Birthday and Hal Curtis
For my birthday yesterday, I got to see Hal Curtis talk to the Brash Creative group here at the Art Institute. Hal Curtis is a creative director at Wieden + Kennedy. In addition to hearing some really good advice, we got to look at some of his work. For example:
One of the questions that was asked of Hal was what his thoughts about Tiger were in the wake of the scandal since what was once a valuable marketing tool is now taboo. Hal's response was that there are two kinds of people out there: those who abhor tiger for his sin and those who don't care because they just want to see Tiger play. As a result, any commercial nike runs with Tiger in it is going to evoke strong reactions from the viewers that are both positive and negative and that strong emotions are key to good advertising. While Hal himself personally regretted Tiger's actions, he said that he felt Tiger was trying to get his life back on track.
He mentioned another ad he worked on where they took other famous athletes such as Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, and Lance Armstrong and portrayed them doing another sport aside from the ones in which they are professionals. The idea, I think, was to highlight the fact that superior performance is determined by mental strength so achievement isn't limited just to one sport. The problem was that these professional athletes had honed their skills in their respective sports so finely that their muscle memory worked against them in the sport they played for the commercial. For example, Serena Williams, who was so used to hitting a tennis ball a foot away from her hand with a racket that it proved impossible for her to hit a volleyball with her wrist. Over and over, she completely missed hitting the volleyball she had thrown up to serve.
The general sense I took away from the session was that Creative Directors are a resource. GOOD Creative Directors are, I should say. That is, when a person is in the ad business and given a problem to solve, they can ask for input from their higher ups (and lower downs). He doesn't have to completely rely on himself to tackle the problem. He also invited students to ask CD's at W+K to look over their portfolios for help and tips. It's something I'll make a stab at even though the thought terrifies me as much as it thrills me.
His second point that he made was that a good creative person has to get out and experience/explore life. Each experience is a potential source to draw on when solving a problem. He is constantly telling "his people" to get out of the office and separate work from their personal lives.
Click to viewOne of the questions that was asked of Hal was what his thoughts about Tiger were in the wake of the scandal since what was once a valuable marketing tool is now taboo. Hal's response was that there are two kinds of people out there: those who abhor tiger for his sin and those who don't care because they just want to see Tiger play. As a result, any commercial nike runs with Tiger in it is going to evoke strong reactions from the viewers that are both positive and negative and that strong emotions are key to good advertising. While Hal himself personally regretted Tiger's actions, he said that he felt Tiger was trying to get his life back on track.
He mentioned another ad he worked on where they took other famous athletes such as Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, and Lance Armstrong and portrayed them doing another sport aside from the ones in which they are professionals. The idea, I think, was to highlight the fact that superior performance is determined by mental strength so achievement isn't limited just to one sport. The problem was that these professional athletes had honed their skills in their respective sports so finely that their muscle memory worked against them in the sport they played for the commercial. For example, Serena Williams, who was so used to hitting a tennis ball a foot away from her hand with a racket that it proved impossible for her to hit a volleyball with her wrist. Over and over, she completely missed hitting the volleyball she had thrown up to serve.
The general sense I took away from the session was that Creative Directors are a resource. GOOD Creative Directors are, I should say. That is, when a person is in the ad business and given a problem to solve, they can ask for input from their higher ups (and lower downs). He doesn't have to completely rely on himself to tackle the problem. He also invited students to ask CD's at W+K to look over their portfolios for help and tips. It's something I'll make a stab at even though the thought terrifies me as much as it thrills me.
His second point that he made was that a good creative person has to get out and experience/explore life. Each experience is a potential source to draw on when solving a problem. He is constantly telling "his people" to get out of the office and separate work from their personal lives.