Pols and Mecklenburg set up new agency Truth & Spectacle
Two former Ogilvy execs – creative director Ivan Pols and consultant Alex Mecklenburg have formed a new “creative business consultancy” called Truth & Spectacle, named after an observation by legendary film director Stanley Kubrick.
Mecklenburg, a former MD of agency Huge, says: “Truth fuels creativity but many businesses have confused their truth with brand purpose. We help organisations uncover their organisational truth, the kernel that sits at the heart of everything they do, just as relevant to management and HR as it is to product development and marketing. And in a post-truth world, this is more important than ever – we are all questioning who we can trust.”
Spartacus director Kubrick allegedly said that what made a film great was: ‘truth’, the thing that touches you, the story that you connect with; and ‘spectacle’, it must grab you by the throat and make you want to watch it.
Creative director Pols, who also worked at adam&eve, says: “The agency model is falling apart. Many business leaders have abdicated their creative decision-making authority to outsiders. In my past creative agency roles, I became increasingly frustrated that the time and money invested by clients into their creative efforts could have delivered much better value, if only managed differently.”