Kendahl Damico: A Lifelong Storyteller

Kendahl Damico began her career as a journalist, writing and reporting for both print and online publications, before fully immersing herself into advertising.

She credits this editorial background for her success developing and leading fully-integrated, insight-driven campaigns at Leo Burnett, Under Armour and TPN.

After teaching at DePaul University, Kendahl joined Blue Chip where she oversees the creative development of multiple accounts.

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LBB> Person: What kind of creative person are you? How would you describe your personality?

Kendahl> Perhaps the most unlikely kind of creative person.

I’ve been in a creative minority throughout my career in that I prefer order, control, efficiency and yes, the dreaded four-letter word, ‘process’.

I’ve always been a disciplined, deliberate person, tending to overthink and overanalyse more than I daydream or meander. In this way, I suppose my creative personality has never quite fit the ‘creative’ mould.

But, in reality, it’s precisely because of my meticulous problem-solving instincts that I’ve been successful at navigating what can often feel like a chaotic and lawless pursuit.

Coupling these natural tendencies with the resolute acknowledgment that I came into this industry by total accident means I make no qualms about how my creative personality has evolved over the years, looking less like the whimsical prowess of Tinker Hatfield and, if I’m audacious enough to say, more like the laser-focused, non-conformist creativity of ad woman Jane Maas.

In other words, I’m an out-of-the-box thinker who respects the form and function of the box itself. I find it’s so much more gratifying to architect the blueprint, precisely so I know which walls to tear down.

LBB> Product: How do you judge the creativity of a piece of work? How do you assess whether an idea or a piece of work is truly creative? What are your criteria?

Kendahl> There are a few hard-and-fast principles that every piece of work must deliver on. Is it on brand? On brief? On strategy? Yes, yes and yes? Great, but that’s table stakes.

Truly creative work has to make me feel something; it has to play into a human truth so insightful and resonant that there’s no looking away.

I know I love an idea when I want to riff on it, cultivate it, coddle it, and just plain can’t stop thinking about it.

Those ideas that stick with me through the night – and give my Google Keep notetaking app a resolute position on my bedside table for those 3 a.m. epiphanies – are the ones I know I need to cultivate.

Of course, not every idea starts this way. It’s my job to see the potential in an idea, or not. To extract the insight that may still be hidden and needs exposing, or deciphering where an idea took a wrong turn and how to reroute it.

The same is true for a headline, a layout, a script or a spot – every piece strengthens the whole. I’m evaluating every detail to ensure it delivers those table stakes while reinforcing the sentiment intended with the work. Because, regardless of what condition creative is in when it comes to me, I am looking for a reaction. If a piece of work feels novel, culturally relevant and fills me with excitement to share and pride to champion, it’s a winner.

LBB> Process: Tell us about how you like to make creative work. How do you like to start a campaign or creative project? Do you prefer to work collaboratively or alone? When it comes to the hard bits of a project, when you’re stumped, do you have a process or something you like to do for getting past those tricky bits?

Kendahl> I’ve always been in awe of creatives who have five ideas before a briefing has even ended. For me, I need to digest and consider all the aspects of a brief before I can dive in.

Chalk it up to my overanalytical nature or a simple fear of underdelivering creatively, but I prefer to start solo and then collaborate so I’m not walking into a brainstorm ‘cold’.

While I am marinating on a brief and its strategy, I’m actively researching the brand and drawing inspiration that fires up both sides of my brain.

I start by submerging myself into a brand’s existing identity, target and market presence to satisfy the left side’s hunger to analyse and research, while giving the right side the freedom to play; capturing ideas – typically through early, messy copywriting – from a variety of mediums to ensure I’m not narrowing in too soon, but keeping the creative aperture open for those unexpected solves.

I leave room for lots of iteration and rumination. A quick walk around the block, a quick scan of your favourite artist or writer’s work, a quick hallway conversation that sparks an insight – these are all tools I keep at the ready to help build the creative product.

Of course, this process is never as luxuriously paced as I’m making it sound. As creatives, particularly those gainfully employed on the agency side, we are always crafting at a breakneck pace.

While this job and process can feel wholly personal in that you’re continually required to release your ‘creative babies’ out into the wild, only to watch most of them get chewed up and spit back out (or, worse yet, watch them get reshaped and reformed until their original form is no longer identifiable), making the work is often a sprint to the finish with your most trusted teammates.

No matter how personal the process starts, if done right, the all-hands-on-deck, we’re-in-this-together approach is always the remedy to any roadblock.

LBB> Press: What external factors have shaped you and what can make or break a creative project? Where did you grow up and what early experiences do you think sowed the seeds of your creativity?

Kendahl> My earliest creative memories revolve around music and performance. I started playing piano and joined my first choir at the age of six, enrolled in local theatre and dance classes, belted out Disney soundtracks in my room – the whole nine yards.

As I grew older, musicality and specifically, the ability to tell stories through performance and lyrics was core to my self-identity. So, it’s no surprise that this early form of creativity informed who I became professionally. I’ve always attributed my comfort with pitching and presenting creative ideas to the confidence and adaptability I learned from being on stage, and my instincts for storytelling and impactful copy to my infatuation with the written word.

When I’m evaluating or strengthening a creative project, I find that this yearning for a well-composed story is usually the crux of my feedback, as it is oftentimes the difference between good creative and great.

It’s also a holistic way to consider all the factors that go into delivering a compelling creative solution. How are we setting up the business problem we’re addressing for the client? Are we painting a clear, nuanced picture of the strategy so that a clear insight can be demonstrated in the creative solution? Is the art and copy working in harmony to telegraph a larger message? Does the media mix bolster our story or limit it?

No matter the tools or the medium, telling a great story is key to crafting great ideas.