In the satirical film How to Get Ahead in Advertising, an adman is afflicted with a mysterious boil that eventually erupts into a second head. The fact that the young protagonist is a creative director is especially ironic – after all, many of Canada’s agencies have decided that when it comes to filling their top creative position, two heads are better than one.

Last month, MacLaren McCann named Marta Cutler and David Kelso co-creative directors, following the departure of Rick Davis. The appointment of Cutler and Kelso was the latest in a spate of creative couplings that have rapidly become the norm at many of Canada’s largest agencies.

Ask people why agencies seem to be favouring creative teams these days, and you’ll get a hodgepodge of responses: the job description has expanded; client lists are becoming too large for one person to manage; or there’s a lack of qualified candidates.

In any event, it certainly looks like a trend is unfolding: five of Canada’s biggest agencies – BBDO, Young & Rubicam, Cossette Communication-Marketing, Ogilvy & Mather, and MacLaren – now operate with dual creative chiefs.

‘I think you’re going to see this [arrangement] all over the place,’ says Howard Breen, president and chief executive officer of Young & Rubicam. ‘I’m absolutely convinced that having a partnership in the most critical element of your agency – your creative chiefs – is vital to ensure you’re bringing the best resources to your clients.’

In 1997, Breen appointed John Farquhar and David Adams co-creative directors. The rationale was simple. By sharing managerial duties, the creative team had more time to do what they do best: focus on the creative product. Farquhar and Adams often pitch accounts together, although they can divide and conquer if two client issues arise simultaneously.

‘We come together and work as a management team, but we work on advertising as well,’ says Farquhar. ‘I’ve worked for creative directors at agencies of this size where they can’t do that.’

Even attending to administrative tasks has become arduous for a single creative director, since an increasing number of clients are requesting a senior creative presence at their meetings. For larger agencies, some of which handle upward of 30 accounts, it’s a near impossible feat for one individual, says Dennis Stief, chief executive officer of Ogilvy & Mather.

Stief is well-versed in the benefits of having a creative team. When he arrived at O&M, he named Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk as co-creative directors. Prior to joining the agency, he served as president of Ammirati Puris Lintas, which also boasted a creative duo: Doug Robinson and Tom Nelson.

‘The business has changed,’ says Stief. ‘Previously, creative directors were simply in charge of creative. Now it branches out into other areas like strategic decision-making. Their relationships with senior clients run even deeper.’

In the case of MacLaren McCann, there was no predetermination to hire a creative team rather than an individual, says chairman and chief executive officer Tony Miller. But the fact that Cutler and Kelso have previously worked together at the agency was an important part of the decision, he adds.

‘They’ve done outstanding work for us that in no small part contributed to our Agency of the Year ranking (in Strategy) in 1994 and ’95. It doesn’t have much to do with the marketplace – it’s just that the opportunities and talent [at MacLaren] happen to be best suited for a team rather than for an individual.’

But not everyone believes that two is better than one. Vancouver-based Palmer Jarvis DDB employs a sole national creative director – Chris Staples – who oversees regional creative teams in Toronto and Vancouver. Frank Palmer, president and chief executive officer of PJDDB, speculates that many agencies may have opted for co-creative arrangements because there is a dearth of people who can step in and fill the position as individuals.

‘I think we’ve lost an awful lot of talent in the last five years to the U.S. And a lot of the top creative directors may have moved for different reasons – money and other opportunities. It just may be that there are not enough creative individuals who can stand on their own merit.’

Be that as it may, Breen says, ‘I think it’s incumbent upon the industry to start looking at what they’re doing to bring along the next generation of Canadian talent.’