February, 1st 2010

Richard Gorodecky, born in London in 1971, is one of the more remarkable characters in Amsterdam advertising. He likes to dress like an extra out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and is a great believer in the power of facial hair. Richard is Executive Creative Director of Amsterdam Worldwide. He has spent the last twelve years creating international advertising campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world including Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Electronic Arts, Onitsuka Tiger and Anheuser-Busch. Thanks to his experience, there is little that scares him these days - apart from spiders.

As a kid, what were your most creative moments?
I had, at the time, the worst attendance record in the history of my school. I’m going to say that my most creative moments were finding new ways to not be there.  I turned that into a fine art.

Which creative effort has given you the most satisfaction?
I suppose one of the greatest feelings of satisfaction is when you look at a piece of work and say to yourself: “I went as far as I could go. This is my very best.”  That’s a good feeling, when you know in your heart you’ve given everything.

What fascinates you?
More than anything, people. But all sorts of people. There’s no entry requirement for my fascination. I’m not saying I like everyone, but just about everyone is fascinating. We all live in unique versions of the same world, and it’s truly fascinating to glimpse, for a moment, through the eyes of others.

Who is your favorite creator?
I suppose it would have to be the late Douglas Adams, author of The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy. I was obsessed with the Hitch Hikers books as a kid. I read them so many times I could pretty much recite them. I would say they profoundly shaped my sense of humor, and I’m really grateful for that.

When did you decide, I want to work in advertising?
When I was a kid, I used to steal ads from the trains on the London Underground. Anything I found cool, I’d grab. My bedroom walls were covered with them. But I wasn’t looking at these ads thinking, one day I’m going to make these. But I was certainly a fan from an early age.

Later on, when I’d left school, and dropped out of a few colleges, I was bouncing from one thing to another. One week I’d be painting, another printing t-shirts, hosting a night club, singing really badly in a band, writing, whatever. My biggest issue was the inability or unwillingness to settle down and do one thing.

As soon as I realized that working in advertising allowed you to play with so many different mediums, I knew it was for me. For the first time in my life I had a single-minded focus, and I dedicated every waking hour to landing my first job.

What’s your most important lesson in advertising?

1. Feed your brain with a varied diet. You have to have a constant supply of ‘new’ flowing into your head for your brain to make interesting leaps.
2. Don’t look for inspiration in the world of advertising.
3. Work really, really, really hard. There is no other way to make something great.
4. Don’t be an asshole.

What’s the most exciting ad project you ever worked on?
Exciting… I once shot one hundred and thirty five-second ads in two-and-a-half days. That was pretty exciting. It was the creative equivalent of stock car racing. We just made a short film for Pernod Ricard’s Ararat Brandy. To work long-format with the intention to create something culturally valuable was really exciting. There were a lot of risks and Eastern Europe comes with its own set of rules, but so many people believed in the project and carried it through.

What’s your favorite place in Amsterdam?
My boat.

What would you like to change in Amsterdam?
Enough of the dog shit. Really! But if my biggest issue with the city is dog shit, it’s a pretty good city.

What an inspiring event it was. Here are the insights we took home. The first key note speaker, Ed Ulbrich from Digital Domain, talked us through the process of getting the multi-platform remake of Tron to market. He showed what looked like a trailer of the movie ‘Tron Legacy’, but later revealed it was ‘just’ a teaser to get Disney excited; they could make a movie, a game and a theme park ride out of this single concept. He called this a 'transmedia content prototype'; a piece of content that mitigates the investor’s risk, because it provides a tangible window into the opportunities of the concept. Ulbrich founded a  company, Mothership, that single mindedly builds these kind of prototypes.

In a way Philips’s brand new commercial ‘Parallel Lines’, is also a content prototype, as Ed Ulbrich mentioned during the presentation by Gary Raucher - head of MarCom at Philips - and DDB’s Neil Dawson and Caspar Delaney. The parallel lines are 5 short films telling the same story about a unicorn. The pay-off: ‘There are millions of ways to tell a story. There’s only one way to watch one’. Why not test these short films and see which one can make it into a blockbuster, asked Ulbrich. By doing so Philips could seriously and convincingly enter the realm of branded content - a revolutionary thought. Though Raucher told the audience last year’s multi-prize-winning commercial Carousel had completely changed Philips’ attitude towards advertising, making blockbusters might be one bridge too far.

Our favourite speaker of the day was Cindy Gallop. With great enthusiasm she talked about the future of advertising, while at the same time promoting her new internet start up ‘If we ran the world’ – connecting people social-media-wise  with their actions rather than their conversations. As for the future advertising model, Gallop believes in total transparency and the power of the collaborative creative crowd. Victor & Spoils, combining these two elements, is therefore the perfect example of the agency of the future, she said. It is always difficult to say whether these absolute statements about the ‘future of …’ will proof right or wrong, but it is undeniably true that the creative industry shouldn’t neglect the power of collaborative creativity. Gallop ended her energetic talk with a website we all should check out: Textfromlastnight.com. Why? It’s hilarious, it’s contemporary poetry – with a maximum of 140 characters – and it’s a social cultural snapshot of our time. Amen!

Richard Gorodecky of Amsterdam Worldwide (AW) also talked about the perfect agency model – in our opinion a more realistic one. It was his own model; AW consists of a team of generalists and whenever needed it hires the required specialists. As a generalist, Gorodecky explained, you are ignorant. But the advantage of being ignorant is venturing into areas where specialized agencies don't go. In other words; ‘ignorance gives you a license to experiment’.

Seyoan Vela provoked the crowd in a funny way by stating that positivity sucked. People like to complain ("social media are a threat rather than an opportunity!"),  so why not approach them accordingly. Take W+K's Grrrr for Honda, ("Can hate be good?") one of the best commercials ever made. Vela ended his entertaining talk with the statement that  'brands don't t need to be your friends'.

The day ended with Andy Fackrell (180), Gustav Martner (CP+B), Sean Boyle (JWT), Karen Corrigen (Hapiness), Nick Baley (AKQA), John Weich (Lemon Scented Tea) and Jeff Kling (W+K) answering the question ‘How can advertising improve the world’ in a Pecha Kucha style. Though after a long day if felt a bit as an information overload, it proved to be a great format to get the most out of these brilliant minds – this is probably how the creative briefing was invented.

Andy Fackrell kicked off showing many different famous people who could do a 180 turn with their brain. Karen Corrigan (“In Belgium I am known as a very stubborn woman”) ignored the Pecha Kucha briefing and talked (for too long) about the Belgium agencies jointly stepping up to clients not respecting the local pitch code – a familiar problem – by organizing a successful website strike. Gustav Martner had a less practical idea to handle difficult clients; he fantasized about ways to have advertisers pitch for agencies and charge them for a bigger logo in the ad. Sean Boyle made a brilliant point about the culture within big networking agencies (“except JWT” - tone of voice: ironic); everyone listens to the brainless arse lickers, instead of the independent minds with genuinely creative ideas. Nick Baley showed female art to substantiate his sympathetic plead for more women in advertising. John Weich’ presentation was so smart that we couldn’t keep up with him. And, finally, Jeff Kling ended the way he started the day, with his somewhat cynical, but smart sense of humour. How can advertising improve the world? “Know when to shut the fuck up."

Richard Gorodecky is ECD at Amsterdam Worldwide. As a kid, he didn’t seem very disciplined, but today he believes in working really, really hard. His sense of humor is in a big part derived from Douglas Adams’ Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – he read it over and over again. Gorodecky started to develop an interest in advertising when stealing ads from the trains on the London Underground. And  one of his most important lessons in advertising is not to be an asshole. Maybe that’s why he is not a big fan of all the dog shit in Amsterdam. Read the entire interview here.