Emotive Hires Jessica Cluff as Head of Earned Creative

"The leadership. The clients. The vision. The track record of making work that taps into culture and gets people's attention." That is what has drawn Jessica Cluff, formerly CD of POEM and One Green Bean, to join independent creative agency Emotive in the newly-created role of head of earned creative.

Jessica has expertise across PR, social, talent and partnerships, and is focused on leveraging culture to bring ideas to life in non-traditional ways. Last year, she led an award-winning campaign for Uber Carshare, fronted by Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas. The campaign was one of Uber’s most talked about campaigns ever, delivering 30+ million organic views with zero media spend. Recently, Uber marketer Andy Morley told LBB it's the sort of work of which he wants to make more.

Joking that she's "probably biased," Jessica told LBB earned creative is "everything" in the current media landscape.

"The things we value most in life are earned. And yet our entire industry is built on how much attention you can buy. People actively -- actively -- go out of their way to avoid what we do. I can't think of another industry with as much waste as ours -- it's obscene when you think about the hours, the resources, the money spent creating work that so many people ignore.

"Creative that earns attention first, and can then be amplified with spend, is the most cost effective option. It sounds like I'm making it about the bottom line! I'm still a sucker for a beautiful idea. I just believe in creative that finds that sweet spot between what an audience cares about, what's happening in culture, and what channel it makes most sense to live in. Otherwise, what's the point?"

Acknowledging that attitudes towards the impact that earned creative has on creative execution are "finally changing," Jessica also pointed out, "An earned idea should be earned from its inception -- actually before that. It should be built into the strategy, into the brief.

"I'm not saying every single execution needs to get headlines and go viral, but why wouldn't you start with an idea that will get people's attention in the channels they're consuming and then amplify it with paid? That makes way more sense to me than trying to make a traditional advertising idea more 'earned' or trying to force a big integrated campaign idea when actually a social-first campaign could've had the same result for one tenth of the budget."

She will work alongside group creative director Darren Wright and the strategy and creative teams in her new role.

Speaking of her appointment, Darren said, “Having great ideas is one thing, knowing how they come to life in the world and engage people beyond advertising is another. Jess can do it all. Having her knowledge and experience join a creative department full of different shaped thinkers is going to make for an exciting time here at Emotive.”

Jessica will also collaborate closely with the leads of Emotive’s specialisms, spanning social, talent, PR, partnerships, and brand experience.

As for her goals for the rest of the year,  Jessica said, "I don't care about winning awards. I'm not one for trade press (no offence). Honestly, I just want to make stuff that entertains people. That makes them feel something. And that gets talked about outside the marketing industry, We can get so swept up in our own importance and our contribution to culture. I'm so excited by the client roster at Emotive and the team's ambitions -- I can't wait to get in there."

Darren added, "The ambition has always got to be great ideas. Ideas that people engage with, play with, talk about. Ideas that are effective for our clients and ones we all get excited about making."

The appointment follows the addition of executive strategy partner Sebastian Revell, replacing Michael Hogg, who took up the CSO position at TBWA. Emotive said it will have more announcements to follow in the coming months.

Jessica starts in her role on April 28.