Oh, how this feud of “suits vs creatives” lives on and still, students are being taught that as an account executive, creatives need to be babied, they are a special type that needs a constant slap on the wrist, and that most creatives are hard to work with. Account execs are bossy, individuals who aren’t open to new ideas, and overall have a stick up their butt. It’s a bunch of bologna.
Why are we being taught this? Sure, an AE might know the client’s favorite food, and creatives can tell the difference between Copperplate and American Gothic fonts, but in the end as a team they’re both working towards creating what the client needs.
This stigma is a perceived problem, when there’s miscommunication, frustration sets in and nothing gets resolved. A team that is focused on a goal where communication is clear, is a team that the client will never be displeased with. A unit of strategists and creative power is a team that can provide excellent work that can skyrocket the success of a client’s business. Both sides are contributing in their own way to the creative process through conceptual development and from discovering problems through research.
An AE shouldn’t be defined by clothing and creatives shouldn’t be defined by their labeled mindset, both are much more. This stigma shouldn’t be taught to students, it’s a waste of time, students should be taught the correct way to communicate as a team and the correct ways of management as well as how to unite as a team to produce stellar deliverables to a client.
