“The Key - Quick Conversations”: Toby Southgate (Global CEO We Are Social)

💥 “We need to remember what agency means: representation, deep understanding, and partnership.” 💥

Toby Southgate, Global CEO, We Are Social

This "Quick Conversation 🎤" took place in We Are Social's Finsbury Square offices with Toby Southgate, just 8 weeks into his new role as Global CEO of We Are Social

(This was back in April...yes I have a slight backlog of great "Quick Conversations" 😬 ).

🤝 We talked about the definition of agency, creativity, and the role of long-term strategic partnership between brands and their creative teams.

👉 I asked: What’s "The Key 🔑" to successful Client and Agency relationships?

Here is what Toby Southgate shared:

1️⃣ “Partnerships take work. Deep relationships require trust and that trust comes from genuinely understanding the client’s business.”

2️⃣ “Agency means representation. You should be in the room not just to deliver, but to think with and for the client.”

3️⃣ “Creativity is not just the output it is how you work together to achieve it. That process is creative too.”

4️⃣ “If you are only thinking about deliverables and tactics, you are servicing a need not acting as an agency with integrity.”

🧠 I loved his broader definition of creativity: “A way of solving a problem. A way of working together to achieve that.”

🎯 A brilliant reminder that how we work together is just as important as what we make together.

🙏 Huge thanks to Toby Southgate for the "Quick Conversation 🎤" and for this sharp, honest take on what it means to lead with trust and creative purpose.

All the best with the new(ish) role! 👍

⚡ And next time we need to have the neon lit up in all its glory! 😄

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