Tell me about your job.
As creative director, my primary responsibility is to ensure the highest quality of our creative outputs, including developing creative, brand and campaign strategies and making sure that those strategies are executed using strong creative concepts across all mediums, such as websites, e-mail marketing, social media content and billboards.
I spend my days reviewing our creative work. It's where the magic happens, where clients' objectives are met and surpassed, and where awards are crafted. I believe the real art of creativity is in the reviewing, reworking and recrafting.
Most of us skip or avoid online ads when we can - how do you address this?
At G&G we set out to create content that adds value to consumers' lives. In that first instant when an ad pops up, the content has to lure the user in, grab them and drag them into our client's brand content. We set out to do this in various ways, including:
Making the world a better place - all people want to live in a happy, safe and fulfilled world. Content that delivers on this will get attention.
Sharing valuable news - tell your audiences something new and interesting.
Educating and informing - teach your audiences things they don't know and that will enhance their lives.
Entertain - make them laugh, cry and have pleasing and memorable experiences.
What makes your job difficult?
The internet and all other advertising channels are cluttered and congested, making it difficult and costly for brands to stand out. It used to be the brands with the deepest pockets that won. This is no longer the case. The brands with the smartest ideas win. Consumers love brands that touch their lives, make them laugh, cry, feel and resonate. I believe that excellent content and creativity win every time. That's not to say that you don't need to put spend behind your creative ideas, you have to pay to play, but you can make budgets go so much further with quality content and campaigns.
How has the pandemic affected the way you work?
Like most nonessential businesses and service providers, we're working remotely. Our office remains open, and we meet occasionally. We also have generator power, which helps during load-shedding.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was seven or eight. My teacher taught us how to do a mind map before a creative writing project, and it blew my mind.
What is the best career advice, you've ever received and who gave it to you?
"God is in the details." Can't remember which creative director first coined the phrase, but I added an addendum: ". and so is the devil". Beautiful work can be achieved only by focusing on the details. Shoddy work is the result of not focusing on the details.
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