5 Minutes with… Evan Roberts

It’s the hard knocks in life that matter. And Evan Roberts does not shy away from them. “I think anything that teaches you humility and builds resilience makes you better. Unfortunately they’re normally hard lessons, he says.

What keeps him going? “Passion beats pressure.” It is the mantra that has guided him through challenges as well as helped him speed up to the finishing line. Evan says, “Have you ever noticed that when you are really excited by an idea, suddenly you’re not so stressed? The deliverables haven’t changed but because you want to be there, because you’re enjoying the work, it suddenly seems manageable. So concentrating on that feeling is my wellness plan for work.”

Currently the chief creative officer of TBWA\Sydney, Evan has weathered the storms and enjoyed the limelight of creative accolades. “We won Cannes and D&AD AOTY in 2017 at Clemenger Melbourne. To be honest, I was not entirely comfortable in the limelight, but it did give me belief in myself, how I work and also that it is possible to do break-out work from anywhere.”

Evan has been creating break-out work over the course of his stellar career, having spent about six years each at Clemenger BBDO and George Patterson Y&R where he rose through the ranks before joining TBWA. It has been 20 years since he made the decision to forge a career in advertising and he remains inspired by the endless opportunities in the industry. “We get a look under the hood of so many categories and businesses. There are no shortages of places to put an idea. They can literally take you anywhere,” he adds. 

Evan is a product of his surroundings, and it is evident from his career track he surrounds himself with the right people and the right energies. “It is important to surround yourself with people you admire and respect, then magpie the little shiny bits you like from them.”

LBB> What are the social causes and agendas that you are passionate about?

Evan> I find myself drawn to social justice issues - consent education is one of the latest things we’ve been working on. Mum was an ESL (English as a second language) teacher to migrants so maybe it was drummed into me early. 

Creatively, I always find myself looking for real human insight; the perfect tone; and I love creating ideas that are genuinely useful to people as well as brands.

 

LBB> Are there any interesting personal passions/projects that mean a lot to you?

Evan> Well I can’t give you the idea, but the context is we’ve have had a lot of drownings at ocean beaches in Australia this summer. I think the way we are teaching people about the ocean is all wrong, it’s exclusive and competitive, so we are working on a solution for that.

 

 
LBB> In the course of your career, you have tackled your share of the big, bold, beautiful – and ugly. Perhaps the most impactful was what you did with the Meet Graham campaign for Transport Accident Commission. How did such a ‘grotesque’ creation become an effective muse for you?
 

Evan> I think the great learning through that process is to hold the idea lightly. Creatively, the hardest thing to do sometimes is let other people mess with your vision. But with Graham we went the other way and allowed collaborators real control, which made him so much better than we ever imagined. 

 

Having all those people involved meant we had the cred to spark a conversation in any field, not that Graham needed much of an introduction. We also released a lot of assets to the public, meaning people could do what they wanted with it, which they definitely did (and are still doing).

 

The only reason we could ‘let go’ was because we knew in the middle of all these conversations was one very simple, very arresting message.

 

LBB> How do you define your creative style and approach? What is your ‘signature’ in the campaigns you have worked on?

Evans> I try to not have a style. Even within the same campaign, you need to create some difference so people notice it and our clients are paying for different, not familiar. That said there are certainly consistent ways I assess ideas.

 

1. All good ideas need to come from a truth. Particularly in earned, it needs to connect to the real world.

2. The idea needs to solve a problem for it to have value (business, consumer, ideally both).

3. The small matter of the idea being entirely original. 

 

LBB> A successful campaign is often perceived as such only when the client thinks it is. What are your thoughts on that? How do you define success and work in alignment with clients for the desired results?

Evan> The best work is successful in everyone’s eyes – especially our clients’. They buy the work, they typically own the work and they take on most of the risk, so yes, it’s vital they’re happy.

 

Defining success before you start work is the important part. Beyond campaign KPIs, we have ambition sessions with our clients so we know what we are all striving for in the long term. Those goals keep us all honest and keep the team united.

 

LBB> TBWA CEO Paul Bradbury has said that you have “a clear point of view on how creativity can be applied across connected customer experiences”. Could you elaborate on that?
 

Evan> Lee Clow (TBWA God Father) said a long time ago that brands are the sum of their experiences – every touch point is an ad. There are now many more ways consumers can engage with brands, requiring us to conduct work across the total brand experience. 

But to get versatility, first you need clarity. Once you have that, you can take that idea to wherever it’s needed. 

 

LBB> Looking ahead, how will you be bringing together the key strengths of Eleven, FleishmanHillard, Integer, Fabric and Bolt in your creative strategy and approach? What’s the creative USP that clients should know about?

 

Evan> We already are. Our best work - R Plates, Classify Consent, Secret (Travel) Agents - involve all of our capabilities coming together to deliver the end product. 

 

TBWA has always been known as The Disruption Company. That’s our USP. I love it because it’s a big promise to live up to and something that signifies the want to always be doing things differently.