The Beginning of Ripple Works

In the first place

Recently, I was out for breakfast with a colleague /mentor of mine whom I respect tremendously for being so passionate about the good, the bad and the ugly of the advertising profession.

On this particular morning our conversation ended up on the bad side of the coin. We were discussing the lull (in our humble opinions) of really great and inspiring work over the last six months.  By the time the eggs were finished, we’d racked it up to clients being more conservative with budgets or less willing to take creative risks with the budgets they have.

However, this line of questioning led us down a different path to a startling realization: If making inspiring ads is what brought us into the business in the first place and it’s no longer happening, then what is it that keeps us going? After gumming it out we concluded that we don’t do it for the hundreds of millions of dollars, the diamond watches and Rosedale mansions--rather it’s the thought that that next great idea is always just around the corner.  It was a simple/obvious conclusion that I’m sure is at the root of why any person gets into the advertising business but as intrinsic as it is, it’s still a desire that needs a little nurturing once in a while.

At Digital Cement, we have a great list of strong clients who push us daily for great work and for that we are thankful. But no matter what, sometimes we find ourselves stuck in a rut and not pumping out that great work we dreamed of doing on our first day in the business. To counter that and to nourish the aforementioned “desire” to push, we at Digital Cement created the Ripple Works program. Ripple Works is based on the idea that great work begets great work and great people.

So how does Ripple Works work? Basically, we’ve created room in everyone’s week to work on passion projects. From experimenting with new technologies to creating ads for a local restaurant or charities or whatever, Ripple Works provides a bubble where we have permission to push our thinking and creativity. With no budgets to worry about and with no boundaries but the ones we set upon ourselves, we have managed to make several pieces of advertising that we are proud of. And, it’s led to new business and to more great hires. Essentially, Ripple Works works.

Thinking back to that breakfast chat and after mulling over the words on this page, I guess if we feel work isn’t great then we, the agencies, are the ones who have to change it. I’ll be the first one to say that it’s not always easy to keep the passion ratcheted up all day, every day. But by providing the opportunity to help people remember why they came to this profession in the first place, we can hopefully get one step closer to creating that next big idea.

-Guest Post from Rob Gendron, our Associate Creative Director