Teaming Up With David Hewitt “The buzz word now is ‘coopetition,’� says David Hewitt of Sapient, Inc.
David has just given a presentation to the students at Portfolio Center, reviewing some of his work with Sapient for clients like AT& T, HondaJet, Nike, Coke, and Sony.
“I have a lot of Type A’s on some of my teams at Sapient,� he continues, “but we all work well together, using our individual expertise to produce great work.�
As we talked, his emphasis on teamwork and collaboration became apparent. “I’m touching at least six projects right now,� he said, “and I couldn’t do that without confidence and trust in my teams.�
David likes specialists. His teams consist of experienced creatives surrounding the problem, each with their specific talent in play. Using this approach, Sapient is able to provide comprehensive design solutions for some mammoth brands.
As an interactive content creator for brands like Coke and Sony, David is compelled to keep the big picture in mind. He offers that the complexity of our modern world creates new challenges. “In response,� he says, “we have developed sophisticated tools.�
These days, a firm’s management of its online presence can be make-or-break. Sapient helps companies manage this powerful medium. In comparison, take a look back at the Nielson television rating system. This tool has driven marketing decisions for decades, and yet the process is slow and inaccurate. Contrast this to the immediacy of measuring website visitor activity. Data mining tools aid in precisely measuring how many visits, how much time is spent, and what assets are viewed and queried on each page. David presented an analysis from Sony’s initial online presence for their Vaio laptop product. The graphic tracked users’ actions throughout the site, particularly to the checkout point. Sapient’s re-design of Sony’s web presence both enhanced the brand’s image and, more importantly, drove higher online ordering.
David’s presentation reminds us of an important point in business: Keep sight of the big picture, and remember that clients are paying you for results.
Because most great work and innovation is the result of motivated teams and great collaboration, David feels that we are living in a time with fewer design heroes. Explaining it differently, David says, “Apple is bigger than Steve Jobs, and Google is much larger than those two guys that started it.� Essentially, the creation is bigger than the creator. When we see the work of someone who we admire at the hero level, David posits, often we create an emotional bond to that designer, overlook the organization that supported him or her, and the great brand or product that prompted the work.
David was an instructor Portfolio Center in the late 90’s, and is a big fan of the school. He likes that design fundamentals are drilled like basic training in the early going and augmented later with conceptual thinking. These are core competencies for success in today’s marketplace for creative talent.
As an employer, he is looking for job candidates who demonstrate critical thinking, but also those who bring personality and life experience to bear. “Build your personal brand into your portfolio,� David advises.
Outright competitiveness may not have a place in our learning environment, but when we challenge our peers to defend and advance their ideas, the result is better concepts and stronger work.
Portfolio Center students share a strong desire to communicate ideas, the willingness to let go of preconceived notions, and the compulsion to learn new ways of thinking. These qualities are fostered by the school’s constant stream of industry bigwigs, who bring their varied and colorful perspectives from all over the country. These creatives, who are always generous with their time and energy, tend to hang out with students, conducting informal workshops and continuing the day’s discussions over dinner. Often, what results are provocative interviews—written, shot, and designed by PC students.
