Seeing Something from Multiple Views with Matt Heays

Matt Heays is the creative director at True, with a background that’s taken a less-than-typical route to agency life. He kicked things off with a fine arts degree from Elam, which led to a solid grounding in the design world - working on big brand identity and packaging projects at leading studios.

But it wasn’t long before Matt realised that what really fired him up was thinking bigger - cracking ideas that go beyond the visual and get to the heart of how brands show up in the world. That shift led him into creative direction, eventually taking on the CD role at Melbourne agency Taboo, where he helped shape work that connected culturally and commercially.

Now at True, Matt brings a mix of artistic intuition and strategic thinking to the table. He’s all about creative ideas that not only look good, but really work - ideas with substance, soul, and a bit of edge.

LBB> Person – What kind of creative person are you?

Matt> Art direction and visual storytelling. My creative background isn’t traditional agency and didn’t start with Ad school, instead I went to art school and lot of what I was inspired by creatively, was more likely found in a gallery. I went into motion design and design agencies for years, working primarily across brand, identity and motion design. For me a big part of being creative is seeing something from multiple views. And that multiplicity of perspective hopefully allows you to get to something unique and new.

LBB> Product – How do you judge the creativity of a piece of work?

Matt> The most powerful ideas in creativity do more than just catch our attention, they can shift perspectives and make us feel or think more deeply about the world. For me that kind of work doesn’t come from adding more. It comes from revealing more. Uncovering a truth - a fresh angle on something, maybe overlooked and yet instantly recognisable. It might be a product truth, a brand truth, or a human truth. But it’s got to be interesting. I’ve also always believed in doing more with less. The work that stays with me - and the kind I’m most driven to make - leans on simplicity, space, and restraint.

I think our recent spot for Qantas did just that. A love story between a Kiwi and an Aussie meeting abroad, built on the insight we’re more alike than we often care to admit - and that when we travel, we gravitate toward each other as Antipodean allies. The story unfolded simply and emotionally, set to a reimagined version of Bill Withers’ Just the Two of Us.

Another recent campaign was for New Zealand Cricket: The Backyard Social Club. To reach a younger audience often uninterested in the game, we knew we had to reframe how cricket was perceived. So we flipped the script - social first, cricket second. We leaned into humour, built a cast of personas, and crafted an aesthetic that deliberately broke from traditional sports tropes - drawing on vintage country clubs, backyard parties, and a dose of Kiwi nostalgia.

LBB> Process – Do you prefer to work collaboratively or alone?

Matt> I’m an extrovert that doesn’t mind my own company. Silence is golden so long as I have an active task. But I have a lot of social energy – so most of the time I prefer the volume up and as many perspectives as I can muster.

LBB > Overall, what do you make of the industry’s creative output right now and what’s exciting you about it or frustrating you?

Matt> It’s becoming increasingly common to see designers and creatives begin with what’s trending online as their first step. Not as a reference point, but as a default. I think it’s the habit of starting there that’s worth questioning. It can help unblock thinking, but also prevent getting to the harder, more meaningful process that happens through conversation, critique, exploration to get to something truly original. I think it has a huge on the amount of work being made that feels familiar, if not imitative.

Both exciting and challenging is AI. It’s stirred a lot of new debate on the value and role that creativity has within society at large and people are debating about creative ownership and authenticity at the dinner table – and that’s a really good thing. At its worst, AI spits out the fantasy nonsense littering the internet. But at its best, it can liberate the creative process. Testing ideas and creative critique for example. Forming and shaping the idea and protecting its intent, are the role of the creative. But I believe the benefits of AI as a utility to explore, iterate and evolve is exciting and can be immensely beneficial to the creative process and getting to a stronger and possibly more unexpected end result. And that benefits us as creatives and our clients.

LBB> When it comes to your own creativity, what external factors can really help you fly?

Matt> I like to start by having conversations, with anyone willing, anything at all about the product, brand, or category. Insights can come from any vaguely related topic. Good chat. Curiosity. Most often involving people smarter than me offering up enlightening perspectives that inform a strategic position and a creative leaping off point. Curious conversations even when flawed, often point the way to more original and impactful creative thinking. My arts background I think taught me that powerful ideas often emerge from open-ended exchange - artist and viewer, each bringing their own intent and interpretation. Advertising often has clearer parameters, but I try to bridge the two and look for ways to connect it with the freedom of art.