Andrew Howie, Michael Ritchie, and Barbara Humphries On Why “More Interesting Work is More Effective”

Andrew Howie, founder of Gallant Creative Advisory and former CMO of Taco Bell Australia, believes “more interesting work is more effective”, and is therefore more efficient. 

“Wear out is horse shit,” he said. “Unless it's the Olympics and it's an ad for a credit card company that you've watched 15,000 times, wear out is horse shit – just run it for a while. Take it off for a while and put it back on again. Consumers don't care.

“We're obsessed with creating new work faster than anyone else. Put more money into better work and let it run for longer.

“People are often defending their budgets internally – if you don't spend it, you lose it … But you can be smart, put more money into a project this year and run it for longer and then put that money into a different project next year.”

Even seasonal advertising, like Christmas campaigns, could be rethought, he said, although admitted, “Christmas is hard because Christmas is a tentpole activity designed to do a certain thing.

“But for some brands, I think you could go back to Christmas ads and run it a few times.”

Speaking on a panel at Australia’s inaugural Monthly Cut screening on Thursday, Andrew was joined by Michael Ritchie, managing director at Revolver, and Barbara Humphries, co-chief creative officer at Droga5 ANZ. 

Hosted at Revolver’s Redfern office following its Palme d’Or win at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, the event brought together some of the top marketing, agency, and production leaders for a screening of the world's best work from June.

Michael noted “having the courage to have a bad meeting, or having a meeting where you've got friction and you're pushing against something” is often what leads to progress.

“I'm not saying we should have bad meetings, by the way,” he laughed. “But we shouldn't be so worried about friction when we're trying to make something good. We should see when people, when clients, are falling back a bit – we should lean in a bit and see if we can get them across the line and actually have that conversation with them. Then when you come out of it, you get a better result in the end.”

Barbara agreed, adding, “The best work has made people uncomfortable.

“It might feel inconvenient and painful, but in the end, that’s the kind of work that people remember. All that work and everyone's proud of it – to me, that is efficient. You don't have to remake it, people are proud of it, and it works.”

Andrew said trust and relationships are foundational to breakthrough creative. “I don’t think there’s an example of great work that's been made without trust, honestly.” He referred to the relationship he has built with creatives in his various marketing roles, including with Barbara, who worked with him at The Monkeys when he led marketing for Meat and Livestock Australia.

​“Over the years, Barb and I have done a lot of work together and that friendship allows you to have difficult conversations. And difficult conversations don't make a bad meeting … Say it to get it out there and let people debate it.”

Meaningful, effective work begins with a shared sense of ambition and craft. From Revolver’s perspective, Michael said the team is seeing “clients that have ambition, that want to make something that really does properly connect with their audience.

“The customer, that person, that audience, can tell if we have put that work in there.

“Making something properly and making something that connects is really the nirvana that we're looking for.”

Read also: Marketers Shouldn’t Be “In The Business Of Putting You Out Of Business”