Tim Mellors On The Spot

Between the start of his professional career as a journalist for the British magazines Town and Nova, and his current role as North American chief creative officer of Grey, Mellors has lived many lives. Besides stints at Saatchi & Saatchi, FCB, DDB, GGT and Dorland, he has been a host on a BBC quiz show, a psychotherapist, a painter, a commercial director and co-founder of Mellors Reay in London. That agency was bought by Grey in 1998 and six years later, Mellors, 58, moved to Grey in New York. Mellor has just put the finishing touches on Diageo's new evolution of its Crown Royal print campaign. Q: Why advertising? A: It was chance. I worked as a junior writer for Town, a kind of trendy, miscellany of fashion and general interest. The bloke who was the art director, Tom Woolsey, started an agency, Stratton & Woolsey. So I went with him. Who's your biggest creative influence?Charlie Saatchi. He had a consultancy called Cramer Saatchi and I worked freelance there. I realized there was such a thing as great creative advertising because he did it. He was unique—aggressive, pushy, unstoppable. Later, when he started Saatchi & Saatchi with his brother, I went there as one of the creative directors. Saatchi & Saatchi was him. It's never been as good here as it was on Charlotte Street in the '80s.How did you shape the idea of the Tony Sinclair character for Tanqueray? We were looking for a particular nuance that would have equal weight with the African-American consumer. ... We saw 180 people [and] casted this man with one of the worst English accents I've ever heard. He's about as English as Dick Van Dyke is in Mary Poppins. And I think that people have noticed him because he's so odd. Why give him a British accent? Well, in theory, to make him more sophisticated. But it's such a bad British accent he doesn't sound sophisticated. He's an attempt to be cool without being so self-regarding as the Jenkins campaign was. There's a slight silliness to him.Name the last ad that made you think, "I wish I had done that." The Geico campaign. It's a fantastically well rounded, simple idea. And the Geico Gecko [now] sounds like an East End spiv, which is a slightly dodgy dealer. Here, I can listen with an American ear and think he's charming. In England, they would think he's an East End crook. An Adweek survey in July gave Grey low marks in various areas, including its creative. Do you think that was unfair? It's not only unfair, it's uninformed. Like it says, "worst reel." ... That's nonsense. The only place you can see a reel is with the consultants and they don't show them. It's a perception thing [that's] hard to change. What are you doing to change it? I'm not doing anything other than changing the work. Only time will change the perception. I'm the first to say that Grey's work was poor in terms of creativity. [But] we've gone from a D to a B in two years. Of course, it's irksome for that not to be recognized by my peers, but [that's] not going to change overnight. What do you consider to be Grey's showcase work? Dairy Queen [is] popular. Kmart has really come into its own. Panasonic won a lot of awards and was recognized nationally. What's the smartest business decision you've ever made? Coming to America. Although on the surface we speak the same language, it's been a real learning experience—the scale of things, the difference in attitude toward advertising itself. It's not as highly regarded in America as it is in England. There's a different creative tone of voice that takes a bit of learning. Essentially, it's revitalized me.What's your dream assignment? I'm a realist. At my age and stage, this is a really interesting thing to do. Some people say it's a nightmare assignment [laughs]. With whom are you dying to work? David Lynch. He has a very unusual vision. What's your biggest fear in life? Meaninglessness. That is the 21st century malaise. And I feel this sense of directionlessness more keenly in this country than I did in Europe. Because we have everything, we're starting to believe we have nothing. What do you consider the greatest accomplishment of your life so far? The first marathon I did in London about 15 years ago. When I was a kid, I was a really good runner. And in this, I was beaten by a bloke dressed as a rubber duck. But, I still did it in under four hours. The fact that I finished was the objective. Tell me about being a psychotherapist. I signed up for a four-year course, which I did at night and weekends. Three years of it were while I had my own agency. It didn't go down well with my partners. But once I started, I had to finish. After the first year, you took on patients. I did work for a charity in a very difficult, underprivileged area of London. [It] humbled me.Biggest pet peeve? Everything. It's an endless list. How would I pick one? Nothing goes my way. People never do what I want them to do, so I've just got to get over it.

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Tim Mellors On The Spot

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