Shya Scanlon
I had the great pleasure of catching up with old colleague Shya Scanlon last week at Main Provisions in Ballard. Shya is now Director of Creative Strategy at DGC ONE and sports an impressive Joe-Namath-in-’69 mustache. Shya’s quick wit and prodigious writing have always made him invaluable as a senior writer and creative strategist. We did some great work together for Microsoft, Booz Allen Hamilton, T-Mobile, and many others. Seeing Shya again reminded me of a few good lessons:
1) Success Takes Curiosity and Initiative: Shya has always been successful because he’s curious to understand what makes brands tick and solve creative challenges. After getting up to speed, he launches into creative expression and drafting initial ideas without delay. Shya seeks early input and collaboration, which is so valuable in fleshing out creative work. You never have to drag anything out of Shya, he’s always leading the way and pushing things forward.
2) Branding is Evolution: Times changes, audiences change, often core competencies change. Although it’s vital for brands to know their story and be consistent, nothing is ever static or finished. Regular evaluation and fine tuning are required, sometimes even with your core value proposition. I was involved in this process for decades at The Garrigan Lyman Group – a DCG ONE Company and am proud of what we created. Shya is in the room now, working with the team to take brands to a new and better place. It’s an energizing process and reinvigorates the journey ahead.
3) Creativity + Biz Dev: On the agency side, there is often the debate about what drives business; amazing creative or successful biz dev/account management. It takes both, in my experience, with each side working in coordination and supporting each other. The creative team needs to push past traditional approaches and “good enough,” the account team needs to support that exploration and risk-taking with the client, and the creative team needs to support the sales/account team when they promise big things to grow the business. That’s how agencies grow—how business grows—and great teams get better.
Shya, it was great to reconnect after all this time. Don’t be like Broadway Joe and ever shave that mustache. It’s epic, buddy, just like you.
#branding #brandstrategy #newbusiness #creativity #coffee #thankyou