherwise known as the Fire Crew - are a key part of what makes Firehaus special. Drawn from a wide range of specialisms, they help us bring fresh perspectives beyond what you’d expect from a standard creative set-up. We thought it was about time we introduced some of them to you.

What would happen if a super-keen adland exec booked his first trip to Cannes, but ended up in Cann, the small village in Dorset, UK? Swapping high-flying ad types for normal people, yachts for bus-stops, and rosé for cider - what could go wrong?

How’s your marketing budget looking? Going up or down? I thought so. Research from Gartner shows a 10% decrease in marketing budgets since a peak in 2016. Scary times, but at least it’s happening to everyone, right?

And how about your time - got enough time to sort it all out? Oh. Damn.

New entrant to the shaving and skincare sector Kairn, has selected Firehaus to develop its Brand Idea.

The brand has completed an initial phase of product development, which has seen excellent results in-market, and is now planning for the next phase of growth.

I’ve noted in recent times that as the speed of implementation has increased through digital, clients and agencies have applied a similar urgency to understanding the problem – largely by not doing it at all.

Today, we’re proud to present our new creativity consultancy, Firehaus.

We passionately believe that creativity fuels competitive advantage. So we’re here to offer fresh perspectives to brands, agencies and startups who feel their full potential is yet to be realised.