From Culture to Creativity: Making Great Work Happen

Justin Gomes, founder of ad agency Bananas, interviewed Gillian Rightford about building a creative culture in an agency, building better relationships between agencies & marketers to create better commercial creativity - the whys and hows.

Creativity isn’t just a spark—it’s a measurable business tool. Drawing on over three decades in advertising, Gillian Rightford shares lessons from helping to lead the transformation of Lintas into a creative powerhouse and her current work at Adtherapy bridging client-agency relationships.

She highlights how cultural change requires both structural reform and symbolic acts, why emotional intelligence and mental health support are critical in creative environments, and how short-termism undermines long-term brand building.

At the heart of her approach is the concept of “creative fitness”—helping clients and agencies build the skills, confidence, and trust needed to unlock stronger ideas and better outcomes.

For agencies and marketers alike, the message is clear: treat creativity as a strategic asset, invest in people and relationships, and the results will follow.