Getting Interactive: Meet your team

A few months ago, I posted two tools for AEs getting started in interactive: one on development and the other on process.

When I wrote those, I was thinking of young AEs working on a bigger team. But emails and comments since then have unveiled an entirely different audience: mid-level and senior AEs charged with creating an interactive practice inside a traditional agency. Setting processes. Educating adopters. Getting teams to work together in entirely different ways.

No small feat. Even in agencies that have been working at it for a decade.

For these brave souls, I'm going to kick off a short series on seeding the interactive practice. Today: The team. And later this week: Promises to never make, Getting a project started right and 10 things you'll be glad you thought of.

The Team.

Welcome to the project kickoff. Let me re-introduce you to each other and yourselves. New rules apply.

Interactive Account Exec
The role: Voice of the client
Think of them more like: A font of information and insight
Think of them less like: A salesperson
Their biggest impact is on how the site: Is measured
What you should ask them more often: What do you think about this?

When it comes to interactive, AEs draw the lines that connect the dots. They get the bigger marketing strategy. Understand the dynamics of the client's IT department. Own the scope, know the deadlines and can define success. They find content and history everyone else said was lost forever. Bring the insights - not the data dump - to the table. And, are tight with the traffic managers who ebb the flow.

Strategist
The role: Voice of the customer; champion of the brand
Think of them more like: Synthesizer of compelling ideas
Think of them less like: A rationalizer
Their biggest impact is on how the site: Engages
What you should always send them: New sites you've found, articles on outcomes, fresh ideas

Working on interactive, strategists surf around and listen a lot. They know what our customer currently does online. And, have a sixth sense about what will engage them to do more. They read between the lines and surface a bigger idea. They understand how we can be authentic in unfamiliar spaces. And, deeply believe in delivering value to both parties - the customer and the company. They write up direction or simplify a creative brief. In small agencies, they'll sketch up a wireframe and lay out a content strategy.

Programmer
The role: Architect of function
Think of them more like: A creative linguist
Think of them less like: 000100010010001111 (wait, did I say anything?)
Their biggest impact is on how the site: Works
When you should bring them in: The beginning. The very beginning. Right away.

They are some of the most creative people you will ever meet. They write complex, interconnected languages. Scavenge innovative ideas. They simplify complex interactions. Build value around content. And, importantly, come up with ah-ha new ways to do things. They're shy around clients, occasionally belligerent with peers, but always drive to make the users experience better, faster, more engaging.

Designer
The role: Architect of impression 
Think of them more like: A co-creator
Think of them less like: An artist
Their biggest impact is on how the site: Looks
What you should give me the room to do: Push the brand

They may have grown up in print design, but they get the Web. Work like a square, don't look like one. Yeah, they get that. They love interaction. And motion. But do what's right for the audience. They bring a fresh aesthetic. A point-of-view old hands would have missed. They stretch outside of traditional roles to play with multimedia. They never execute a wireframe, always interpret it. The kick sacred cows. And wait impatiently for compliments

Writer
The role: Architect of involvement
Think of them more like: A voice of big, bold personalities
Think of them less like: A wordsmith of unread tomes
Their biggest impact is on how the site: Communicates
What you should never say to them: "No one reads copy"

They bring stories to life. Speak in ideas worth passing on. They may know how to write a 16-page brochure, but can also write social headlines, navigational nudges and clever copy as well as any native. They dive deep in input. Rethink how information is communicated. They think bigger than a single page. They educate. Entertain. Encourage. They proactively collaborate with programmers and designers to be part of the development, not just plugged in to it.   

Your shared role: Creators of an experience. No one specialist can do it alone.

If you do this right, you'll soon be big enough to hire all those other roles you truly need - like project managers to document; traffic people to flow work; information architects to create hierarchy; experience gurus to... you get the idea

Comments

[Jim Bender]

Great post. Rubs off the old tarnish from traditional roles and reveals what they should really be about.

[courtney g]

great explanation. i appreciate all your knowledge and find myself nodding along with what you say often.

At my agency we have interactive project managers/producers and account service so I'm wondering if you agree with having someone specifically focused on project execution, budget, scope creep etc. Or is this something you feel the account team owns?

[MikeD]

Very well written! I would say that you omitted Information Architect and potentially media (SEO, SEM, Display) and analytics people as they must be cross pollinated/inform direction if possible.

[Joe Doyle]

Sweet read. Nobody can do it alone is absolutely perfect.

[Eric]

What an excellent overview of "the team." Working for a manufacturing company with an online presence, this same model can be generally applied to an internal online team as well (not just for ad agencies!). Traditional marketing organizations suffer from the same issues like you've mentioned above, in particular "getting teams to work together in entirely different ways" as it pertains to online.

"Your shared role: Creators of an experience. No one specialist can do it alone." Perfectly articulated!

-Eric