Creating Work for the Real World, from Raised Arches to French-Fry Justice
In July, James Millers and Andrew Long were promoted from creative directors at Leo Burnett UK to creative partners. Looking at their track record, it’s easy to see why they’re on such an upward trajectory.
Having originally been global chief creative officer Chaka Sobhani’s first hires after she joined the agency in 2017, they’ve provided creative pazazz for clients like the Co-Op, Kellogs and NSPCC. But, the client they’ve delivered the most prominent examples of populist creativity for is McDonald’s. This year, their careers soared to new heights as part of the team that introduced the world to ‘Raise Your Arches’ – the idea that transformed eyebrows around the world into an internationally understood signal. As well as picking up a raft of industry awards, the campaign has now been extended to over 35 markets, and been reinterpreted in various ways that show just how universal this idea could be.
As they step up into their new role, LBB’s Alex Reeves spoke to James and Andrew about their plans for the Leo Burnett UK creative department, the principles they keep coming back to in their work, and the power of the eyebrow raise.
LBB> Congratulations on the promotion! What's most exciting about your new roles?
James and Andrew> We love creating, and we love the creative process. So, the most exciting thing about this new role for us is being able to extend that creativity beyond the brands we work with day to day, to help steer and guide the work more broadly across all of Leo’s accounts. It means learning to take a slightly different role in the process, which is something we’re still working on, but an incredible opportunity and we’re enjoying getting stuck into it.
LBB> What do you think will be your priorities for Leo Burnett creatively, as you take on more of a leadership role together?
James and Andrew> We’re incredibly lucky to be part of an amazing creative leadership team at Leo’s, with Chaka [Sobhani, global chief creative officer] and Mark [Elwood, executive creative director]. We see our role within that team as very much focused on the craft of the creative, working closely with the creative directors and all of our amazing creative teams and designers to help steer ideas so they can reach their potential. We want to be the team that creatives go to when they need advice on an execution, or somebody to spend a couple of hours working through the details of an idea with. As well as that, we’re working on department initiatives that really dig into the work we’re making and the collaborators we work with, and of course, continuing our role leading McDonald’s creative.
LBB> What drew you to Leo Burnett? I hear you were Chaka's first hires after she joined!
James and Andrew> We were once given the great piece of advice to make sure any career move was based on people you would be working with above all else. That couldn’t have been truer than when we decided to join Chaka here at Leo’s. She’s taken a few chances on us that we will be forever grateful for. Beyond that though, we were incredibly excited to get stuck into the populist brands that Leo’s has always been known for; our goal is always to create work for the real world before adland, and this is the perfect place to do that.
LBB> What have been the biggest lessons you've learned in your time since?
James and Andrew> We’ve picked up a few lessons from the different places we’ve worked over the years that have shaped our creative identity. From Leo’s, the biggest lesson we’ve learned is to know your audience and always put them first. That simple principle is how we’re able to connect our brands to culture consistently and create work that is populist in appeal, but creative in execution at the same time.
LBB> And what have been the highlights in terms of campaigns you've loved working on?
James and Andrew> On a personal level, we’re most proud of our ongoing collaboration with McDonald’s. Leading that brand is a dream come true, and we consider ourselves very lucky to get the opportunity to create work for a cultural icon that people genuinely care about, on a daily basis. There are so many campaigns, it’s hard to single any out, but we loved creating the recent ‘Fries Claims’ activation. It turned a simple truth about one of McDonald’s most iconic products into a socially-minded and culturally relevant brand experience that is a bit of a blueprint for the kind of work we want to be making more of in the future.
LBB> McDonald's 'Raise Your Arches' is obviously one of the most significant campaigns of the year. We chatted to Gareth about it soon after. What will stay with you from working on that campaign?
James and Andrew> The track ‘Oh Yeah’ by Yello is now imprinted on our subconscious, having heard it a billion times throughout production, so that is one thing that will definitely stay with us. Overall though, that campaign has been a career highlight. Brilliant collaboration from an agency and brand that are feeling confident and having fun working together. From the second Gareth presented the raised eyebrow concept to the moment we found out we had won multiple Lions in Cannes this year, the entire process was seamless and fun. It would probably be more interesting to say how difficult it was, and we had to fight to get the idea through, but McDonald’s as a brand puts so much value on creativity and pushes for cultural relevance at every opportunity, making getting to creative work that looks difficult feel surprisingly easy.
LBB> Creativity so often comes from understanding people and culture. What's got you fascinated in culture right now?
James and Andrew> Everything in culture fascinates us - we spend our day scrolling and strolling and seeking out inspiration from everywhere. But the thing that inspires us most personally, at this moment, is the creator culture that we now live in. As parents to young children, it’s clear to see that creativity has truly been democratised. With that comes a whole bunch of new technology and tools designed to unleash that creativity. The one thing we hope more than anything - while we embrace the potential of this innovation - is that we don’t forget the lessons we’ve learned along the way to get us to this point. The importance of craft, ideas, thinking differently. If we can combine those timeless principles with the technology we now have access to, then people, culture and the advertising industry we love will continue to thrive.
LBB> 'Raise Your Arches' has now been extended to over 35 markets and you've just done a summer edition of the campaign. What's been most interesting for you as the idea finds new ways to play out and remind people how much they want a McDonald's?
James and Andrew> What’s interesting for us, and also the overall strength of the campaign, is its simplicity. From the ‘Fancy a McDonald’s?’ platform – tapping into those moments when you just want a Maccies, to the specific execution of a simple eyebrow raise forming the invite. It’s that simplicity and undeniability which makes it so universally understood and translatable – from different markets running the work, to different market interpretations, to the current (and possibly future) versions which tackle different human moments like the recent summer edition. When you have something so simple, the interesting thing is seeing how far you can take it.
