Things are incredibly transparent these days – so advice to brands from Las Vegas: don’t be a dick
DDB New Zealand copywriter Rory McKechnie was one of the 60 young creatives from around the world attending this week’s LIA ‘Creative Conversations’ in Las Vegas. Here he writes about his experience for Campaign Brief.
I never went past this sign. I wonder it’s a result of Prince Harry’s shenanigans here the other week. I was a little scared to check it out in case Neil French was taking advantage of the relaxed surrounds. He looks like a man who tans.
Vegas is crazy. The hotel is a city in itself. We have a few drinks with our old mate Toby Talbot, then we have a few more. Security have the nerve to ask to see my passport to which we belligerently start throwing around allusions to power trips and the Gestapo. I smash my beer in the midst of this. It’s all class.
In terms of speakers, there’s a prevailing theme amongst a few of them – things are incredibly transparent these days and no matter what a brand is saying with their communications, if they’re secretly doing something else, they’ll get found out and people won’t like them. Apple’s Foxconn suicide city is used as an example. Bob Garfield puts it pretty well when he says his advice to a brand is don’t be a dick.
In the smaller conversations we also get to talk more with the other young creatives from around the world. It seems that no matter whether you’re from New York, Tel Aviv or Peru, the universal truth is that it’s always someone else’s fault. The suits suck, the producers suck, the clients definitely suck. One commentator tells us he hasn’t met a good suit in five years. Obviously the exploits of Mowdiddy and Scott Wallace haven’t reached his shores yet.
In terms of Antipodes creative though, people are pretty aware of it. Some Spanish dudes tell me they loved the Iggy Pop campaign while the Toohey’s Nocturnal Migration spot is held up by another as one of the best recent TVCs.
Overall, having listened to everyone else it sounds like we’re on a pretty good wicket here. We’re doing pretty good stuff, most of our agencies are moving away from just doing traditional work and most of our clients aren’t dicks. It’s been a hell of a trip and we’ve heard from some awesome people. Cheers London Internationals.