The Group Creative Director Is the Player-Coach of the Creative Team

The group creative director gets pulled in many different directions at once. As the step up from the creative director and below the executive creative director and chief creative officer, the GCD can be both a maker and a director, sometimes in the same day. A good group creative director is like a point guard on a basketball team; pass the work off to talented creatives when necessary, or take the ball and drive the work home while surveying the floor the entire time. It’s not an easy position to do well, and involves plenty of mental agility. “It’s a player-coach role. It’s client relationships, but it's also pushing the work. A great group creative director is super valuable,” said Tom O’Keefe, creative chair at newly formed BarkleyOKRP. O’Keefe added that one of the most difficult things to grasp, after being elevated from either a copywriter or a creative director role, is to go into a position where you need to think about the entire team and how to foster their development while still having a creative point of view. What makes a good GCD? With multiple demands on their time, the modern group creative director must be both disciplined and creative. Paris Hilton and Grey Goose Spoof Celebrity Creative Directors “Mental plasticity is a prerequisite. I describe the GCD role as following a special compass: We go wherever the needle points to move closer to a destination of quality, innovation and effective creativity,” Paul Ostryzniuk, group creative director at AKQA in London, told ADWEEK. Traditionally, a GCD is responsible for a set group of clients and works closely with account, creative and strategy leads to keep the business running smoothly. Lately, the role often means being a creative leader senior enough to be deployed as a kind of CCO, running a mini-agency for a group of clients, a single large account or leading a pitch. “It's a senior role, but you still have one foot in the trenches. It's a great opportunity to be a bridge between the creative and executive branch, both on agency and client side,” said Nate Virnig, group creative director at 72andSunny. The GCD must also give out assignments and evaluations, and help with the growth of individual team members. “On the one hand you need to be close to the work with the team and willing to actually be on the tools if necessary. But on the other, you also need to maintain a high-level view of the work and make sure you’re communicating that effectively with your client,” said Stuart Alexander, group creative director at TBWA\Media Arts Lab Sydney. Peepo David, GCD North America with VML, said his elevation to group creative gave him more oversight of teams, though there are times when he still needs to do the work himself. “It’s a 50/50 balance, at least on paper,” David said. “It gives me enough freedom to work on stuff while leading, while overseeing.” For many, being a GCD is a stepping stone to bigger roles, like ECD and CCO, but one needs to excel on the way up to have those opportunities. To find success, Virnig said a GCD should be able to pivot from giving direction to multiple CD teams and discussing the business landscape with CMOs, to getting in a deck and writing social copy. Ostryzniuk added that a GCD cannot be a maker alone and must also be a guardian of excellence for work crafted by the creative team. Does every agency need a GCD? Not every agency has a group creative director, and not every agency needs one. Often, the bigger the agency, the more roles there are in the creative department, and thus the need for a GCD. At Fortnight Collective, an independent agency in Boulder, Colorado, there are no group creative directors, but the team does have three creative directors who essentially have creative oversight on all AOR relationships and support projects. “A modern GCD must be aware of all the projects going on, client needs from a creative perspective and ensure the right people are on the right team. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of a team can help your team and the brand thrive,” said Mona Hasan, who acts as a creative lead for a GCD-like team with fellow creative leads Becca Schepps and Matt Kubis at Fortnight Collective. David said that ECDs and GCDs have a lot of the same responsibilities, especially when there are multiple creative leads in an agency, but the GCD role gives creative directors another step up the ladder to aspire to. One of the biggest challenges David sees right now for GCDs is making sure that the next generation is getting enough mentorship, “especially in this day and age where a majority of the young creatives started during the pandemic.” Mauricio Sanchez, group creative director at Grey Mexico, thinks the position has gained a lot of strength lately. “It is an even greater responsibility because you must guide your CDs, and in turn the entire team, working as a team to be able to respond to the call of a brief,” said Sanchez. Advice for budding GCDs? Many creatives may not see the group creative director position as the be-all-end-all role of their dreams, but it is one to aspire to when working their way up the creative ladder. “The GCD job isn’t the easiest, because it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, so you need to love it for you to move up. Keep on learning, keep on pushing the craft,” said David. The Modern Executive Creative Director Must Be the Ultimate Multitasker Rony Castor, GCD at BarkleyOKRP, said that as a creative director, ACD or senior creative, the focus is on the work all the time. But those who want to move up need to build relationships and connections, both internally and externally. “Great work is only possible with trust, within the team and with the brand,” said Castor. Sanchez tells potential GCDs to have fun and be curious, because the most important thing is to enjoy the work, while Alexander advises not getting distracted, because the answer always lies within the work and the creative’s ability to communicate its value. “The best advice I've received is, ‘Be thankful your job is so hard, or someone less talented would have it,’” said Virnig. Virnig added not to make the title the end goal, or you’ll end up compromising. Focusing on great work and giving creative direction will help prepare you for higher positions. “Learn everything. Stay curious. Compliment and criticize. And never burn bridges,” suggested Schepps of Fortnight Collective.