What's Anomaly's Secret Sauce?

Anomaly is the agency of the moment and everyone wants to take a peek inside.  So I was pleased to have the opportunity to ask Johnny Vulcan at this Microsoft mega-bash in Paris about his company's secret sauce.  His answer was that there is no special ingredient or grand design because the company is effectively an ongoing experiment - the findings of which, it appears, Big Brandom is curious enough about to fund.  However, there are some specific differences from the traditional model that aren't difficult to spot.  For instance, Anomoly has killed the Creative Director.  Not literally of course.  There are plenty of designers, artists, writers...

...and even scientists working at the agency.  And there is a creative chief.  However, they have ended the myth of the creative god, complete with fragile sensibilities, who reigns supreme.  There's no single individual acting as the fount of all that is right.  Which makes a lot of sense in a world where crowds tend to provide the wisdom and peers share their know-how.

They are also challenging conventional agency wisdom - occasionally at a fairly profound level.  For instance, Vulkan questions whether in a world driven by people powered networked media, if it's necessary for agencies to create any content at all.  On some campaigns it may be better - and indeed more cost effective - to just find where the action is already happening and join in.  Or rather Lean In, as in this campaign for the Keep A Child Alive charity where Anomaly hijacked the launch of the i-Phone in New York, and in doing so plugged into a networked media storm that ended up in a $100k eBay auction.

Also, Anomaly has dispensed with traditional pricing models and prefers to sit down with each new client over a blank excel spreadsheet to negotiate commercial terms that suits both parties.  To date this has included equity swaps, VC-funded spin-offs and the creation of new product lines.  Risky?  Probably.  But so far it's proven enough to support the company's growth to 90 people.

Smart people who are prepared to back their instincts and good timing seem to be the real secret sauce behind Anomaly.  Isn't that always the case?

Comments

[eaon pritchard]

back in the day, I think it was Malcolm McLaren who said - You need 3 bands then you've got a movement. Pistols, Clash and the Damned, hey presto...
I wonder how many agencies you need to start a movement?
I hear they are coming to London too.
Interesting times.

[James Cherkoff]

They've already started Another Anomaly in NYC so only one more required....