| Do they have the best ideas? In 1966 I was a group head at probably the world’s hottest advertising agency at the time – Papert, Koenig & Lois. You’ve probably never heard of them but my God, they were the talk of the town. They were the first ad agency to go public and seen as even more off the wall than Doyle Dane Bernbach, from which they broke away. (Doyle Dane was described as “a creative zoo” by Bob Levinson, who advised the makers of MadMen) PKL has long since vanished but so many talented people were there it was extraordinary. Brilliant film director Alan Parker (later Sir Alan Parker) was a copywriter. He created one of the best TV ads ever. Peter Mayle – infinitely more able than me – wrote a wonderful book A Year in Provence after leaving advertising. In New York at our head office George Lois was – and still is – one of the world’s best ever art directors. I have a huge book he put together of his work. Here are some examples, not just from advertising. |
| The man who hired – then fired – then rehired – me, all within a week, was Joe Sacco. A born rebel. At one point he couldn’t get work in advertising because he was suspected of being a communist. So he spent a period typing out lading dockets in the New York docks. I can still recall the loud clack-clack-clack as he attacked the keys in the office opposite mine. Somewhere I still have that typewriter, which he gave me when he left the U.K. With one commercial Joe permanently changed the pecking order in one huge business category. This was detergents – then dominated by Unilever and Procter & Gamble. But Joe’s TV ad for Colgate Palmolive’s Ajax shot them into the top three. Joe had noticed that housewives HATED dirt, they saw it as something they had to battle against every day. His ad featured a white knight who charged around bearing a white lance. |
| A chant went on in the background: “Stronger than dirt … stronger than dirt” Everything it touched was miraculously cleaned. This fairy story approach harnessed something infinitely powerful: emotion, which always outguns logic. If you can exploit that you cannot fail. But who would have thought of using a fairy story knight? Several songs came out after that featuring the stronger than dirt line, so it obviously tapped into something very powerful. After my time PKL collapsed in acrimony. Joe later proposed to that I should work with Rosser Reeves as a creative director. Reeves coined the USP – Unique Selling Proposition – idea, and Joe had worked with him. I didn’t take the job. If you look at good creative minds you cannot help but conclude that they tend to lean towards the eccentric. It is logical because ordinary minds don’t produce extraordinary things. If you rely on logic, you will never enjoy the success you deserve. If you’re like everyone else you’ll likely come up with the same ideas as everyone else. And if so you’re unlikely to beat your opposition. If you want ideas that do, get in touch. Best, Drayton P.S. Know anyone who’d appreciate my Bird Droppings? Tell them to sign up to my mailing list here. |
