12 Questions : 20 People – #5 Andy Greenaway, Regional ECD, SapientNitro Singapore
12:20 is a Sydney based creative consultancy that works with agencies across Asia. Recently, while working in Singapore and Hong Kong, Christian Finucane and Jon Skinner met with 20 creative leaders from the top agencies to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the industry. The interviews, ’12 Questions: 20 People’ are being published in a series of blog posts on Campaign Brief Asia. The fifth interview is with Andy Greenaway, (pictured) Regional ECD, SapientNitro Singapore.
What’s the most exciting thing about working in Asia?
The diversity of cultures. The fast pace of change. And the speed to market.
What inspires you?
Change. Stagnation in traditional agencies is rife. I want to learn something new every day. The bridge between technology and brand thinking is an inspiring space.
How has social media impacted creativity in the region?
Social has huge potential to unleash creativity in Asia. But so far it hasn’t happened. That’s partly because clients don’t invest enough in it. And partly because most fan pages are managed by community managers who love to post pictures of cats. There’s an obsession with ‘Likes’. But that doesn’t mean anything unless there’s meaningful engagement. Social has had a lot of hype but it’s not the only way to connect with consumers. Ecommerce platforms, for instance, are having a huge impact on how brands go to market and create engagement with real and tangible commercial value.
What recent work do you think is great?
There is nothing around in Asia at the moment with real scale – work that will have a genuine impact on people’s lives. Most of it is fake. We have to break the obsession with scam or otherwise our industry will continue to slide down the value chain.
Which clients are pushing the boundaries and how?
Unilever. They get the importance of digital and invest in it. They’re building platforms and creating fully-fledged digital ecosystems. Contrast this with P&G who are really struggling with the online space. Their idea of digital is a pre-roll on YouTube (which is basically broadcast in the online space).
Are there any cultural ‘creative watch-outs’ working here?
Every market is different. Humour varies greatly. What’s funny in Japan is just plain weird in India. There’s also cultural nuances you need to be aware of, too. It’s taboo to show armpits in Malaysia and Indonesia, for example. The point here is that we need to do more to unearth and tap into local insights. Genuine insights are needed to make genuine connections with people.
Which Asian country is punching above its weight creatively?
Australia and New Zealand still hold the crown for progressive work. They are simply more mature marketing environments.
Why does creativity matter?
Because creativity forces change. Creativity allows upstarts to challenge the behemoths of the world. Creativity breaks the status quo.
What makes the local industry different?
The food.
Cannes Titanium, Spikes Asia Grand Prix or AWARD Gold Pencil? Which and why?
Cannes. It’s the Oscars of thinking.
What is the creative issue that frustrates you the most?
Our industry’s obsession with awards. This often-superficial benchmark gets in the way of creating real campaigns that have real impact on the world. Awards are a habit that makes agency bean counters happy. That’s because they focus creative people on chasing trinkets and distract them away from a salary that their skills truly deserve.
What’s the biggest opportunity for creative people?
To get out of the trap of traditional networks. When you see a mega merger, like the one we’ve just witnessed between Omnicom and Publicis (Omni-Poo), you’ve got to think it presents an opportunity. That merger is not good for clients, and you can bet your bottom dollar that large chunks of business will flow out. Smart creative people can lap that stuff up. I just met a colleague of mine recently who is pulling the rug from under the agencies on a global multi-national consumer goods company. And the agencies don’t even realise it.
The networks have become banks. And they act like it. They are risk averse and focused on cost cutting. Clients like start-ups because they are the exactly opposite.
Photo caption: John Skinner (left) and Christian Finucane (right).
12 questions to Ted Lim, Dentsu Network Asia.
12 questions to Eugene Cheong, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific.
12 questions to Joji Jacob, DDB Singapore.
12 Questions to Paul Chan. Cheil Hong Kong.
8 Comments
“What is the creative issue that frustrates you the most?
Our industry’s obsession with awards. This often-superficial benchmark gets in the way of creating real campaigns that have real impact on the world. Awards are a habit that makes agency bean counters happy. That’s because they focus creative people on chasing trinkets and distract them away from a salary that their skills truly deserve.”
I cannot believe I just read this….coming from greenaway, that is rich.
What recent work do you think is great?
“Most of it is fake. We have to break the obsession with scam or otherwise our industry will continue to slide down the value chain”
LOL Roger Makak.
Jordan Belfort has nothing on this guy…he should be on wall street.
I have news for andy. The devaluation of advertising that he foresees is already here and it’s total and complete. Funnily enough, the people who caused it are the so-called top creatives who always talk about the importance of creativity.
When creative talent is more interested in doing noticeable work and winning awards on scam, then creativity just does not have any respect among clients because it does not achieve anything meaningful. It has zero value to them.
Why should a client subsidise creative talent that will do any old rubbish on their account and focus all their skills on doing fake ads?
Scam is the symptom not the disease.
The fact is very few clients in this part of the world will ever approve the kind of work required to win at Cannes. Yet ECDs are still under immense pressure to either win those nice shiny awards or take a break from the industry to write that novel or spend more time with their family.
Clients seem to be perfectly content putting out any old rubbish. Most of the time they are the ones coming up with it.
So, while Mr. Greenaway can be accused of a certain amount of hypocrisy, he’s not one of the reasons this industry is on its knees.
The problem is far deeper than that.
I dont think clients are obliged to approve work ‘required to win at Cannes’. What a ridiculous criterion. They approve the work that meets their objectives…it’s up to the agency to do good ideas, then get them recognised and run.
No one’s stopping creatives from doing their proactive part either. But when it becomes the sole obsession and results in treating real work as some sort of unwelcome part time job, then we have a dangerous situation brewing. This is when the level of creative on real work becomes so abysmal, it doesn’t matter whether you go to a MNC or a local agency…both will give you more or less the same poor quality. But at very different price points.
Now, who do you suppose has created this situation….still think it’s the clients?
And where on earth did I say that ‘clients are obliged to approve work required to win at Cannes’? You might want to brush up on your reading comprehension skills.
To reiterate, ECDs have award KPIs. They don’t meet them, they’re out. At the same time Asian clients are not remotely interested in doing the kind of work that is capable of winning those awards. Clearly they don’t see that kind of work as meeting their objectives as you put it.
Therein lies the problem.
Is it that the kind of work that wins at Cannes doesn’t really work – in clients’ minds at least? (Possibly because so much of that work is obviously scam?)
Are agencies really taking the ‘easy way out’ and simply content to do boring, bland ‘real work’ for their clients?
Well, personally speaking, I have never worked in a creative department that was content to produce crap. I have however seen great ideas and powerful campaigns killed time after time in favor of ‘tried, tested and proven’ campaigns that are dull as ditch water and look like every other campaign in that particular product category.
Is it that ‘real work’ is subjected to so much discussion, reviews and testing and has to tick so many boxes that what finally makes it to print, air or online it is neutered to the point of invisibility?
Or is it simply that clients have no appreciation for quality work? Or worse, can’t tell a good campaign idea from a bad one?
Ultimately, agencies – particularly MNCs – will eventually do whatever the client tells them to do. If they stand their ground, they could antagonize and lose client. Very few CEOs or ECDs are willing to risk that.
The creative work that is shown to the client is the responsibility of the CD/ECD.
But at the end of the day, the final work that the public gets to see is the responsibility of the client.
@ the problems not scam…
you have a predictable, negative and fatalist attitude….keep telling yourself it’s always the client’s fault, if that helps you deal better.