What does a co-chief creative officer do?
I always used to joke that the chief creative officer is the person who gets in trouble if the work’s not good enough — which is not untrue. The chief creative officer carries the burden of responsibility to make sure the work is original, bold, on brief and works brilliantly for our clients. As co-chief creative officer, I’m relieved to now be sharing that weighty responsibility with Roanna Williams.
Is advertising still a boys’ club?
This is a complex one. If you just look at the big network agencies, the upper levels of the industry do seem to be dominated by men. It’s quite a different story, though, when you look at the independents. There are a lot of women-owned small agencies, which would suggest that when women get frustrated with the system, they make their own way. This is why one of the aims of Open Chair is to connect women across the industry, so we can continue to build a different environment in which we can thrive.
What do you think makes you good at what you do?
I love the industry and I love the work. I’ve never become jaded or cynical. I have my moments of despair, but they don’t last. There’s always another problem to solve, another brief to crack, another idea to look at.
I wanted to be an actress. I think it was because I loved being the centre of attention (which is bizarre because I hate it now). But I think it was mostly because an actress can be hundreds of different things and can play a different role every day of the week. Amazingly enough, that’s a large part of what I love about my job now.
How important is mentoring to you?
In a way, mentoring is built into the process of how we work in advertising. Work is briefed in and needs to be reviewed by a creative director as it’s being developed and before it gets presented. A lot of knowledge transfer and mentoring happens in these reviews and it was a huge part of how I learnt my craft and my purpose.
As agencies are under more margin pressure and resources become more strained, it’s easy for that vital mentoring time to be lost as everyone rushes to meet the deadline, and I feel very strongly that we need to defend it with all our might.
What do you look for when recruiting for your team?
Originality, passion, discipline — and a great attitude. I believe hard work beats talent, and that’s a hill I will die on. I’ve seen proof of it countless times over the years.
