THE JAR

A pearl of advice from Eric

This is another post that is powered by R.U.S.U as a part of a student initiative grant. 

As the D&AD night continued I again had the chance to chat with another executive creative director. It was Eric Quennoy of Weiden + Kennedy in Amsterdam. I recognised his face as another Aussie who was enjoying a successful career, living and working in the advertising world internationally. Eric started his career writing copy for Myer catalogues. When I met him he was collecting awards for Nike’s ‘Write the Future’ campaign. I knew he would have a few pearls of wisdom if asked.
 
‘Write the Future’ was a massive global campaign that was a favorite of mine for the year. “It’s just soooo Nike” I may’ve said to Eric numerous times. How embarrassing for me - but it was an apt, if not obvious observation. The print executions are one liners with the campaign message ‘Write the Future.’ The images suggest that victory will get you in the history books. The print says everything and rolls perfectly into Just Do It. The copy contains all the elements of aspiration and self-actualisation that Nike is all about.

If you haven’t seen the television commercial it appears below. Again this is award winning work for obvious reasons. This ad tells a real story, or rather opens the possibilities up for imagination. I was convinced that this story was conceived by a copywriter. I was right. A young copywriter from Weiden + Kennedy Amsterdam started the spark which went on to become a global campaign in the lead up to the soccer World Cup. How inspiring is that.
 
After praising the campaign for some time I got to talking with Eric about career paths and how to be a ‘success’. His response was simple. He told me that “careers are not about getting as high up as possible, they’re about getting as good at your craft as possible”. This was refreshing to hear. My perception of advertising is probably a bit warped by the media and television shows which have made me suspicious that men in the industry are egotistical and power hungry. It turns out they’re not and genuinely want to focus on solving problems - not just on writing ads.
 
One final piece of advice Eric gave to me as an aspiring copywriter was this. “Don’t write ads like an advertising person. Speak to me like I’m a person.” This is something my copywriting teacher Lyn Clarke has said many times over. Consumers can spot a phoney a mile away, so write it how you would say it.

Ryan

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