We circled. We sniffed — and thank goodness we wagged our tails.
Gensler has been appointed as our interior architect for our new office building at 3 Columbus Circle and my first impression is that they are great.
We met in February at what Gensler titled the first “Visioning” meeting. The two-hour session was directed by Brian Berry, our Gensler creative lead. Brian and his team expertly teased out what defines our brand, how we work and what our ambitions are for our new space.
It was a fast-paced session based on half a dozen provocative questions. The Gensler team questioned, prompted and noted everything. A particular highlight was the real-time creation of an illustrated word cloud that brought our answers together on a single, huge sheet of paper to form the first step towards a vision.
It was thought-provoking, intense and fun.
It was also a peculiar role reversal for me. As a creative director I am accustomed to leading the client through the creative thinking process. But now I find myself cast in the unexpected role of client.
I have seen a lot of clients over the years. Some clients extract the very best from their agency team in a way that seems almost magical. Others manage to turn talented, imaginative agency thinkers into sullen automatons.
I am resolved to try and be a great client for Gensler.
Nick Moore is chief creative officer and EVP at Wunderman Yew York.
This is the second installment in a four-part series.
Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4
