Content That Connects: Dave Rolfe’s ‘Craft Ingenuity’ is a Combination of Technology, Audience, and Making

Any piece of content for a brand means little if it never manages to connect with its target audience, a statement to ponder in this new interview series from Comcast Technology Solutions and Little Black Book. 

Over the course of this series, we’ll be speaking to some of advertising’s most respected production leaders to delve into how emerging themes in production, such as data-fuelled production, more lo-fi shooting technology, remote filming, and evolving feelings towards the value of production all feed into creating content that matters to customers and works for brands.

One of the leading voices in the industry on what really resonates with audiences today is Dave Rolfe, global head of production at WPP and Hogarth where he’s been working on implementing and evolving a modern production model on a foundation of technology-led creation. Finding inspiration in how consumers buy is central to Dave’s approach to production and he’s encouraging everyone to look at how creativity can add to the buying journey, instead of “simply interrupting watching.”

Technology, audience, and making come together in ‘Craft Ingenuity’ at Hogarth and its studios, with Dave spearheading a deeper understanding of how audience insights (the intelligence that is now the natural part and parcel of the making process) can be used to further attract and delight audiences. 

Today we spoke to Dave about how creativity can be embedded into the buying journey, what judging in the Film Craft category was like at this year’s Cannes Lions, and which trait is most fruitful for all producers to have. 

LBB> You were at Cannes Lions again this year. What was the mood like and what did you enjoy most about the festival?

Dave> Alive and kicking, is how it felt, as ever. For me it was an industrious week, with some judging, panels, client meal or two, and I hosted a distinguished group this year in association with our 50 years of hip-hop panel (rapper Lady London, Londell McMillan of The Source, and Kevin Liles, CEO of 300 Entertainment). The festival was abuzz with everything from Foo Fighters’ occupation of the Croisette (is there really an underground tunnel that goes from beach to other side of the street?), embracement of—or resistance to—gen-AI and plenty of progressive forums with introspection on the industry.

LBB> Can you give us a little glimpse into what judging was like for the Film Craft Lions?

Dave> There’s palpable gravity to it. It’s such an honour to judge, and the room senses the importance from the first session onward. You could look at the judging like a sporting event—the stage is set in the beginning, then course through in phases, there’s small victories and defeats along the way and then the final moments… anything can happen. To spend hours upon hours in discussion with no assurance of what will happen in the last fifteen minutes is exhilarating. We surprised ourselves (and the festival crowd at the Palais) with our final selection—‘We Cry Together’ —it epitomises why Cannes Lions is such an exciting week.

LBB> What’s your attitude towards award ceremonies in general? Do awards always reward the best work?

Dave> I would say awards are pretty dependably “accurate.” I suppose they don’t reserve enough of a nod toward sheer populism as they probably could. I’ve always thought that if I was on a jury 15 years ago that might have judged the Shamwow guy, I would have pushed for gold.

LBB> You probably heard the words ‘craft’ and ‘creativity’ over and over at the festival and last year you said you can’t quite put your finger on craft now. Has your position changed at all? And how do you think the meaning is evolving at Cannes Lions too?

Dave> Well craft is the manufacturing layer of creativity—it marks the iterative phase of thinking. I still think we index too much on what I’d term 'premium craft,' in awards forums. At the same time, I think we’ve evolved from our denial that marketing needs to be singularly premium from a standpoint of traditional 'production value.'

We had a kids’ friend over that doesn’t like nor watch movies (which presented an adult dinnertime disruption!)—she only likes watching video, via whatever platform—so we’re talking about a pre-teen that only watches creator-based video, in entirety. We have not heralded-- nor utilised-- audience-based co-creation in our craft to the degree it warrants. I’d argue that our creativity is there, but our craft methodology still lags in terms of embracing the outlets available to us— and AI only adds to the heap.

LBB> As the global head of production at WPP/Hogarth, how does your role interact with the creative and digital sides of business?

Dave> I spend all of my time working digitally and with creative, as WPP/Hogarth HOP—I view production as the manifestation of those things. And the crossover amongst medium, thinking and making is a daily, speeding blur!

LBB> What kind of role does technology play in how content connects with audiences? Or, to put it another way, is new always better?

Dave> Technology and medium impact our making methods wayyyy more than they used to. The making process—and the assets and experiences thereof-- have more baked-in intelligence than we’ve seen (nor utilised to the fullest, yet). At Hogarth and its studios, we call it ‘Craft Ingenuity,’ which highlights the relationship between technology, audience and making. We know our audiences better than ever, so why not make in accord?

LBB>In a previous interview you said that production “must embrace how consumers buy, not just how they watch.” Can you elaborate on this, with some examples if possible?

Dave> The journey that drives commerce is not just mechanical— these disparate and variously connected touchpoints can each provide unique creative opportunities. 

I see our communications and experiences—and whatever emotional levity thereof—along with our more hard-working assets or modules as all having some form of utility: whether it’s because I’m laughing my way into affinity, discovering a value attribute or simply being conveniently cued to buy. We can track the journey to purchase better than ever, so that’s how we will build our marketing experiences.

For instance, creatively speaking…

The most beloved soft drink on the planet energises me via a new track release from a major global artist, on Spotify, and later that week I see it as a two minute ad-as-music-video on the Grammys, and the next afternoon my favourite Dutch gamer-creator just Twitched something related— I can generate my own version via my favourite game character. Three weeks later I caught something connective, a version from a regional artist, while I went to the largest music festival in my country (somewhere in S. America), and the festival had QR codes and a localised AR experience on TikTok that allowed me to join (and share) the silly-but-addictive dance manoeuvre, which simultaneously piqued a deeper subconscious summer interest.. thirst. Seventy feet away there’s a constantly if not miraculously shifting participatory display of a global AR-based product interplay via pop-up at the festival— or at my subway stop on the route home, or at the charging station I needed to get my friends and me home, they’re all connected anyway—and that gets me to the drink I want now, plus readies me for the voice-related Amazon cue that enables more to be delivered by the time my friends return to my flat a few days later, to re-watch the sponsored festival experience along with a million or so more people than the mere throngs in attendance.

If we gain inspiration from the journey to buying, rather than simply interrupting watching, the more useful we can be.

LBB> With over 20 years of producing experience under your belt, what do you think makes a good producer?

Dave> I would say curiosity may still be the most fruitful trait. Starting with what interests you, and your perspective. On to the interpretive fervour of how you see the project work in front of you—how you work out (quickly!) the synthesis of what you see in the idea, what its original spark was/is, how a client needs it and what an audience could best gain from it. How do you uniquely cultivate both the talent, partners and methods to make something, and believe that every idea or asset deserves to have distinctiveness? All of these things are driven by having a constant presence of newness in how something can be done or seen.

LBB> How have the demands on producers changed from when you started to now? Do you think the job of a producer today is more or less complex than it used to be?

Dave> It was a little over 20 years ago that I introduced 'Integrated Production' into the field at CP+B—most don’t recognise that its intent was to signal change, and serve as a vehicle, more than anything—producers needed to think outside of the means of making and mediums they’re used to. With media shifting again, into everything from Barbie to Broadway to AI, a genuine need for decarbonization that is as bound to asset intelligence as it is to a green set, and the abundant and inherently diverse era of audience co-creation upon us… the producer universe keeps expanding, so the discipline is truly more complex.

LBB> Can you share with LBB what you’re working on right now or anything that’s coming down the pipeline soon?

Dave> More humour, thankfully. It seemed to be missing in Cannes. I’m optimistic for next year as I’ve been chuckling more lately while reviewing project work—might have been from LaughGBT.