Russell Davies

RUSSEL DAVIES: INTERVIEW WITH A PLANNER

Russell Davies (we like him) is Head of Planning at W+K London since 2001. The same year he returned from the States where he worked at W+K Portland for nearly 6 years. W+K London (Russel’s current alma mater) has won in the last 12 months: "Best Commercial of the Year" at the BTAA awards; 2 Silver Awards at 2004 Campaign Press Awards; 2 Golds for "Best Creative Brief and Briefing" and "Best Campaign for Established Product/Brand" at 2003 APG Strategic Planning Awards and most recently got a Grandy (grand Prix) at 2004 Andy Awards.

1.
Hidden: Nearly 16 years ago, John Philip Jones (in Admap) suggested that British ads under-used rational claims unlike the American ones. Apparently he observed that in Britain there seemed to be a greater emphasis on user-imagery (creative advertising), and in the US more emphasis on product functionality (advertising that sells). Nevertheless it is common knowledge that in the UK, people generally enjoy and approve of advertising, while in the US it is generally considered intrusive. Since you worked in America for nearly 6 years at W+K Portland, what are, in your personal opinion, the great cultural differences between the British and the American advertising industry?
Russell: I don't think I'm that qualified to talk about this since I only ever worked at W+K. And we're not exactly typical. But I think a lot of people get the wrong impression about advertising in the US because they don't think about the relative size of markets and the people who get to advertise.
What I mean is this - in the UK (and probably most of Europe) not many people are big enough to advertise on TV. Big brands, big retailers, people who put a lot of time and energy and thought into the advertising they do. In the US everyone gets to be on TV; car dealers, local retaillers, mom and pop stores, everyone. So TV there is the equivalent of local newspapers here.
If you actually compare like with like, I don't think the ad cultures are that different. There's hard-selling things in both markets, there are Budweiser Frogs in both markets.

2.
Hidden: How has the planning culture evolved in American agencies since it was imported by Jay Chiat in the early 1980s?
Russell: Don't know really. There are obviously tons of really good American planners now, but they still seem to be importing Brits. Planning seems to be less of a community over there, because it's so geographically dispersed. It probably hasn't evolved that much, it hasn't evolved that much here either.

3.
Hidden: Strategic Planning vs creative planning: What are they? Two different names for the same thing? Or two different disciplines?
Russell: Just words. Neither of them very good names for what we actually do.

4.
Hidden: A good creative brief should always include ….. ??
Russell: A picture. a deadline. a lot of ideas.

5.
Hidden: Is there any specific rule of thumb you like to apply whenever you develop a strategy / brief?
Russell: The more good ideas you put in the front end the more good ideas you'll get out the back end.

6.
Hidden: What is your opinion on integrated communications? Do you think that different creative ideas should be used in different and fragmented media? Or, to be more effective, a good idea should fit and travel across the same media?
Russell: Some ideas are better as ads, some are better as DM, some are better as both. The ones that are better as both are really hard to find so you often end up with something that makes good print, good DM, good events, good TV, good etc but will never be excellent in any channel. It depends what you want. Obviously the ideal is to be excellent everywhere, and sometimes you can be. But often you have to decide between being good everywhere or being excellent in one place. It depends on your communications priorities.

7.
Hidden: Guerilla marketing - a buzzword or a truly buzzing strategy to connect with sceptical consumers who don’t pay attention to the conventional media noise?
Russell: No-one pays attention to conventional media noise. People only pay attention to stuff they want to pay attention to. There's only good marketing and bad marketing, good ideas and bad ideas. There as many bad ideas which piss consumers off in 'guerilla marketing' as everywhere else. Probably more so. It's easy to ignore a bad tv commerical - it's harder to ignore a bad street team. Some would see that as a virture, I see it as a failing.

8.
Hidden: Emotional branding/ love brands? Is this just jargon?
Russell: How can you have non-emotional branding? This is just jargon, but if the jargon changes the debate a bit then that's good. I don't think Kevin Roberts is the Einstein of branding, but at least he's trying to change the language a little.

9.
Hidden: On the future of brands and advertising - Is direct marketing or PR the future as some are saying (for example: Al Ries)?
Russel: The future is clear. People will only want to interact with stuff they want to interact with. Whatever it is. DM. PR. Events. Whatever. The only thing we'll have to do is build communications stuff that's respectful, entertaining, appropriate, engaging. That's the future.

10.
Hidden: You wrote in the FT Creative Business (October 2002): “Our interaction with real people is via databases, laptops and reports. We have more information but less understanding”. Should planners and creatives go out more often to the streets, to the points of purchase, to the consumers’ natural habitat?
Russell: Everyone should go out more. We all spend too much time at our desks. And we all rely on third hand experience too much, but given the contraction in the industry it's probably unrealistic to expect that to change much.

11.
Hidden: Account planning is not a mono-discipline. What skills and knowledge do you think a planner should possess in order to hit the consumer “sweet spot”?
Russell: A planner needs to know how to: present well, enthuse creatives, edit films, take photographs, excite clients, lead agencies, write ads, analyze research, talk to anyone, read a lot, get excited by brands, tell the truth under difficult circumstances, make a decent cup of tea, write well, build relationships with traffic and production, clear the photocopier, deliver gravitas, speed read email, spread optimism.

12.
Hidden: This is for all the art directors and copywriters out there: How did London’s W+K planning team influenced the idea and execution behind the extraordinary Honda ‘Cog’ TV spot? What role did planning and strategy play there?
Russell: We did nothing. The creatives did it all by themselves.

Cheers for the interview Russell.

Saatchi & Saatchi London: "Carlsberg"


"Have a great Christmas. Leave the car at home."

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Bartle Bogle Hegarty: "Lynx"


This 'Christmas cracker' on an advent calendar stays true to Bartle Bogle Hegarty's
humorous ads for Lever Fabergé's Lynx deodorant brand

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MOther London: "Free the laptop"



"95% of all laptops are born into captivity"

2004 ANDY AWARDS JUDGING



This Year's Judges [amongst others]:
Alex Bogusky | Crispin Porter + Bogusky; David Baldwin | McKinney & Silver; Arthur Bijur | Cliff Freeman
and Partners; Harry Cocciolo | Goodby Silverstein & Partners; Marie-Catherine Dupuy | TBWA/ France; Tony Granger | Saatchi & Saatchi, London; William Gelner | Bartle Bogle Hegarty; Ty Montague | Wieden + Kennedy New York; Bob Scarpelli | DDB Chicago; Mark Waites | Mother, London; Guy Seese | Cole & Weber/ Red Cell; Mark Tutssel | Leo Burnett, USA.

VCCP, London: "O2"

TBWA\Paris, "Potato Man"



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Leo Burnett Chicago, "Stab"

Do you remember this TV spoT?



[Cool interviEw with a Planner]
Soon ...
... verY soon!!

Note: this is not a teaser or a viral campaign.

SUTTON LANE: "Michael Wilkinson Exhibition"



"The Boss is Always Right", 2004 | "I Hate Mondays", 2004

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"Big" CD's talking



What do Jeff Goodby, Lee Clow, Bob Isherwood and David Droga all have in common besides being worldwide Creative Directors at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; TBWA; Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis? Find out in this excellent Canadian website: I Have an Idea

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Euro RSCG, Lisbon: "UEFA Euro 2004"




"In Portugal, the extra-time is always the best part of the game."

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"Persil Capsules in the Daily Mirror"

Campaign objectives Persil were launching their new capsules variant with the objective of building a high level of brand awareness and brand saliency. A key aim of the campaign was to give the launch 'event' status and inject newsworthiness. The key competitor was Ariel which had already launched its capsules variant into the market. The campaign The campaign launched with a flying green capsule landing in Leicester Square on Thursday 10 May. Patrick Moore identified it as a Persil Capsule. Advertising began on Friday 11 May in national newspapers, TV and radio. In addition, internet advertising launched on 7 May. The Daily Mirror ran a two page, colour, editorial and 25x4 ads ran in all the other national newspapers. The advertorial was a mock-up of a real news page. Campaign impact NOP Omnibus telephone research was carried out across 11-13 May 2003 with a sample size of 1,000 adults to specifically look at the impact of the newspaper advertorial. The technique used allowed the impact of the Daily Mirror editorial to be isolated from the other elements of the campaign.

Danish Creatives in Maiorca
wELCOME TO oRANGE cOUNTY


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Revisiting a Classic Ad

"M&M candies melt in your mouth, not in your hand." - Rosser Reeves


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Russel Davies ...
> Experiences and insights from a planner (W+K London) and its blog


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" THE CREATIVITY OF THE 21st CENTURY WILL BE FUSIONAL OR NOTHING "

"The first age of advertising was merely persuasion, the second seduction, and now we are entering the prime of life, the age of integration. No creative idea will find house-room unless it is capable of boosting with the same force of imagination an ad, a poster, a commercial, an event, a promotion, a mail shot." - Jacques Séguéla, CEO Havas Group


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WINKREATIVE: "Time Magazine"
How to get a magazine like Time and turn it aspirational and young, without compromising its traditional equity?