Before hybrid. Before Teams.
Before Slack folders and Mira boards and campaign assets with names like final_FINAL_v8ONLYUSETHISONE_CCAmends.pdf…
There was the wall.
A real one. With actual work printed out. Held up with Blu Tack or bulldog clips. (Although Blue Tack officially got banned in one agency I worked in) A wall full of ads, headlines, scripts, layouts, banners, POS mockups, packaging and even emails — if it touched the brand, it was on the wall.
All of it, in one place. Side by side. In full view.
And then?
We walked it.
What ‘Walking the Wall’ Was (And Still Is)
In the early days of my agency career, walking the wall was a sacred ritual. And one that could be equal parts exciting and scary.
The creative director would lead, planners and account handlers in tow. Copywriters would hover. Designers would squirm. Everyone would have a say — but only after seeing the full picture.
We’d start at the top and walk the work, one piece at a time, until we reached the end.
Absolutely no laptop tabs. No buried decks. No “I didn’t see that one.”
It was all right there. Usually covered in post it notes by the end of it.
But it was an incredibly valuable moment that allowed us to:
- Spot inconsistencies in tone or message
- See where big ideas had been diluted (or forgotten entirely)
- Catch rogue copy or off-brand visuals before they went live
- Notice which channels were full of energy — and which were clearly unloved
- Learn from how others approached the same brief
It wasn’t just quality control.
It was a shared experience. A pulse check. It kept the whole team honest — and the work cohesive.
And towards the ‘go live’ date it could be the biggest WOW moment!
What Does It Look Like Now?
Today, we work in folders, files, shared drives, and tools that technically allow this kind of review — but in my experience rarely do.
Assets are scattered across platforms. Projects are siloed by team, campaign, or channel. Work and feedback lives in slide decks, Jira tickets, and Slack threads.
Yes, digital walls exist and the capability is out there.
But when was the last time someone walked the full thing — end to end — with the team?
Honestly… It Was Never Just About the Wall
The real value of walking the wall was collective alignment. Literally seeing the bigger picture.
It was about stopping the noise and creating time and space to sense check everything.
It forced us to ask:
- Does this all still ladder up to the same idea?
- Are we telling the same story across every touchpoint?
- Are we putting as much care into the ‘small’ stuff as we are into the headline?
- What are we missing?
- What could we do better?
It was the craft of consistency.
And created a culture of accountability and shared ownership. And yes sometimes it did lead to a few nervous faces and more than one redo.
The So What?
In a world that moves fast, where attention is fraught and workflows are more remote than real — consistency matters more than ever.
If we want to build brands that show up with clarity and cohesion across every touchpoint, we need to make time for the wall again.
Whether physical or digital, walking the wall is still one of the most effective ways to keep the work tight, the team aligned, and the strategy intact.
Because strategy doesn’t fall apart in the big idea.
It falls apart in the disconnects no one stopped to notice.
So make the time. Walk the wall. The work (and your teams) will thank you.
The So What... 
Leave a comment