Opposites attract at communications agency MBA. Making the most of their differences and putting the customer first has worked for this duo, whose clients include the National Trust, Lovefilm and AOL
Stephen Maher My background and education is quite classical. I was very academic at school and I studied history at Oxford.
I'm a more rational and linear-minded person while Graham is more lateral and emotional. There's a left- and right-brain thing going on here.
Graham Kerr In my school reports it always used to say that I spent all my time staring out the window day dreaming, which is exactly what I do now – trying to think of an idea. I left my school four weeks before my A levels and got a job in a pub and then went to arts college in the evening.
Stephen Maher I set up the business in 1994 as a joint venture with another agency called Simons Palmer. I started out with a couple of other people who left after a year, but one of them introduced me to Graham – and I offered him a job. It was very clear that we had similar views and we shared a philosophy about integrated communications.
Graham Kerr Before I joined MBA I was fed up with my job. I was flying all over the world shooting car commercials but never had much contact with the client. I wanted to be more of an entrepreneurial creative. The sector was fat and lazy – I could have coasted for the next five years earning a lot of money and getting on the plane and turning left, but I didn't like the world of fat cats sitting around doing nothing and opening a bottle of chablis at 5pm.
Stephen Maher Graham is a very driven person. He has an unusual combination of skills, which I think you need to be a successful creative director in our industry. You need to be convincing and business savvy as well as highly creative.
Graham Kerr When I first met Stephen I thought he was this mad professor. He'd have been the kid whose homework I copied at school. I could see he could do everything that I couldn't and vice versa and you need that contrast in advertising. It's brilliant – he allows me the space to do my thing and he trusts my judgement. Being so different means we never step on each other's toes.
Stephen Maher Through working with Graham I've learnt that logic gets you part of the way but you need the magic as well in order to succeed.
Graham Kerr He's the head and I'm the heart of the business. Stephen is more practical and I get more emotional. I probably feel a bit more connected with the people who work for us because I still see myself as a creative person although I'm a major shareholder. Stephen has a way of driving the business forward and is constantly looking to move it on.
Stephen Maher The advertising business has definitely got tougher than it was in the Nineties. There are all sorts of pressures from consumers and clients to achieve better results often for less investment, but that's just the way the world is. Agencies need to be faster, nimbler and fitter.
Graham Kerr Brand action is about making sure that every penny the client spends gets them something in return. I've set up
a system where we have brand architects and developers – architects are people
like me who will come up with a big idea, which is then developed into the specific channels. Without making it sound less sexy creatively, you don't just go off and
do something for the sake of art; you do it because of your client. Sometimes that can be quite ugly and sometimes it can be
quite beautiful.
Stephen Maher Five years ago we went through a management buy-out and it was one of the best things we could do as we have refocused the business. It's about a constant roundtable approach to things – you need to bring all the different people into the room at the same time and bounce things off each other. To put it all together you have to collaborate.
Graham Kerr Stephen and I are by far the oldest people here. This is a young person's business, you need experience at the top but you need to learn from the young people and that's why a graduate is just as important to the agency as we are. Our board is made up of entrepreneurs in different disciplines; they may be account managers, creative or planners. Everybody needs to be entrepreneurial – there's no room for people who just want to sit there and be fluffy.
