Mother London is a creative organization employing around 280 people and part of Mother Holdings which has 20 companies with around 700 people including freelancers. Established in 1996, Mother works with around 40 clients including a number of high-profile brands. It is independently owned by its seven partners who include the three founding partners. Mother’s main outputs are producing commercials for television, and cinema as well experience events and some online output. Not experienced an experience event is the actual term – highly participative marketing events. It has also developed creative ideas in addition to traditional advertising including an award winning feature film, graphic novels and various ‘house projects’ such as the ‘unmarriable carrier bags’. It has an extremely high reputation for its creative output and was recently voted Agency of the Decade by Campaign magazine.

Core principles.

Mother is characterized by a series of core principles which reflect the beliefs of its founders and have a profound effect on how it is managed and structured and the relationships it has with its employees and clients.

Quality of creative output

Creativity is the essence of Mother. The quality of the creative output is at the heart of everything that Mother produces. In the words of one of the founding partners, ‘it’s what comes out of the door that matters’ while another senior manager said ‘Mother stands for creativity’.
Since its foundation, Mother has become the destination brand for creative people who are attracted by the opportunity to work alongside people who have a high reputation for creativity and to work with well known clients.

Holy Trinity of values

This emphasis on the quality of output is reflected in what is referred to as the ‘Holy Trinity’ within Mother – essentially a statement of values which underpins how they work. It is these values which set their priorities and drive their relationships with employees and clients. These values are:

l Produce high quality creative output;
l Have fun;
l Make money;

Ways of organizing

Mother have a distinct way of organizing and working with clients which is unlike other creative and advertising agencies. In many other agencies there will be a group of staff known as Account Handlers or Client Services (sometimes referred to as the ‘suits’) which act as the ‘go-between’ between the creative staff (the T-shirts) and the client representatives. Mother has dispensed with this group preferring that their creative staff, their strategists and their producers have direct contact with clients.

Ways of working

Mother is characterized by a highly collaborative style of working which involves both specialists and non-specialists being involved in the creative process.
In particular, there is a high degree of flexibility and permeability between the various skill groups. Staff often perform multiple roles and will move frequently between different teams. Moreover, a problem-solving approach is adopted which often involves multiple solutions being developed of which one is selected.

Joint ownership of creativity

In an industry which is often accused of pandering to the highly individualistic prima donnas who build personal portfolios at the expense of others, Mother promotes joint ownership of creative output. Rewards and recognition are attributed to Mother collectively rather than to individuals.

Brand teams

The brand teams are at the heart of the creative process and are responsible for running campaigns and managing relationships with clients. These teams are dedicated to a particular client, brand or campaign and are typically composed of:

Creatives – these include copywriters, art directors and Creative Directors;
l Strategists – who are responsible for the development of strategy;
l ‘Mothers’ – who co-ordinate the team activities;
l ‘Nannies’ – who manage the relationships and logistics of the team.
These Brand Teams then work with a series of internal and external parties in order to produce work for clients. These include the television editing suite, Finance, HR and Office Management, each of which has a Discipline Head, and with a whole set of external television producers.
However, it is the way Mother works with clients which is particularly distinctive. Members of the brand teams work alongside the client representatives to focus on the problem; they see the client as part of the solution to the shared problem rather than the problem.
In the words of one senior manager ‘our way of working is designed to work with the client rather than for the client…agencies are often seen to be at the beck and call of clients whereas we are not afraid to turn around and say no.’..........

Question

1 In what ways have the different forms of capital contributed to the success of Mother?
2 Explain the role of people management practices in supporting these forms of capital.
3 What risks and problems might Mother encounter in the future in the people management area and how might these be overcome?