Spotlight: Kevin Roddy Executive Creative Director, Bartle Bogle Hegarty
Monday, January 2 2006
Published on AllBusiness.com
You've worked with huge global brands such as Coca-Cola. Does that give you an extra sense of responsibility? Or do you approach each client in the same way?
I approach each client with the same respect and vigor no matter how big or small. Sometimes the client's size dictates a process, but as far as I'm concerned I don't think size matters. You have to work hard to get an idea across whether it is for something small like a pair of socks or something huge like Coca-Cola.
BBH in England, mainly through its work with Levi's in the 1980s, is a legend in British advertising. Would it be fair to say that BBH is still building its reputation in the States? If that is the case was this part of the challenge for you?
BBH in London is the best agency in the world because of its ability to do great work along a broad spectrum of client types, one of which is Levi's. Without a doubt, it is still building its reputation in the U.S. In the U.K. it is easier to become famous quickly, while in the U.S. it takes longer. BBH in the
U.S. might have a great reputation amongst the advertising community, but in the U.S. amongst the client community it is almost invisible. As far as I'm concerned this job is top of the pyramid. It is a challenge to get BBH in the U.S. to work, but I have full weight of BBH London behind me and lot of support here.
While at Fallon you worked on the Timberland account. The print ads shot by David Harriman almost single-handedly created a new genre of "gritty reality" advertising. What's your take on that?
David Harriman was absolutely perfect for what we set out to do. The idea was to vilify the indoors as a way of getting people out. There are so many ad campaigns where you see people at the top of a mountain or riding a bike and the copy says: "You should be here." We wanted to turn the camera around and show people how horrible the indoors is and say to people: "Look at how miserable it is in here. Get out." We didn't want to glamorize the indoors, we wanted to make it real and we needed a photographer to convey that. David did a brilliant job and the whole campaign was a very collaborative process. I was upset by the fact that Timberland only ran it for one year and then they wanted to change it.
Is it harder or easier to be creative in a slow economy?
The truth is that it is never easy to be creative. It might be easier to sell creative at certain economic points. But for me it is hard work. Clients do get more conservative and scared when the economy is tight. When that happens you will get people who are less
I approach each client with the same respect and vigor no matter how big or small. Sometimes the client's size dictates a process, but as far as I'm concerned I don't think size matters. You have to work hard to get an idea across whether it is for something small like a pair of socks or something huge like Coca-Cola.
BBH in England, mainly through its work with Levi's in the 1980s, is a legend in British advertising. Would it be fair to say that BBH is still building its reputation in the States? If that is the case was this part of the challenge for you?
BBH in London is the best agency in the world because of its ability to do great work along a broad spectrum of client types, one of which is Levi's. Without a doubt, it is still building its reputation in the U.S. In the U.K. it is easier to become famous quickly, while in the U.S. it takes longer. BBH in the
U.S. might have a great reputation amongst the advertising community, but in the U.S. amongst the client community it is almost invisible. As far as I'm concerned this job is top of the pyramid. It is a challenge to get BBH in the U.S. to work, but I have full weight of BBH London behind me and lot of support here.
While at Fallon you worked on the Timberland account. The print ads shot by David Harriman almost single-handedly created a new genre of "gritty reality" advertising. What's your take on that?
David Harriman was absolutely perfect for what we set out to do. The idea was to vilify the indoors as a way of getting people out. There are so many ad campaigns where you see people at the top of a mountain or riding a bike and the copy says: "You should be here." We wanted to turn the camera around and show people how horrible the indoors is and say to people: "Look at how miserable it is in here. Get out." We didn't want to glamorize the indoors, we wanted to make it real and we needed a photographer to convey that. David did a brilliant job and the whole campaign was a very collaborative process. I was upset by the fact that Timberland only ran it for one year and then they wanted to change it.
Is it harder or easier to be creative in a slow economy?
The truth is that it is never easy to be creative. It might be easier to sell creative at certain economic points. But for me it is hard work. Clients do get more conservative and scared when the economy is tight. When that happens you will get people who are less