Jonathan Harries On The Spot

When Jonathan Harries decided to enter advertising, he says, he hung around lobbies hoping to score interviews. The result: An unscheduled meeting with a cd at Foote, Cone & Belding in Johannesburg, South Africa. "Write six lines of copy and if they're any good, I'll give you a job," he was told. Harries got the job, worked his way up in the market, and in 1986 moved to the U.S., working for Grey, Leo Burnett and Hal Riney & Partners. In 1997, he rejoined FCB as ecd in Chicago, and was named CEO and worldwide cd in 2004. Harries, 53, now leads the new Draft FCB as chief creative officer. Q: Will working as Draft FCB change your approach to solving marketing problems?A: I don't think it will change. I believe—and I believe most people believe—that solving a marketing problem isn't in execution. [It's] coming up with an idea that drives business, and communicating that idea in a way that is individualized and personalized due to the convenience of technology.What excites you about bringing these agencies together creatively?We had a new business pitch recently and it was the test-drive of this organization. The thing that was the most exciting was not necessarily working with people who you would consider in the creative department of Draft, but it was working with people on the planning side. It's a very different sort of planning than above-the-line agency planning is. Theirs is more behavioral focused, more motivational, but in an agency like FCB our planning is more aspirationally focused. What's the biggest challenge?There's a lot of people who don't want to change how they do things. And that's going to be the challenge. To almost force them to do it. [They're] either going to see how great it's going to be, or they're going to have to do something else. This is going to be different and it is going to change the way they work. How do you keep the morale up at FCB, where some seem to feel they're being taken over?The only way you can change the way someone feels is by getting them involved. We've heard those things, that Draft is taking over FCB. There are never mergers of equals, there's always a dominant thing. But the dominant thing here isn't Draft. The dominant thing is Howard Draft. He's the guy. He's the CEO of the company and his personality is definitely going to affect the way Draft FCB operates. The one thing that really struck me from the beginning with Howard is that it's an open door. There's nothing that's not being told to everyone else. It's a really transparent agency.What do you tell those who feel what Draft does isn't as sexy as traditional advertising?I have a good friend that's in an agency. He's the most amazing guy because he's certainly not the best-looking guy you'd think, but he always manages to score. Women love this guy. And the reason they love him is because he sees sexiness where others don't. People who got into this business because sexiness was a 30-second commercial or a print campaign or a great Web site—it isn't about that anymore. It's finding sexiness in things that you never would have thought of as being sexy. Anything can be sexy if you totally open your mind up to what sexy is. Who influenced you the most creatively?The first was Alan Bunton, who I worked with in South Africa [at Ogilvy]. He was the maddest, nastiest person you could ever meet and inspired me truly by fear, until we became friends. He taught me how to think in this business. The other person, who I worked for for six years, was certainly the most different person I ever worked with. That was Hal Riney. Anytime you ever got five minutes to sit and listen to him was so inspiring it's mind-boggling. I can remember every one of the conversations I had with him and the little things he said.What was the last ad that made you say, "I wish I had done that?" Given your new situation, how about the last creative idea.I'm still going to give you a TV spot. It was about a subject you don't want to think about, but it did it in a way that was so pertinent. It took your defense down. It was for Metamucil and it was about the "regular guys." It was three guys going into the bathroom stall every morning. They did it in a way that was so disarming and original. I thought it was brilliant. You named a TV spot. Is TV still the most visible way to inspire people?That is the question, isn't it? You talk about all the other stuff and it all comes down to that. I don't think so. If I'm looking for information, I absolutely go to the Web. If I need a reminder of something, that TV commercial was perfect. The further away from a product you are, the less informative it needs to be. If I'm looking at a TV commercial, all I need is to be reminded what the product is, not necessarily what it does. If I need to know more, the closer I get to the product. When I'm looking at a print ad, I can afford to give myself more information. If I'm closer, say a Web site, I'll get more information. And finally when I get closest to that product is when I'm picking it up in a store.What's your biggest pet peeve?When somebody says "That's not going to work." Because no one knows if it's not going to work. That's an unacceptable answer. If you can prove it's not going to work, that's one thing. But to suddenly say it without really understanding how it could work. ... What I hate most is when people are close-minded.

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Jonathan Harries On The Spot

Aaron Baar

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Aaron Baar