The Time for Connection: Jason Romeyko, worldwide ECD, Serviceplan Group on creative leadership in the time of Covid-19

By Jason Romeyko, Aussie expat and worldwide executive creative director, Serviceplan Group.

Creative leadership at the moment is like looking at a pure white jigsaw puzzle with no picture. With nothing to refer to, you know all the pieces somehow fit together but you are not yet sure how. Painstakingly, you have to try each individual part until you find where it joins up.

Therefore, through the filter of Covid-19, these days I am feeling less creative director, more of a worldwide creative connector. No small task when overnight we have gone from 24 offices to thousands of Houses Of Communication functioning from private homes.

First and foremost for me, it is about being there for our creative directors as they tirelessly slog on the front line. At a time of social distancing it is about bringing our best minds together with their colleagues (thank you Microsoft Teams) to share creative inspiration, strength and laughter. While the general public may (deservedly) celebrate their nations’ health workers, at this time in the Serviceplan Group, our creative directors, media partners, client whisperers and finance wizards are my heroes of this crisis.

Our philosophy of ÜberCreativity means we have been able to accelerate solutions which connect to the Zeitgeist from the beginning of the European wave.

Serviceplan in Germany worked closely with PENNY supermarkets on the emotional #helpfirst- a campaign designed to thank the PENNY employees who are working so hard to ensure neighbourhoods can still buy essential food and supplies during the crisis. They even did a lovely piece for Mums and Dads getting used to their new roles with the hashtag #homefirst.

Our creative directors in Spain, on a lighter note, came up with #CoronaFallas (#BurnCorona). On the eve of the cancelled annual Fallas parade famous for burning giant effigies (think Burning Man) – the agency created a pattern for home-printing your very own mini one. Except this was designed to resemble the nasty Corona Virus itself. Thousands of people all over the country took pride in torching this thing devastating their society.

On a broader scale I am connecting the dots of everything which happened in the first wave of the pandemic in China, Korea and Japan with Italy, Spain (poor Spain) and now with what the rest of Western Europe has been experiencing. Of course, then come the knock-on effects for the United States which are now set to eclipse everything we have learnt thus far.

Each day I read 4-5 foreign language publications in search of relevant insights, altered consumer need states and smart ideas which can be cross-pollinated with different agencies and clients. I am scrolling through social media to find pockets of joy which can spark a fresh idea.

Communities are right now the most inspiring group on the planet.

I connect my brain to jam on fast turn around pitches while reaching out to clients. I encourage them to NOT stop communicating as consumers will never remember you saved your budget. They will, however, always remember who was next to them in a crisis and how you made them feel.

At the end of the day I am grateful for my Australian optimism living in a well-functioning protected Austria working on a global scale for a strong, pragmatic German company.

Creative direction, connection- whatever it is finally called- takes on a different shape every day. I am secretly convinced though, that the pure white jigsaw puzzle I mentioned in the beginning will soon create a bright picture – one of “light”.