Alex Greatest is a co-founder and CEO of Wonderhood Studios. He has held senior posts at businesses together with CHI&Companions, Wieden+Kennedy London, Fallon and TBWA.
1/ Why does London want one other inventive company?
In the event you have a look at the sheer variety of advert businesses in London, you possibly can argue that it doesn’t. Nonetheless, new firms carry new methods of working, pondering and most significantly, new vitality to the trade.
We began Wonderhood with the ambition of making an organization that’s going to be round for years to come back and we’ve solely simply began on that journey. With the tempo of media change and fragmentation, there’s a enormous alternative for brand new inventive businesses like Wonderhood. Our TV Studio provides us the distinctive alternative to assist take manufacturers into locations that different businesses discover exhausting to succeed in and that can at all times be fascinating for bold purchasers who’re in search of new methods to speak to their clients.
2/ Critics say the UK has fallen behind within the international inventive stakes. Is that this honest?
This can be a powerful one, what are we judging this on? Awards at Cannes? I’m very cautious of the massive quantity of awards fodder being produced by the large community businesses. I learnt a helpful lesson at Wieden+Kennedy that awards must be the output of famously efficient work moderately than the enter. Final yr, our Knowledge Studio did evaluation on essentially the most talked about adverts of the yr they usually weren’t essentially the award winners at D&AD or Cannes, they have been manufacturers like Belvedere and Aldi which genuinely resonated with their viewers.
Total, I don’t suppose our trade and purchasers have gotten their confidence again for the reason that pandemic. We’ve had a struggle in Ukraine and a cost-of-living disaster which has led purchasers to shift their focus away from model constructing. Enterprise pressures imply that they’re typically working in a local weather of concern, and it’s exhausting to provide nice inventive work on this surroundings.
I really like the Warren Buffet quote about investing, “be fearful when others are grasping and grasping when others are fearful”. I believe the identical mindset ought to apply to advertising and proper now’s the perfect time to be inventive as a result of your competitors is paralysed by concern, so that you’ve bought an enormous alternative to face out.
3/ What’s the primary job of inventive promoting in an more and more digital world?
It’s what it has at all times been and at all times will likely be – model fame. Our job must be to get manufacturers talked about as a result of when your clients are speaking a few model, they’re extra doubtless to decide on the model with regards to the acquisition resolution.
We’ve developed an method at Wonderhood referred to as ‘Two Velocity Advertising’ to generate model fame, bucketing a shopper’s communications as both ‘Large’ or ‘Quick’.
‘Large’ are your extra conventional broadcast media campaigns. They’re ruthlessly constant and attraction at a nationwide degree. Nonetheless, we are able to’t simply depend on ’Large’ to ship model fame anymore as a result of lack of shared media experiences. There was a time when you possibly can place your advert in a prime-time Saturday spot on ITV and know that a lot of the nation would see it. If the advert was exceptional, a lot of individuals would speak about it. That doesn’t exist anymore, so our Knowledge Studio has developed a second ‘Quick’ velocity of brand name comms – continually disruptive, non-traditional PR and social concepts. These concepts are likely to attraction to particular segments, are predominantly earned and transfer on the velocity of tradition.
With AI set to degree the enjoying subject by way of a model’s always-on/CRM communication, unique pondering would be the one benefit manufacturers have over their competitors. The purchasers who perceive that model fame is important moderately than a nice-to-have would be the success tales of the longer term.
4/Wonderhood combines an company with a considerable movie and TV enterprise. How does this profit each arms?
It helps us within the Promoting Studio in two methods:
Firstly, we get the chance to create prime-time long-form content material for purchasers. Wonderhood was based with the intention to show you can produce entertaining and well-liked reveals that aren’t solely funded by a model however have their message woven naturally into the narrative. Our present Tremendous Surgeons for Macmillan Most cancers Help is proof that this mannequin might be extremely efficient for manufacturers in addition to for the broadcaster. It was Channel 4’s second greatest 10pm launch of 2022 with over 1 million viewing figures, while additionally making Macmillan the 4th most talked-about model and most talked-about charity within the UK.
Secondly, working with the TV Studio has helped to get us out of the London bubble and perceive what reveals are shifting the needle culturally. The viewers knowledge equipped by the broadcasters comprises a treasure trove of insights that we are able to apply to our purchasers.
For the TV studio, we assist them to market their reveals and encourage them to think about their reveals extra like manufacturers. You solely have to have a look at how Stranger Issues has marketed itself to see the inventive alternative with regards to promoting TV reveals. Our Design Studio additionally helps them with the branding and visible identification of their reveals, together with creating TX playing cards for the launch of a brand new sequence and the titles featured inside every episode.
5/Which people and businesses have most affected you?
Jon Burley, Jim Bolton, and Steve Henry at HHCL. HHCL was my first job in London and Jon, Jim and Steve have been all vastly inspiring in several methods. Steve’s ardour for creativity and doing issues in another way. Jon confirmed me the significance of craft and a spotlight to element by way of each stage of the inventive course of. Jim was a very completely different thinker from anybody I’d ever met earlier than and he bought me to suppose in another way concerning the world (principally over a day pint!) He additionally wrote Blackcurrant Tango, so I used to be a bit starstruck.
Wealthy Flintham at Fallon. Wealthy was a genius. Typically extremely scary however he had wonderful inventive style and wished to maintain pushing the work. He confirmed me the facility of constructing an unbelievable staff. On the time, Fallon’s inventive division consisted of Juan Cabral, Jon Allison & Chris Bovill, Sam Walker & Joe DeSouza, Sam Hibbard and Dan Watts and it was an absolute honour to work with all of them.
Tony Davidson, Kim Papworth and Neil Christie at Wieden+Kennedy. Tony and Kim have been the driving inventive drive behind the success of Wieden’s. They have been so completely different however complemented one another superbly. They taught me to maintain pushing the work on, by no means settle, and hold going as a result of it could solely get higher. Neil was the MD, and I learnt so much about how you can keep cool in a disaster and how you can at all times attempt to clear up issues moderately than be carried away by emotion.
6/Title and clarify an advert or marketing campaign that exemplifies inventive promoting for you.
I’ve bought a load of campaigns that I may wax lyrical about, Cadbury Gorilla, Meals Deserves Lurpak, Sony Balls, Blackcurrant Tango, Meet the Superhumans, Skoda Cake, John Lewis Christmas however I’m going to must go together with three adverts that also check the time. If these movies had by no means been made and got here out at the moment, they’d nonetheless set the world alight.
1/PlayStation Double Life – Don’t underestimate the facility of PlayStation
I really like the perception behind this spot and the copywriting is gorgeous. Combining that with a set of photos which are so surprising makes this advert one in every of my favourites.
2/Guinness Surfer
Good issues come to those that wait, might be the perfect promoting line ever written. Every little thing concerning the advert is ideal, the casting, the music, you may see how a lot care and a spotlight was put into it, emotion is dripping from its veins.
3/Honda Cog
Isn’t it nice when adverts simply work..I bear in mind being within the pub when this got here on throughout the soccer and the entire pub fell silent because the hypnotic visuals hit the display. A pleasure to look at.
