Infuz | A Digital Creative Agency

Hafiz Huda

Hafiz Huda | Vice President, Executive Creative Director

Looking at your past work, you have an extensive list of clients you have worked with previously. Transitioning from the traditional agency model to an agency like Infuz, where you not only do client work, but are also in the business of building products and ideas, what have you learned already taking on both challenges simultaneously, compared to only one before?

Don’t get me wrong, I liked working within a traditional agency and some of my best work came out of that system. But a company with thousands of employees is a big ship to steer. You have an established creative culture that has done things a specific way for years. And when the industry is moving incredibly fast, it’s hard for hundreds of people to shift gears and keep up with changes in both technology and consumer trends. What I like about Infuz is we’re incredibly nimble and will experiment to see if an idea can get off the ground without filling out a ton of paperwork and rubber stamps. (Slight over-exaggeration, but you know what I mean.) At Infuz, every employee really can make in impact on an idea, and that’s what makes this place great.

And it’s true; we do client work and work for “ourselves” in developing products and services under the Infuz brand. Client vs. Infuz work is a funny place to be in. Maybe not funny ha-ha… but funny because we’re our toughest critics. If someone is defending their idea or even the functionality for a specific site feature, let’s say, there are knock-down, drag-out fights because people care about the work that much. It’s a tough balance to switch gears when you’re working for the collective agency which you’re part of this core team rolling out a product or application. That product and how it’s received really represents Infuz as a whole.

That’s what makes Infuz cool – because we can play on both sides. We’re an entrepreneurial company and we play the client when it comes to developing our own idea and offerings to the rest of the world. But those endeavors bring about so much learning that we can take back to our clients and the brands we work for. Our client work puts us into a different mode of creative thinking and strategy. We’re partners on a path to solve a specific set of problems and objectives. But maybe we’ve learned something from our side endeavors.

It’s almost like a start-up lab established to create new products that our client roster wouldn’t invest in… well, not yet, anyway.

Speaking again to the idea of a twofold approach to design and development, do you think this will become the platform for interactive design moving forward? The ability to create both experiences for brands, but also products their consumers can use?

I think brands are constantly looking for solutions in the digital space. They want to develop real connections with their customers, but it’s all about selling more product and services. We often think that the client is looking for some marketing “solution.” They have a checklist of items for their promotional calendar filled with emails, banners, a microsite, and throw in a Twitter and Facebook fan page.

But most of the time, the brands that want to make real change means they’re shifting their business model in some way. It comes from the top down and as a digital agency; this solution could land on the development or the design side of the fence. It could be developing a whole new application for brand marketers to engage with customers at a live event. Maybe it’s a new channel for purchasing through a smart phone. It’s more than marketing at that point.

At Infuz, our development and creative teams aren’t in isolated silos, but rather work together to dissect a client’s problem and find the best solution. One thing I love about my creative team is that they’re not only looking for the best user experiences, but they want to collaborate with the development team to make it work. And our development team isn’t a group of “No” folk. Is there a better way to execute a creative idea that hasn’t been done before? Yeah, and I’m sure we’ll find a way to pull it off.

As a Creative Director by day, musician and writer by night, what keeps it interesting and retains your creative focus on not only your professional, but also personal work and challenges? When it’s so easy to simply “turn it off” when the day is over, what is it driving you to move forward in both spectrums?

I have no real simple answer to that question. Why do we do what we love to do? Maybe I’m just wired that way. Makes me think back to this quote Chuck Jones said during his Oscar acceptance speech many years ago:

“My object in living is to unite my avocation and my vocation as my two eyes make one in sight.”

I’m lucky enough to work in a career and industry that I love. We get paid to be creative, no matter what the medium might be: print, digital, music, motion. If it’s a website or a short film, I’m grateful I’m in the position to dabble in a variety of areas… even if I’m not the best at anything.

Music has always been a part of my life and I don’t see it going anywhere. Sure I’m not playing out live anymore, but I still write melancholy indie folk rock for myself. Every week, there’s some new band or artist that I’m blown away by and sometimes, a new melody will inspire me to try something new.

I suppose I’ve been always fascinated by personal narratives. Film documentaries, NPR’s This American Life, and Stories from the Moth… I’m obsessed with that podcast. You must subscribe. But even a 30-second broadcast spot can convey an emotion and story to draw you in. I guess weave mini stories into my songs. And with the work we create at Infuz, online or offline, I’m always looking for the best way to tell that brand story.

In the time you’ve been involved in digital marketing, nearly everything has changed; often more than once. What insight can you give to a creative fresh out of school, or even a brand marketer trying to understand what lies ahead and how to prepare both their brand and consumers for it?

For brand marketers and other agency brethren:

• Never say never – I’m amazed the leaps and bounds we’ve made in five years. From cloud computing to broadband media and content delivery. These changes have shaped what consumers expect from any brand engagement.
• Even if there’s a trend, device, product, or site that you don’t care for, it doesn’t mean that the rest of the world hates it too. Step into your audience’s shoes.
• Brands that adapt to consumer behavior rather than forcing consumers through hoops are the most successful.
• Never doubt the power of legal review. If you can adapt and bend the rules, you’ll gain much more ground than your competitors.
• Beware of shiny objects. Even I get caught up in technology that serves no real purpose from time to time.
• As much as I get into arguments with Project Management, they are essential. Don’t take them for granted.
• Beware of shiny objects. Even I get caught up in technology that serves no real purpose from time to time.
• You don’t dip your toe in social media, you dive in.
• Don’t let the tactics drive messaging.
• Great work is sold before clients even see a comp or read a headline.
• Trust is key in the agency/client relationship, just like any relationship.
• If you’re pitching something that involves a technology you know nothing about, a little bit of research goes a long way.
• Above and below the fold is a fallacy.

For those folks fresh out of school:

• Learn from all the media around you. Not just what hip agency did last year or the latest FWA site, but keep up with trends and current events.
• Account Team vs. Creative Team. Don’t fall into the Us vs. Them model… you both need each other or nothing gets done. You are both integral facets in the process and you can’t work in isolated silos.
• Do what you can to help your team. Don’t sit on the sidelines and hope you can steal credit down the road. Eventually, you’ll be called out and in worse shape than before.
• Don’t show work you would be embarrassed to show your peers. If you “phone it in,” you’ll continue to compromise and forget what to fight for.
• If you have 3 concepts you’re pitching and the third one basically “sucks” and you think that it’s so visually awful that the client won’t pick that look, they will. Never show work you don’t plan to live with. Not only is it your integrity but it’s your agency’s work too.
• Speaking of which, pick your battles. Your boss thinks that headline sucks in that email blast? Pick your battles because agency diplomacy keeps you afloat longer than you think.
• You’re young now… stay late, chip in, help others and it’ll pay off.
• Internships are the best way to get a full-time gig. I know it sucks that most don’t pay these days.
• Go on informational interviews, even if you have no idea what you want to do.
• Watch it with the attitude and sense of entitlement. Showing a little respect goes a long way… you’ll have to pay your dues out of school but you’ll learn with every professional interaction along the way.