The Work That Made Me: Charlie Griffith
Charlie Griffith is the managing director of creative advertising agency Unbound. With nearly 15 years experience across some of London’s biggest agencies, including VCCP, BBH and FCB Inferno, Charlie has proudly worked with some of the world’s biggest and best brands.
He has spent the last five years leading the flagship Mondelez account at VCCP, ensuring business growth for client and agency alike. Long term brand platforms like Cadbury’s 'There’s a glass and a half in everyone' have thrived from powerful equity driving storytelling right through to global digital activations.
He has won two IPA Effectiveness Grand Prixs for both Cadbury and Audi, wonderfully counter-balancing his other Grand Prix, this time a Cannes Lions, for Pearson’s 'Project Literacy'. With a particular expertise in FMCG brands, his client experience stretches from chocolate to cars, biscuits to vitamins, and from charities to big retail.
As for Charlie himself, he knows how to tow the line between being a team player and a team leader. He loves what he does and ensures everyone enjoys the ride too. Culture is everything and Charlie mandates setting it up in the right way to facilitate great work.
Also if you need a London restaurant recommendation, for any occasion, Charlie is your man.
LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Charlie> 'You know when you’ve been Tango’d' was a piece of creative genius from my old ECD Al Young. It’s as wonderfully casual as it is real. The comedy feels akin to a John Smiths ad but this time with more integration of the product. Populating culture is an overused phrase in our industry and I’m not saying it was a good thing that people were running around the school playgrounds slapping each other but it does show the power of a good fun telly ad.
LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Charlie> My grandfather, Peter Phillips, was a creative mind in the infamous Mad Men era. Within his plethora of work, he came up with the name for sweet brand 'Opal Fruits' and also part wrote the line ‘A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play’. Simply put, he’s the reason I work in advertising.
LBB> The creative work that I keep revisiting…
Charlie> Friend and artist, Bartholomew ‘Barley’ Beal, could tell stories through art like no person I’ve ever known in my life. He’d take books and poems and transform them into scenes of colour and depth of pure imagination. Barley passed away from a brain tumour in 2019, making his impressive body of work even more remarkable. I often find myself transfixed by his paintings that I have hanging at home, in sheer awe of the man’s talent and vision.
LBB> My first professional project…
Charlie> Who doesn’t love an old school press ad with a pithy bit of writing? To help sell Nivea sun cream during the hotter UK months I helped make a tactical press ad with the caption 'Sun's up, prices down.'
LBB> The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Charlie> Global adapts are naff. Especially when poorly translated. Sure, commercially efficient to make but no local consumer wants to see dubbed ads, locations that don’t feel relatable or ambiguous lines that mean both everything and nothing at the same time.
Too many big brands are reverting to this approach to save money and I am certain they won’t be seeing much ROI in the markets.
LBB> The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Charlie> Any campaign idea that you can sum up in a short sentence, and it resonate with whoever you’re talking to, will go far. Audi managed this when telling everyone that all other drivers on the road were clowns. What a great way to indirectly stick the proverbial middle finger up to the competition. Beautifully executed with a clown proof and tech-fuelled Audi at its heart, this film is a total joy.
LBB> The creative project that changed my career…
Charlie> Trying to get millions people to hide easter eggs around the world for one another during lockdown wasn’t easy but we moved mountains to bring to life the Cadbury Worldwide Hide nearly four years ago. The belief, perseverance and resilience of the entire team making this digital activation was something I’d never seen before in my career. It turns out that nothing is impossible and no idea is too crazy to make; an attitude I’ll always take with me.
LBB> The work that I’m proudest of…
Charlie> Every ad person dreams of winning a Cannes Lion Grand Prix and I was lucky enough to achieve this in 2016 with Project Literacy’s 'Alphabet of Illiteracy'. Sitting in the Houses of Parliament campaigning to raise awareness for global illiteracy was a special moment in my career. The comms juxtaposed hard hitting global issues with childlike music, design and animation whilst saying that if you teach the world to read and write, you help to solve some of the planet’s biggest problems.
LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Charlie> For a low budget shoot, I once played the part of hand model. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy my first (and only) professional manicure.
LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Charlie> Taking brands back to their roots to create ownable IP is what we played out during my time working with Cadbury. Unbound are now in discussions with other brands (names to remain a secret) to help them make disruptive comms that only they can make and tell stories that only they can tell. These magical brand truths are the most powerful of strategic insights for the most effective communications.
