5 Minutes With… Reed Collins

Sydney, Johannesburg, London, New York, Chicago and now Hong Kong – to suggest that Reed Collins’ career has been international would be an understatement. He’s recently started a new role as CCO in Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong, working on the local brands set for world domination. LBB’s Editor, Gabrielle Lott caught up with Reed to find out more about the new post and to pick his brain about Asia’s Cannes contenders.

LBB> Three months into the role and this is a new position here. Two questions: why Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong? And why the need for this role now within the agency? 

RC> I am a bit of a travel whore. I’ve worked in New York, Chicago, Johannesburg, London and Sydney. I thought it would be good to work in a progressive market like Hong Kong.  I wasn’t ready to step into Shanghai and Singapore didn’t appeal. Hong Kong felt like a really exciting place – not because it’s a little more familiar as an outsider, but it feels like a gateway into China. A lot of Chinese brands will be exporting themselves around the world in the coming decades, replacing the western companies trying to gain traction in China. I thought that was an exciting proposition and Ogilvy has a great stature within the region. 

The work here has not been exceptional over the years, but this office has done reasonably well creatively. Obviously, financially it’s done very well. We have a lot more local clients and headquarter clients here in HK. That’s a great thing, it means it’s not just multinationals or adapting work from London or New York for an Asian audience. It’s originating here to be shown outside of HK as well as within this market.  

Secondly, why is it the right time to have a CCO here? I think it increases the creative standing of a key market like Hong Kong. More importantly, the group needs a point of view and a focus across the board. My job is to make sure that everyone collaborates more effectively and produces better work, better ideas. It means we can use the expertise of these groups or units to better effect. 

LBB> How did you end up in advertising? And how did you end up working all over the globe?

RC> I started in Perth about 20 years ago. I studied design in college. I have a BA in design, majoring in advertising. The standard in the school I was at wasn’t great and, like a lot of Australians, I did award school. It’s a 12 week course with people in agencies. I decided to give it a try and I was kind of successful. I came second place in the stakes and was lucky enough to get a job from that in Sydney. I think I was 20 at the time. 

LBB> And that was Publicis Mojo? 

RC> Yes. That was kind of exciting because I got to meet really talented people whose work I loved. They did great stuff and were in the D&AD the year before. I couldn’t help but think that was cool. The work was great.

The creative director at the time was trying to turn a not so great agency into something special, which he eventually did manage to do, many times over. That sparked the journey; it made me want to work at great agencies, no matter where they were.

At the time I looked through an annual with my partner and made a list of who we thought was good. The location didn’t count, as we were only 21. The next spot was Hunt Lascaris – we stalked John Hunt in a Sydney hotel. He just happened to be there judging a show, so we thought “that’s one of the agencies on our list”. He graciously let us have breakfast with him. When we told him we wanted to go to Johannesburg he was surprised, but said “sure”. 

We went there and funnily enough, that’s where I met Tony Granger, the art director and CD at the time. South Africa was a developing market. They did great work and I had a lot of fun doing it. Then we thought that maybe we should go to London where the (said now in a British thespian voice) “masters are, the crafts people”…

It was great to work with some of the ‘gods’ of advertising. We joined Lowe and worked with people like Derek Apps, Vince Squibb, Paul Silburn and Charles Inge. Super, super talented people. It was more old-school. Creatives were creative. You gave the work to the account man and they went off and sold it to the client. 

In London, the weather was shit and I had to get the hell out.

At the time the people who were doing the craziest work on the planet were Cliff Freeman & Partners. As such, we wanted to work there and oddly enough someone was stupid enough to hire us. I thought it was going to be this crazy, wacky agency in New York City, but everyone was wearing button down shirts and looked very smart and business-like. On the other hand they did super crazy stuff that no one else on the planet was making. Violence, humour, things that are disgusting – really pushing what advertising could be. It was a 30’ comedy shop. You got to make 30’ skits. That’s what I got to do there for three years – which was a whole lot of fun. 

After New York, I realised I loved America – it was decent and good to me. I decided to go to Chicago and work for a massive agency - Leo Burnett - because I wanted that experience.
 

LBB> You got to make Superbowl spots, work on brands like Altoids, McDonald’s, and Nike… Big global campaigns, big brands. What was that like? 

RC> Yes, big, serious brands. I was there for nine years and it was fantastic.

LBB> And you were working with Mark Tuttsell?

RC> Yes, great man… He was trying to change the face of Leo Burnett Chicago, the headquarters, after he’d done great work in London. It was great to be a part of that and try to change the perceptions of a big corporate American agency with great serious clients. I got to do fun stuff for them, on brands like Altoids, Nintendo, Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola…

 

After nine years I started to think about what I was going to do next. I could have stayed there, but I realised I was feeling comfortable and decided it was time to scare myself. My parents missed me and I realised I wanted to be closer to the family for a while. Sydney is a five hour flight from Perth, but at least we were on the same island. 

That was fun because I got to work at an iconic advertising agency called Campaign Palace. Historically it had done a lot of great work but it had lost its luster considerably… and sadly, two years later it’s no longer there. No matter how creative you are, it’s never enough to keep an agency afloat. It has to be financially stable and have new business revenue and money coming in through the door to function. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. 

LBB> Your resume has three pages of awards. How important are they to you and the agency? 

RC> In my career I have never set out to win awards. I think it’s a nice reward, but that’s all. For any creative company, it’s just a by-product, but it’s a nice one. I think you need to set a standard and let everyone, from the client to the office staff, know what good work is.  It helps people know what these standards are and what other people are doing around the world. You attract talent, you keep talent and you gain new business. It’s not just about the trophy cabinet, it’s about what lies beneath those shiny objects that is valuable and valid. 

LBB> How do you find and source creative talent? 

RC> In terms of staffing, it comes back to the success of a company and people’s interest in working at a place. Everyone wants to work at W+K, everyone wants to work at CP+B, everyone wants to work at Jung Von Matt, and everyone wants to work at BBH in London right? Their job’s a little easier, in terms of attracting talent. However I also think creatives going to those places have a far harder job than they would trying to create surprising ideas in more unexpected places. I believe that it’s more rewarding for creatives to do great work where it has been unproven. 

In terms of attracting talent, I think there are a few avenues that have worked best. The youth, the people straight out of college who are hungry and passionate with a curious spirit and want to try something new, are really valued and important. We need youth for the energy and passion, to keep the department fresh and to prosper. In terms of Hong Kong specifically, it is an international city and as such, we shouldn’t just be the best in Hong Kong.

This year we were yet again awarded as best agency of the year for the sixth year running (Marketing Magazine Awards). We should be nurturing and breeding local talent but at the same time we should be influenced by outside sources. We have global brands here, so we need a global perspective on the work that we create and the ideas we represent. 

LBB> Is there a project or piece of work that has resonated with you in the last 12 months? 

RC> The last campaign that I created while I was at the Campaign Palace for the NSW Rural Fire Service, ‘Planning to make a plan, is not a plan’. It’s been super successful and highly effective in Australia and people have loved it. It’s popped up at a lot of award shows in the last few months – D&AD, One Show, Clio.  

 

It’s dark comedy. I guess I’d never really had the chance before to take such a serious subject matter, with such a consistent message, and that had repeatedly used the same approach. In Australia I think you have a bit more license to talk frankly and add a bit of humour to it. 

 

LBB> 2013 – what is it looking like for for you? You obviously have a massive task, but work-wise, what’s in the pipeline? 

RC> The first month here has been about getting to know everyone. Shaking hands, finding out what’s working, what’s not working, what can be done better and identifying where the opportunities lie. I’m really focusing on putting attention on clients that we should be being more proactive with. Bringing them ideas, considering their business problem on a daily basis, rather than just waiting for a brief to turn up. It means you’re already involved in what they are trying to do and can recognise opportunities and solutions. 

You have to pick your battles instead of going in and forcing everything to be great. I like to have people working in a collaborative, pleasant environment where we get along and have fun doing it. I don’t believe in a dictatorship in creative direction. The best work is always done when you have people on your side. I’m not just talking about creatives, I’m talking about planners, digital departments, accounts, whoever it is… It has to be across the board and it has to permeate through everything that we do and how we act and operate. 

I was really pleasantly surprised when I arrived here by how open people are to new ideas and ways of working. I haven’t been told “no” yet or that I’m being an arse hole, so fingers crossed that continues.

We have new work coming out for Shangri-la Hotels. We have three massive digital launches for them. There’s a huge event, social and digital ideas surrounding each of them and each is very different for each execution. They will be rolling out over the next six months. 

There are so many awesome opportunities here. I asked several weeks ago for all of the logos of all of the brands that we have, so I could work out what we had to focus on and identify our opportunities. We have everything! Through PR, Social, Digital, Red Works, Action One – we’ve got Ikea, the Economist, Mercedes-Benz, Smartone, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Tudor, Shangri-La, KFC, Pizza Hut… It’s endless. You think of it, we have it somewhere. And then, someone gets a phone call because they know someone in town - that’s how it is in Hong Kong, which is kind of awesome.

LBB> Talk to us about your first project here in Hong Kong, Shop Elsewhere?

RC> It’s a collaboration that was initiated from Ogilvy Group, through Social and Action to build a platform to help local fashion. 

It came about through connections with the fashion industry in Hong Kong. It’s all about the spirit of creative collaboration and embracing creativity of the city.

This is one example of Ogilvy trying to build a platform. Its role is to try and collaborate with this creative community in a way that benefits both of us. We built the mobile site here, internally. We partnered with different brands and other designers can go to the site and get in touch if they want to be a part of this. We hope it’s something that will grow – we’re already talking to different markets within Asia through our network to enlist people. It’s about promoting independent trade and a chance for us to give something back to our communities. 

We are also on the board of a new festival called ‘Very Hong Kong’. We are intimately involved in the output of the festival and what it needs to become. I think it was initiated by a group of architects and the HK government approves it. Again, it’s another instance of Ogilvy trying to raise the flag of creativity and make this city a creative mecca. 

LBB> What are your predictions for the Cannes Lions this year and what do you hope to see from the Asian market?

RC> Check this site out, a little something we created for Cannes predictions here at Ogilvy HK: www.cannesgrandpurse.com

Naturally I'm pulling for Ogilvy’s entry shopelsewhere.hk but some other favorites of mine are 'Bridge of Life' from Korea and Japan’s 'Eclipse: Live from Fujiyama'.