Creativity Squared: Why Olivia Downing Is a 'Logical Creative'

When it comes to pointless jobs, Olivia Downing is prolific. A one-time McDonalds cashier, bra-fitter, and stand-up comedian in Paris, she accidentally stubbed her toe on advertising seven years ago, and can now add senior copywriter to her list of ostensibly useless careers. But the latter has, undeniably, been the most rewarding.

Olivia was selected to judge Writing for Advertising for D&AD 2021, and has featured on The Drum’s 50 under 30 list of Outstanding Women in Creative and Digital in the World. In 2019, Olivia featured on Campaign and Creative Equals’ Future Leaders ‘Ones to Watch’ list in 2021, and she also won the creative competition School of Thought in 2017 - taking her to Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Olivia lives for radio, and has won a Gold Drum Roses award in 2020, for her David Lloyd Clubs radio ad (‘Wimbledon over too soon?’) while she was working in a creative team for TBWA\MCR. Today, she smiths big brand concepts and campaigns for Continuous in Liverpool for the likes of Primark, Amtico, Encona and more. Pointless? Perhaps. Hotel? Trivago.

Person

My sister once described me as a ‘logical creative’, and considering she’s not a copywriter, I couldn’t have surmised it better myself. The very basis of creativity for me, is combining the world’s various weird little neurons in new and unexpected ways. But for me to really enjoy being creative, because I am naturally quite rational, there has to be a purpose: a reason for creating in the first place. That’s why I’m a copywriter, not a novelist. Art by its very nature is subjective. For me though, advertising is the most egalitarian form of art, precisely because it is objective. It has to be creative certainly, but it also has to achieve, prod, inform, entertain, and if it’s not doing that, then it’s not serving its purpose. I have no interest in writing or concepting something that’s just creative for creativity’s sake. For me, the work has to fundamentally solve the problem at hand - creativity is just the way we make that unforgettable. 

Product

I am a firm believer in gut feeling first and foremost. You know in your very bones when you’ve seen something fresh and original - a new neural circuit, if you like. But that’s just level one. The next (and arguably most important) thing is does it solve the problem? Creative that looks great is nice, but if it’s not resolving the issue at hand then for me, it’s just surface. The best creative work answers the brief, in an unexpected way. It’s really as simple as that.

Of my own work, I’m really proud of the ‘Elevate your Everyday’ campaign I did for David Lloyd Clubs, and ‘The Season’s Worst Kept Secret’ Christmas campaign for Primark. Both ideas centre on great concepts, and are distinctly creative across a multitude of channels. Most importantly though, they actively and imaginatively solved the problem set to us by the client. Good work that works, is what works for me.

Process

I like to make work by putting absolutely everything into my brain’s slow cooker - and I mean everything. The brief, the references, relevant documentaries, everything, just tip it all in. Then for me, I love going to the gym, or taking a long walk. I think everything comes together in a tasty, fine jus goodness for me when I’m in motion, not sitting at a desk.

Some people love brainstorms/workshops, but for me, it’s the deepest circle of hell. I find throwing random ideas around in a big group of people is like monkeys flinging poo in an enclosure - overwhelming, and largely, the outcome stinks. At the beginning of (particularly conceptual) jobs, I like it to just be me and my creative partner - two minds playing keepy-uppy initially. Then I like to go away, think and come back with some tightened up thoughts. In a nutshell, I like to think alone, but create together.

What to do if you’re stuck? The Monty Python Method - now for something completely different. The way that looks for me, is I’ll put a random podcast on (recently I’m hooked on Betwixt the Sheets: a gripping audio feast on social and sexual history). This is because I think when you’re at an impasse, it really helps both to change the medium of what you’re working with (so listening instead of writing) and the content. It looks insane (or like you’re just slacking off) but I promise, your brain just works out your previous problem for you, while you’re concentrating on something else. It’s not failed me yet.

Press

I was hospitalised for three months with juvenile chronic arthritis as a child. And while it was pretty tragic and painful, the main thing I remember was being all encompassingly bored. I wasn’t able to hold up so much as a book, and so the only thing I could do to keep myself entertained was make up stories, and visually play them in my head. When I was well enough, I began writing them down, but this hardcore imagination training became integral to my future career as a conceptual writer, because I still use this process when coming up with ideas today. 

How I learned the craft is, thankfully, a funnier story. I used to be a comedian in Paris, writing and performing stand up. Comedy was huge in honing my writing skills, because joke writing is very similar to copywriting. Put simply, it’s having an interesting idea and then expressing that in the fewest moving parts. I am eternally grateful to that stage of my life, for helping me learn what I do well in a totally novel, heckling sort of way.

Work kryptonite for me is being in cluttered, noisy environments: I hate open plan offices for that exact reason. For me, working from home is where I work best, because there’s very little distractions (and infinitely better coffee).

When it comes to clients, I’ve worked with a whole range of B2B, retail, hospitality, and fashion industries, but my advice would be the same regardless of sector: use your creative agency as a consultancy, not a delivery service. We have eyes and ears in all aspects of culture, and we’re happy to share that knowledge. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of navel gazing, or believing that your customers walk around thinking about your brand all the time. They don’t. In terms of pulling from the cultural zeitgeist, there is so much more to be gained from getting your agency’s informed opinion, than simply getting final_final files.

As for agencies in a modern, post-pandemic world, I think concentrate less on what makes a space look ‘cool’ or cultivating an ‘agency culture’ and give your employees what they actually want. If you want people to return to the office, it’s essential to provide a working environment that is better than someone’s house, because these days, that’s what you’re up against. People work better at different times/places, so take the time to find out what that is, and provide working arrangements that stack up to and support that. I have no interest in ‘the good old days’ of office culture, because to me, they weren’t all that - and it certainly won’t appeal to your next gen employees, who have never experienced it. If you want to retain good, happy people, my advice would be to ask your body of staff what you can do to make working on the work, as well as the work itself, better. It’s integral to listen to what the people of your agency want, and act on it accordingly, because it genuinely makes everything better in the long run.