Creative Collaborations
Thursday 26th January, The House of KOKO
Write up by Poppy Flatau
Charlene Prempeh, Amelia Richards, Jessica Persson Conway and Danielle Radojcin
AWITA held panel at The House of Koko, during which three industry experts within the public sector, tech and luxury addressed the subject of creative collaborations. The talk was moderated by journalist and broadcaster Danielle Radojcin, who chatted to Amelia Richards; Head of Marketing and Communications at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and sport, Charlene Prempeh; the founder of A Vibe Called Tech, and Jessica Persson Conway; the Head of Art and Philanthropy at Rolls Royce. During the conversation the panellists referred to their wide scope of experience and knowledge, sharing anecdotes and advice on how to create successful and fruitful creative partnerships.
Throughout the conversation the panelists highlighted how positive collaborations are much “more than just about money,” but also about inspiring creativity and impacting certain cultures and communities. A great example of this was the collaboration between A Vibe Called Tech and Manju Journal, described by Charlene as one of her favourite projects. Tasked with promoting Gucci’s Jackie bag- a unisex model, the collaboration drew upon the fact that pronouns in the Ghanaian dialect are genderless. The result was an innovative and vibrant campaign, which celebrated Ghanaian culture and “introduced a new story about Africa to the world, globally.” Essentially, the positive outcomes of a great creative partnership should extend further than simply benefitting the collaborators. When working at City Hall, Amelia overlooked a collaboration between Citibank called The Low Carbon Entrepreneur Prize which strove to find a greener solution for any aspect of London. For Amelia, this partnership underlined all of her desired criteria, as Citibank not only funded the prize, but also helped with the adjudication of judges and mentoring support for the winner. Through promoting sustainability, creativity and rewarding members of society, Amelia felt that this collaboration successfully reflected the objectives of City Hall and their plans for a greater London.
The significance of collaborations aligning with the intentions of your business was touched upon by Jessica, as “one of the key pillars of The Rolls Royce Art Programme (Muse) is partnerships.” A useful strategy for Jessica is to separate Muse’s collaborations into two categories- ‘commercial’ and ‘flagship’ partnerships. Examples of the latter are The Serpentine in London and Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, which have both supported the programme from the beginning. In 2022, The Serpentine partnered with Rolls Royce, to hold and event celebrating one of Muse’s commissioned artist Sondra Perry upon her request to be shown at the Venice Biennale. The success of the event, for Jessica was the way The Serpentine’s reflected Rolls Royce's intentions as business.
Charlene Prempeh, Amelia Richards, Jessica Persson Conway and Danielle Radojcin
With that being said, with success comes failure and the panellists were reserved when it came to sharing lessons learned from less promising collaborations. Charlene mentioned a partnership in which the collaborators were inauthentic about claims for positive change. A Vibe Called Tech is certainly not alone in the importance placed on diversity, inclusivity and community and for Charlene, mutual values are imperative when deciding to collaborate with a company. To avoid the repercussions of inauthentic businesses, Charlene recommends research at the forefront of any deal. This was also expressed by Jessica, who emphasised the importance of reading up on potential collaborators. Understandably, Rolls Royce is inundated with partnership requests, giving Jessica the task of selecting the most auspicious candidates. Interestingly, she spoke about larger institutions - mainly galleries- having a less personal approach to collaborations. Instead of addressing the target audience for Rolls Royce and expressing the values important to the company, these establishments tend to trade partnerships for “a name on a wall". Amelia’s strategy to avoid inauthentic and unplanned partnerships is through establishing a “valued proposition at the heart” of every collaboration. This promotes honesty and coherency when laying down intentions for the partnership, highlighting opportunities for both collaborators.
Despite addressing various strategies to help form strong partnerships, the logistical side remains; taking into account pitches, timing and finances. Regarding a comprehensive pitch, Charlene humorously emphasised the importance of a short email, considering the schedule of the receiver. She also recommended ending the email with “the next step” as this is what takes an idea and “makes it into something tangible.” Generally, accounting for the busyness of your collaborator is key for a successful partnership, as Amelia emphasised that “on the other side of the fence, people don’t have much time, so making things as easy as possible for them” is always appreciated. Time is also of the essence regarding when to launch a collaboration request, as Jessica touched upon the impact of the budget cycle. Which normally begins in Summer, and quickly diminishes from that point onwards. In terms of finances, transparency is key as there are often misunderstandings which Charlene accounts to not “using the same language.” Jessica spoke about finances being one of the more awkward parts of a collaboration, albeit necessary. A light-hearted way of viewing creative collaborations is through the lens of a relationship; they tend to become more comfortable as they progress. As fittingly pointed out by Amelia “test driving a relationship is a good way of establishing trust and confidence.’”
The full photo gallery is available here.