Q&A with Toby Talbot, executive judge at Ad Stars – “No heirarchies. No politics. No egos”

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Toby Talbot_thumb.jpgLast year, Toby Talbot (left) returned to Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand as chief creative officer. He spoke to Campaign Brief about indie agencies with zany one-word names, the Publicis awards ban, why he keeps coming back to work in New Zealand, his upcoming gig at Ad Stars, things he’s not-so-good at, and lots more besides.

 

CB: It’s been one year since you took the role as Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand. How’s it going?

TT: It’s been fantastic. It’s been 10 years since I last worked at Saatchi and I’d forgotten the potency of the name. It’s like you look up the word ‘advertising’ in the dictionary and find us. I also walked into an incredible culture that has been nurtured by my partner in the business here, Paul Wilson, since he took over. No hierarchies. No politics. No egos. Just a burning desire to do the best work we can and a strong sense of purpose shared with our clients. I also have a boss in Mike Rebelo who, as well as being Saatchi born and bred, runs Publicis in the region. So I feel much more connected to the potential of our network than I ever felt in previous networks I have belonged to.

 

CB: Now that you’ve settled back in, what are your goals for 2018?

TT: My focus for 2018 is about creating world-changing ideas. We’ve had a year away from awards – which I think on the whole has been applauded by the industry because it’s forced huge money-making machines like Cannes to take stock of how out of control it’s all become. And personally, I’ve enjoyed it as it’s allowed me to focus on people and product. It will be great to get back into awards but, for me, the shiny baubles come easily after you’ve got everything else right. I’m still way more focussed on the Strand, Parnell than the Croisette, Cannes.

CB: You joined a consultancy called Assignment prior to Saatchi NZ, and said you missed being part of a creative agency. What did you miss exactly?

TT: Bottom line is I kissed the wrong girl. I have always worked in agencies where the passion is for the ideas themselves. Strategy for me is the means to the end. At Assignment it was the end. Death by manifesto. Not my thing.

 

CB: After turning around DDB Sydney, you said: “It was a tough turnaround. The agency feared its clients. The work was stale.” Do you think many agencies are scared of their clients today?

TT: I do sadly. Advertising agencies never used to have to question their existence. Now they do. Constantly. Especially if you’re a network agency because at agencies like DDB there are a lot of mouths to feed. So the fear can creep in when you are constantly having to justify everything you do. At Saatchi we have no desire to be the biggest, just the best. We’re big enough to cope and small enough to care. We respect our clients’ business and they respect us for what we can do for them. If neither of those two things happen, things go south very quickly.

 

If you don’t want fear to dominate, you must create trust. And the best way to do that is through great work that works. I found Sydney tiresome in that marketers and marketing press seemed so swayed by largely superficial things. One being indie agencies with zany one word names who make average ads.

 

Look at the work. Whoever does the best work wins. Not who has the best salad bar. That said, fear does have its place for me. I love presenting work and clients feel just a little ‘fear’. If I present work that ‘ticks all the boxes’ that for me is the fear of being predictable, the most terrifying fear of all.

 

CB: #comeonin was one of the most awarded mobile campaigns of 2017. What were some of the logistical challenges? 

TT: It was an honour to work with the very clever folk at Sydney Opera House. We pitched against R/GA for a digital project and, against the odds, won. Logistically, #comeonin required a lot of faith from client and a lot of rope from senior management at DDB to let our best tech people from the agency camp in that building for as long as they had to in order to make this work on Insta. Once we worked out the geolocation challenges and how to respond in real-time, it all came together beautifully. But the first week was hard! Simple ideas always seem effortless but rarely are. Case in point #comeonin

 

CB: You’ve spent most of your career in New Zealand – why?

TT: It’s progressive and sane (led by a progressive and sane Prime Minister I might add, which helps). Primarily I didn’t move here for the advertising though, but because it’s a genuine haven from the madness of the world and 22 years ago it felt like a good idea to raise two small kids here. Now my passport is black and not a horrible shade of maroon and it turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

 

As for finding inspiration here, an old foodie friend once taught me that if you take the cheapest bottle of Balsamic vinegar and slowly reduce it over a low flame in time it thickens up and tastes exactly like the finest Balsamic Vinegar you can buy. New Zealand is small. We give ourselves the opportunity to let great ideas simmer away until they become incredibly potent and world class. Few clients ever disturb that process. That’s why I have stayed here. It’s unique.

 

CB: You are heading to AD STARS in August as an Executive Judge. What are you expecting to find there?

TT: I love the fact that it’s free to enter AD STARS. That’s refreshing. Like most people in the business, I have witnessed big shows like Cannes caught in some kind of crazy arms race between WPP and Omnicom. It’s out of control. When you have an awards show like Cannes awarding ‘Holding Company of the Year’ you know it’s no longer about the work. But that doesn’t matter at AD STARS. They’re democratising awards. Anyone can enter. Anyone can win.

 

Secondly, I am fascinated by the convergence today of technology and humanity. My jury is going to be all about that and amazing examples of this kind of thing are emerging out of Asia right now. I can’t wait to get amongst it.

 

CB: You’re obviously very good at leading high-performing agencies. Is there anything you’re not very good at?

TT: Well, according to the press here, I’m not very good at staying in one place. (Not entirely fair, I might add.) On one occasion when I returned to New Zealand after a year in the UK in 2013, a local business paper ran the headline ‘Serial ship jumper returns to New Zealand’. I framed it. Definitely the funniest thing I have ever read about me.

 

Submit your entries free to Ad Stars before 15th May 2018 via www.adstars.org.