Creative Company: How St. Luke's Became "the Ad Agency to End All Ad Agencies" eBook: Andy Law: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

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"This is the book I wish I had written. Andy Law has redefined the agency for the twenty-first century. It will be interesting to see how many agencies follow his lead." ? Jay Chiat, Founder, Chiat/Day

"Passion. Rebellion. Guts. Glory. This book has the breathy pace of a thriller. The story of how St. Luke?s takes on the advertising establishment is a merger of the ballad of Robin Hood?s merry band and the story of David and Goliath. In fact, it?s a parable not just for the advertising business, but for all business today and tomorrow. St. Luke?s is definitely on to something." ? Marty Cooke, Executive Creative Director, M&C Saatchi

"Andy Law is one of the few creative executives who has learned by doing, not just telling. So it?s exciting to have him chronicle all that learning for us. Having watched him build St. Luke?s from the start, it feels like watching Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon?s surface. He is truly pioneering how companies will have to be run in the twenty-first century." ? Geraldine B. Laybourne, Chairman and CEO Oxygen Media

"Creative Company is an intriguing story that captures the soul of the new economy. It is a must-read for managers who want to bring out exceptional performance in their team?or for anyone who wants insight into the future of business." ? Deborah Kenny, Group Publisher, Sesame Street magazines

"It?s a big book. It needs to be." ? Dan Wieden Founder, Wieden and Kennedy

Why does Fast Company magazine call St. Luke?s "the ad agency to end all ad agencies"? How can a company function, let alone thrive, when it has "eschewed conventional hierarchy in favor of the flattest possible organizational layout and the craziest ever decision-making process"? And why on earth would some of the most talented and sought-after minds in the advertising world forsake the fabulous perks available to senior managers and risk everything for a company where no one has even a desk to call his or her own?

In Creative Company, the chairman and cofounder of St. Luke?s answers these questions and many more. Andy Law writes candidly and enthusiastically about breaking the agency mold and organizing a company in a completely different way.

St. Luke?s is nothing if not different?to many, the agency described in this remarkable and challenging book may hardly sound like a business at all. In 1995, a small band of highly creative people who loved the work but hated the workplace established a company designed not only to get the most out of them, but to give the most back?a company in which creativity, curiosity, versatility, and a sense of fun are assets to be celebrated, not encumbrances to be left outside the door. Law recounts how many St. Luke?s employee/owners discovered new sources of satisfaction, hidden talents, and even entirely new careers as they encouraged each other to experiment, learn, and grow. Meanwhile, the agency?s annual billings soared to more than $90 million in three memorable years.

Complete with revealing tales of advertising legends such as Jay Chiat, Bill Tragos, Frank Lowe, and the Omnicom chieftains, Creative Company offers a fascinating, warts-and-all tour of the advertising industry. It also fires the opening volley of a revolution that aims to do nothing less than alter the "DNA" of business itself and, in Law?s words, "furiously seeks a new, better, more fulfilling, and fairer role for business in the lives of its employees."

The St. Luke?s story will challenge your preconceptions, stimulate your imagination, and may even change your mind.

From the Inside Flap

Why does Fast Company magazine call St. Luke’s "the ad agency to end all ad agencies"? How can a company function, let alone thrive, when it has "eschewed conventional hierarchy in favor of the flattest possible organizational layout and the craziest ever decision–making process"? And why on earth would some of the most talented and sought–after minds in the advertising world forsake the fabulous perks available to senior managers and risk everything for a company where no one has even a desk to call his or her own? In Creative Company, the chairman and cofounder of St. Luke’s answers these questions and many more. Andy Law writes candidly and enthusiastically about breaking the agency mold and organizing a company in a completely different way. St. Luke’s is nothing if not different—to many, the agency described in this remarkable and challenging book may hardly sound like a business at all. In 1995, a small band of highly creative people who loved the work but hated the workplace established a company designed not only to get the most out of them, but to give the most back—a company in which creativity, curiosity, versatility, and a sense of fun are assets to be celebrated, not encumbrances to be left outside the door. Law recounts how many St. Luke’s employee/owners discovered new sources of satisfaction, hidden talents, and even entirely new careers as they encouraged each other to experiment, learn, and grow. Meanwhile, the agency’s annual billings soared to more than $90 million in three memorable years. Complete with revealing tales of advertising legends such as Jay Chiat, Bill Tragos, Frank Lowe, and the Omnicom chieftains, Creative Company offers a fascinating, warts–and–all tour of the advertising industry. It also fires the opening volley of a revolution that aims to do nothing less than alter the "DNA" of business itself and, in Law’s words, "furiously seeks a new, better, more fulfilling, and fairer role for business in the lives of its employees." The St. Luke’s story will challenge your preconceptions, stimulate your imagination, and may even change your mind.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

The sixth innovation . . . 12 May 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Everyone working in (or with) advertising need to be skilled lateral thinkers. Andy Law and the rest of the St Luke's team in Londons Duke street have proved that they all are great lateral thinkers and they have invented the sixth innovation within this fabulous advertising industry; `the creative company`, and turned the back (in a positive way I should say) to what way to many know as the heartless industry consisting of movers and shakers . . .

This book should be on the reading on all academic institution where management, marketing and advertising is on the agenda.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Establishing and Then Nourishing a Landscape of Creativity 25 Sep 2005

By Robert Morris TOP 100 REVIEWER

According to Law, business "can treat you as well or as badly as it chooses, yet we devote our lives unthinkingly to it and donate almost all of our knowledge and learning and creativity and sweat without any regard to its true value." On first blush, this comment seems cynical (or so it did to me when I first read it) and yet I agree with the implication that the unspoken but primary objective of most organizations is to protect their own status quo. As a result, "we have achieved only a small percentage of the innovation we could achieve." In this book, Law discusses St. Luke's, "the ad agency to end all ad agencies," in which he and his associates keep on developing new ideas. Their perpetual vision is to open minds. "And because [St. Luke's] has opened its own and the minds of those who have come to know it, I hope this book contributes to the pursuit of that vision and that you, the reader, husband, wife, employer, human are changed by it in some way."

At this point, I hasten to add that Law does not then provide a series of checklists of key points, what to do and not do, etc. His is what I guess could be called a personal memoir whose focus is on a truly unique workplace, the St. Luke's advertising agency in London. It would be foolish -- however -- for any of his readers to use St. Luke's as a model. Worse yet, to attempt to transform their own organizations into clones of St. Luke's. Rather, if I understand Law's objectives in this book (which I may not), he challenges and encourages his readers to think differently about what they do and how they do it, to think differently about the organization in which they do it, and -- in ways and to the extent appropriate -- to redevelop the "landscape" of their working lives.

There are several reasons why I have such a high regard for this book. Here are three. First, Law shares a number of profound insights concerning quality of life in the workplace. To summarize them in this brief commentary (out of context) would, however, trivialize them. Suffice to say that believing in the value of what you do to earn a living and feeling appreciated by others with whom you do it are two of the most important values within a workplace. Second, much can be done to create a physical environment within which to nourish creative thinking. With meticulous care, Law explains how he and his associates at St. Luke's did so. Finally, Law makes an eloquent as well as convincing argument to support his belief that creative ideas about the process of creative thinking are at least as important (if not more so) as the results of that process. Stated another way, creative thinking requires both new "wine" AND new "bottles."

Law insists that this is not just a business book. "It's also a kind of fairytale I guess because at times I still can't believe it all happened the way it did." In addition to being an entertaining raconteur, Law also offers a number of excellent insights as to how almost any human community can become a "creative company." It remains for each reader to answer various "soul-searching questions" which Law poses. Efforts to formulate those responses as well as the responses themselves will largely determine the value of this book.

An inspiration to us all 6 Sep 1999

An incredibly inspiring book for all of us who loves the industry. Andy Law and his crew, are some of the gutsiest people, the kind of people who dosen't just talk but actually carry out their dream. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.