The Creative Circle Role Reversal Seminar was created in 1968 by Sam Rothenstein – a copywriter who believed that creative standards don't just depend on advertising agencies but on clients too. So, a group of middleweight
marketers take on the role of an
advertising agency creative department. While agency
Creative Directors take on the role of the clients. The marketers are grouped into "Agency" teams and made to
pitch against each other for a piece of business (as happens in the real world). Each "Agency" is assisted by a professional Creative Director, to keep them on track, and an Art Director (known as a "Tutor" or a "
Wrist") to help them turn their ideas into visuals and
storyboards. A film crew and production team are also on hand to help with the filming and editing of the commercial. It's even been known to influence real-world client/agency relationships, with one story speculating that many years ago,
Guinness switched its multimillion-pound advertising account to
J. Walter Thompson as a result of one such seminar. – before settling for the last 20 years at
Trinity College, Oxford. Over those 40 years, the course attracted thousands of marketers, but was closed in 2008 due to financial constraints. == References ==