Reinhard: spreading the word
Getting his break through the McDonald’s “You Deserve a Break” 1970s campaign, Keith Reinhard is now DDB Worldwide chairman and CEO. This is the third in our series of interviews with the world’s most powerful creatives.
How did you start in advertising?
As a kid I was working at a grocery store, always checking out the labels and logos, the graphics on the trucks, the advertisements. But I had no creative input. Where I lived there was no education in that field whatsoever. Then a friend invited me to visit his uncle in Detroit. He made airbrush illustrations for General Motors. That was it. Completely. All I had known until then was that work was work. This was fun. Later I did a correspondence course in commercial art and after that there were years of struggling.
What was your biggest break?
The "You Deserve a Break Today"campaign for McDonald's in the 1970s. People still remember that; it was a gigantic success.
What would you really, really love to have done differently?
I wouldn't have minded skipping the first idea that was approved for that campaign. All our research showed that with McDonald's we would have to go with the "break" feeling. But we came up with this ingenious concept with little islands and the text: "We're so near yet so far away, so get up and get away to McDonald's." It had no creative flair, no legs whatsoever. But at the very last moment, thank God, it turned out that the whole island idea was already in use somewhere else.
What do you find very annoying in advertising these days?
Uncreative advertising, done to some strict format. A stringent structure replaces a lack of culture.
What makes the work of DDB special?
In most markets we are one of the most creative agencies. That is something you cannot force from the top down. We try to make sure DDB is in every way possible about creativity. Each year we have an internal competition, of course. And everything that has to do with DDB, we want to give that 'creative feeling'. The offices have to radiate activity, give you the feeling that something creative is happening. In Brazil recently the interior of an agency was designed as a hall with people sitting next to each other at long tables. That's how they like it-up close, high pressure. Most of all we are trying to attract the best creatives by having little rules and regulations.
Could you describe how you are trying to better DDB?
Fly all over the world and "spread the word of creativity''. Here's a recent flight schedule; New York - Chicago - Toronto - London - Amsterdam - Paris - London - Brazil - Argentina - Uruguay - same day lunch in Brazil, back to Uruguay - New York. That is pretty average.
You know, Bill Bernbach was a timeless creative genius; a revolutionary. He was the first one to come up with the copywriter-art director team concept. But he was afraid to leave the New York agency. He thought if you did, the quality of the work would suffer. The continuous building of a creative culture, that makes it possible to let the agency grow in an organic way-that is my contribution.
How are you going to deal with the growing quantity of advertising and the problems arising from that?
You have to be more compelling than a Sega computer game and evoke the same involvement.
What is the role of the Internet in that respect?
Some recent research shows that in 2003 there will be more people with a hand-held computer than with a regular computer. That means, in theory, you have the possibility to reach the consumer at any time and any place you want. But the consumer, on the other hand, can easily choose to not want to know anything about your brand or product. So the Sega analogy is true here as well. Being a brand you will have to be interesting, entertaining. A short time ago I realised that maybe we should have a good look at the porn sites that are around. Those have been quite successful and maybe we can learn something there too.
If I were a brand today and I wanted to grow fast, I would...
Be interesting, relevant for the specific group of consumers I was aiming for and entertaining. As a brand in the future you will be either in the entertainment business, or out of business.
In the near future, advertising will be...
It will need to approach the consumer in a holistic way. That means being there in every possible way and at every possible moment that is relevant for the consumer.
Because of this the art director-copy writer team will have to be reinforced with all kind of other specialised creatives-computer wizards, Web site-designers, game designers, etc.
In the near future I will be...
Doing the same thing. Ken Kaess has taken up a large part of the daily decision-making. I am and will stay involved in several big brands. The rest of my work will be in creative.
