The Work That Made Me: Charlotte Hoare
Charlotte Hoare is VP, strategy, leading on culture and insight led strategic storytelling for brands including H&M, Coach, River Island, M&S, La Roche-Posay, MAC Cosmetics, Knorr and more. Charlotte’s specialism lies in talent-led activations, partnerships, and collaborations, with over a decade of experience in integrated marketing and brand strategy within the fashion, beauty and retail sectors. Charlotte is passionate about storytelling and discovering what's new and next in the world of culture, content and entertainment.
The music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Charlotte> My childhood music obsession was the Queen of Pop, Madonna – but specifically the golden era of '
80s Madonna. There’s a bit of a personal connection too, as my mum listened to Madonna all the time when pregnant with me.
Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ song and music video is emblematic for me in discovering music, discovering fashion and the power of identity. Madonna has always been considered a chameleon and the queen of reinvention. The ‘Like A Prayer’ music video was very controversial at the time – but she wasn’t afraid to push boundaries and do things that were a little provocative, which made her all the more interesting in my eyes and someone that I look to as a style icon and an emblem of strong femininity that I was so interested in.
The ad that made me want to get into the industry…
Charlotte> Chanel No5 'Le Film' by Baz Luhrmann, with Nicole Kidman
What I love about this ad is that it mirrors the parallels of the film Moulin Rouge (in which Kidman starred around the same time) – where a Hollywood starlet falls in love with photographer. I remember seeing the shorter version and actively going to look for the longer full-length version.
The artistry of the film making, a perfect match between a star and a Hollywood director. Creating a TV ad for a fragrance that was so unlike any other fragrance campaign, which were known for poetic stories, but this was a proper short film with Kidman acting in it.
I remember seeing that and thinking ‘wow’ in terms of storytelling and advertising, but using these incredible talents with star power made me not just fascinated with the world of advertising, but more broadly the world of using talent to create magical storytelling moments. That’s what made me want to get into the entertainment industry.
The creative work (film) that I keep revisiting…
Charlotte> I’m a real visual content person – whether that’s TV campaigns, TV shows or films – so my husband and I spend a lot of time watching these things together, but the one we come back to the most is Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.
I love everything that Christopher Nolan does but this particular film, for me, again, it’s the storytelling, the beauty of the sound, design, performances, the production design. It’s such a futuristic tale, but the quality of his storytelling is so tangible and real. I’ve probably watched the film 15 times and I still find something new in it each time. There are still certain scenes that make me cry, and when I hear little bits of the soundtrack echoed throughout the film it makes me emotional, because it’s just so beautifully done.
My first professional project…
Charlotte> When I left university, I came to London to work as the production assistant and runner for director Trudy Bellinger, who was a friend of my mum’s. She had just been appointed as the director of a series of new M&S TV campaigns, which featured Twiggy, Dannii Minogue, Lisa Snowdon, Ana Beatriz Barros and VV Brown, and I got the opportunity to fly out to Miami to shoot the brand’s Spring campaign.
This was my first proper job, I’d never travelled for work before, and here I was getting to fly to Miami and be on the set of this TV campaign. I was a runner, so I was doing basic admin jobs like putting together gift baskets for the talent’s dressing room, getting people lunch, making sure everyone had tea, escorting the talent to and from the sets, etc.
It was the most full-on but educational entry into the world of entertainment and TV ad campaigns. This was a real defining moment for me, to see the opportunity you could get working in this industry, being able to travel the world, meeting so many different people, getting to understand the 200+ people working behind the scenes – from lighting to sound to consistency. There are so many people and different roles that go into making a creative piece of storytelling, that you sometimes don’t even think about. That was a real eye-opening moment for me, thinking wow, this is a big industry, this is a big deal.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Charlotte> Not so much angry but disappointed in the Pepsi campaign featuring Kendall Jenner back in 2017. The brand clearly had a big vision for a values-based campaign that was going to show its support for the Black Lives Matter movement and build this altruistic, supportive message of unity, peace and understanding – but it completely imploded.
The disappointment to me, was perhaps not having the right people in the room having those conversations about the creative and the messaging. It’s testament to why diversity, equity and inclusion is so important in all facets of the work that we do. It’s so important to have decision makers and creators in the room, who represent diverse communities to comment on the work that’s being made and how authentic it is – or isn’t, in this instance.
While we weren’t involved in the making of this ad, I feel that it highlights some key learnings for other brands playing in that same field of creative and talent. The D&I of talent in the campaign is so important, but so too are the diverse voices behind the scenes making those creative decisions too. From a talent perspective, it’s why we have to be really hands on and involved with both talent and creative teams. This is a real example, in my eyes at least, of the importance of having clear, honest, transparent communication in the vetting and onboarding process before making such a big ad like this.
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Charlotte> Sadly, this took place before my time at R&CPMK but it was such an iconic campaign and is still something we talk about internally and in our creds decks to this day: the Calvin Klein '#MyCalvins' campaign, which featured a whole host of talent like Justin Bieber, Maluma, Lil Nas X, Kendall Jenner, Sza and more.
We were responsible for some of the casting, including big stars to creators and influencers at different levels. What was so great about it was that this was – at the time – a very new way of creating content, through the selfie. It’s funny to think about it now but, at the time, selfies were still in their infancy and the idea of getting talent to do a self-shot image and to celebrate something in such a personal but simplistic way using #MyCalvins was so innovative. It kickstarted a whole movement around selfies and is still an enduring legacy of the Calvin Klein brand and still part of its activations with talent all these years on.
It’s great that I can say collectively as an agency we did this amazing piece of work but I’m still jealous that I personally missed being able to be hands on as part of it.
The creative project that changed my career…
Charlotte> '#MangoGirls' really put us, as R&CPMK’s influencer team, on the map for influencer work. It was concepted at a real moment in time when girl squads were part of the cultural zeitgeist and Taylor Swift brought her own girl gang on stage. It was a real moment of celebrating female friendship and the different personalities and styles that you have in a friendship group.
That came through into an influencer collective for Mango – which has also gone on to become an enduring part of its brand and marketing. It was emblematic of this real shift in digital marketing towards influencers, and the power that influencers have to change perception of a brand. At the time, Mango wasn’t necessarily considered ‘stylish’ or ‘cool’, but this campaign sparked such a successful collective that influencers were even then coming to us to try and be a part of it. Even those not contracted to be part of the project were using the hashtag, Mango Girls.
As for how that changed my career, it marked a shift in the way that we saw the power of talent and how other brands saw it. It wasn’t just about the big names but style creators on social media, who have such a sway and influence on how people perceive the cool factor of a brand. Whether you love or hate them, influencers still really drive that power of perception. This campaign really changed the way we look at talent.
The work that I’m proudest of…
Charlotte> I think that sometimes we can all take for granted the journey we’ve been on, and it’s not until someone reminds you of how far you’ve come, that you realise you should be proud of it. I haven’t necessarily followed one straightforward trajectory with my career. I’ve worked in different facets of creative advertising, both in-house at brands and agency side. It’s the learnings, experiences and contacts from all of those different places, that have brought me forward in my career to where I am now.
I’ve had some amazing opportunities to get to travel, meet new people, work with talent on set in different countries and I’m proud of that. It’s not just one piece of work but the journey that I’ve been on, and the experiences I’ve had. I’m a firm advocate that you never stop learning and I hope that there are still great things ahead that I will continue to be proud of in the future.
I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Charlotte> I’m reluctant to share this, but right at the start of my career when I was working as a runner at the production company I mentioned earlier, I was working behind the scenes on a lot of TV commercials and music videos. I was working on the set of a music video which featured a tennis player in the background of a shot, but one of the extras didn’t show up.
I cannot play tennis to save my life; I have zero hand eye coordination. Plus, I’m a very tall person and the costume had been prepared for this extra, who didn’t show. I was asked to step in, and I did my best. So, the cringe moment in my career is featuring in the background of a music video, dressed in a tennis outfit that was way too small, unable to play tennis!
The recent project I was involved in that excited me the most…
Charlotte> I was recently invited to speak on a panel talk organised by our agency partners Current Global at the 'PR Week Purpose Week' conference in Chicago. It was exciting for a number of reasons: I got to visit Chicago – a city I’d never been to but always wanted to go – but more so that I got to represent the talent and influencer team of R&CPMK and the work that we do in ensuring authenticity, diversity, representation and values-led marketing. There were some incredible speakers as part of that panel and it’s always inspiring to hear from others and talk to other strategists about their journey, what motivates them and learn from them.
