Partners Not Clients
2022-06-17
Partners Not Clients: The Metajive Ethos
“We really appreciated the way Metajive’s team integrated with ours as a true partnership, with clear communication every step of the way. During the design phase the creative collaboration work was next level and their agile approach to pivoting when we needed changes really helped us reach our end goals.”
– Chris Carey, Iyuno Media Group
– Chris Carey, Iyuno Media Group
We don’t have clients at Metajive… We have partners. We hope you see it in everything we do. #PartnersNotClients isn’t just a hashtag for us – it’s core to the way we work. Our ethos is about real collaboration with our partners, and we work as one team at every level.
But what do we really mean when we say this? And how does it play out in the real world?
We can pin it down to one word: collaboration.
Great projects need great collaborators, which is why we commit to working as if we are part of our partners’ internal teams. Want to know what that looks like? It goes something like this…
- We speak up. Our longest and deepest relationships are built on our radical candor. Open communication is critical to creating the excellence you come to us for, and we’ll share our opinion even if it differs from yours.
- We kick off every project in person (when possible), establishing which business goals the project should support, why the project matters from a holistic company perspective, and which market it fits into.
- We join forces as one team with key stakeholders in the company. With joint Slack channels and access to our internal communication systems such as ClickUp we can communicate in real time, sharing updates and asking questions each step of the way. This leads to the ultimate transparency (read: no surprises), plus by showing our work in progress, we can take small course corrections that get us to the right place a lot faster than major zigs and zags.
- We keep our egos in check. Agencies love to present themselves as the creators of the “Big idea”. We think if we present the “Big idea” to you, we’ve not been listening carefully enough. Big ideas happen in a vacuum. We concept together, discuss mood boards together, and move forward together.
- We look at success differently. Sure, our excellence in UX, design, and development is what got us a seat at the table, but we serve our partners business goals first and foremost. We never stop asking ourselves why this project is important to you and whether each step will get you closer to the success metrics you are looking for.
Let’s look at how that plays out in the real world for a moment.
When we partnered with HP on their Olympic Games project, we knew this would be a highly collaborative project. Our role was to create a website for the campaign, but we wouldn’t be working in a vacuum. In fact, we worked closely with two other agencies: Wieden and Kennedy, who were responsible for the TV commercials, and Collectively, who managed the social media campaign. In addition, we worked in lockstep with the internal team at HP. Our partnerships allowed us to bounce ideas back and forth between teams, share work, and manage multiple moving parts. We created a manifesto that Wieden and Kennedy incorporated into their work, while they created a visual system that we integrated into our design. This
Here’s what HP had to say about the project:
“Our partnership was one that tested a new relationship for a global organization like HP and you guys did a fantastic job. The thinking, the agility, the creativity, the project management, communication and the can-do attitude was awesome.” – Gene Paek, Global Head of Digital Experience & Innovation, HP
When you work in unison with partners like our project with HP, there’s no room for late-in-the-day surprises, because you are all on the same page all the time. What’s more, just because we’re committed to excellence in everything we create, doesn’t mean we think we know everything. And we don’t just share our points of view but we truly LISTEN so we can make sure only the best work goes out.
After all, wouldn’t you rather have a partner who insists on pushing for the best?
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