This Much I Know - Career Keynote UCA 4/2/19

Are babies are born  
Creative Directors?
 
When does someone  
‘become’ a Creative Director? 
 
Or were they  
always a leader? 
 
Is it a title or a talent?
…Because anyone can print ‘Creative Director’ on their business cards.

“Education is an advert!
~Stuart Wilson
Everything is an advert!”

© Copyright S J Wilson www.stuwilson.co.uk
MYVALUES

MY EDUCATION
What I’ve learned

“While you’re sleeping your adversary
is working - and in the future they
will get that job, not you.”
~Dave Lawrence
Cumbria College of Art

February 1995: I stayed awake for 6 days straight.

19th FEBRUARY 1995
Nervous breakdown

Failure teaches you everything.
Success teaches you nothing.

Telling people I am Manic Depressive
is a big conversation, not a  
soundbite conversation.

Experience is not  
what happens to you,  
it’s what you make  
of what happens to you.

Some people are disguised as losers,
don’t let their appearances fool you.

“Read psychology.”
~Stuart Wilson

The average person works  
100,000 hours in their life.

EXPERIENCE Digital Traditional
AR/VR
App Development
Product Development
Mobile Websites
iPhone Game / App
Viral Microsite Mechanism
Landing Page
Email
Branded content videos
eCRM Email Marketing
CMS Web Build
Brochure-ware Website
ATS Development
Web Game
Network Game
In-store Bluetooth Messaging
Digital OutDoor/Escalator
Desktop Widget
Screensaver
Flash Microsite 
Social Media
Press Ad
Global Banner Campaign
Gorilla Hijack/Ambient
Corporate Identity
Visual Identity Rollout
Point of Sale
OutDoor
TVC 30 Second Spot
Brand film
Promotions
Posters
Brochures
Direct mail
OOH
Radio
70
30/

ASTRATEGICVISUALTHINKER

MYSTRENGTHS
Strategic,
conceptual,
methodical,
collaborative
but above all… truly integrated.

IAMNATIVELYINTEGRATED
Experience Sectors
• Creative Direction
• Art Direction
• Copywriting
• Creative Strategy
• Brand Development
• User Experience
• Integrated Marketing
• Advertising
• User Interface Design
• Interactive Advertising
• Mobile
• App Development
• Social Media Marketing
Automotive, Beauty, Computer & Electronics,
Consumer Durables and Apparel, Energy,
Entertainment, Environmental, Financial Services,
FMCG, Food & Staples Retailing, Gifts & Flowers,
Health and Wellness, Health Care Equipment &
Services, Home & Garden, Household & Personal
Products, Insurance, Legal, Media, Non-Profit,
Performance Sportswear, Pharmaceuticals, Real
Estate, Recreation & Leisure, Recruitment, Retail,
Software & Services, Sports & Fitness & Leisure,
Start-ups, Technology Hardware & Equipment,
Telecommunications, Tools and Equipment,
Transportation, Travel & Tourism, Utilities.
• Graphic Design
• Online Advertising
• Digital Strategy
• Email Marketing
• Digital Marketing
• Concept Development
• Digital Media
• Brand development
• Corporate Identity
• Interaction Design
• Visual Communication
• Typography
• Posters

MYWEIGHTOFSKILLS&EXPERTISE
Mobile
MarketingViral Marketing
Presenting
Integrated
/ Digital Marketing
Social Media
Marketing
Copywriting
Art DirectionConcept Development
Brand Development
Creative
/ Digital Strategy
Creative Direction
Online
Advertising
Digital Media
Email Marketing
User Experience
UX/UI
Direct
Marketing
Experience
Design
User
Interface
Design
Digital
Design
Graphic
Information
Design

DISTRIBUTIONOFMYCAPABILITY
CORE
COMPETENCIES
HOW WOULD I
DESCRIBE MYSELF?
Rolls sleeves up
Results driven Passionate & energetic
Creative
range
Naturally proactive
Collaborative
Results driven Social media
Strategy
Creative management
Conceptual
Development
/ Production

“Ultimately, you should aim to be comfortable in
handling complexity - in both the brief’s
requirements, and in the channels & platforms
available to execute in.”
~Stuart Wilson

MY UNDERSTANDING
Of creativity inside an agency

Success is not an accident.  
There are consistent, logical patterns of action,  
specific pathways to satisfaction!

Creativity involves two processes
Thinking, then Crafting.
(Get the idea. Make it work.)

TWODOMAINSOFCREATIVESTRATEGY
(Psychological, Emotional Response)
(Appeal, Selling)
- Drive perception
- Drive cognition
- Touch emotions
- Persuade
(Awareness, Interest)
(Learn, Educate)
Hearts Minds

TWODISCIPLINESOFINTEGRATION
(Messaging)
Product strategy 
User experience
Communication strategy
Story telling
(Utility)
Hearts Minds

TWOPOLARSOFINTEGRATION
Hearts Minds
Deployment
Traditional Monologue Digital Dialogue
Evaluation
Artwork
Production
Art & Copy
Asset Acquisition
Pre Production
Concept
Planning
Build
Prototype
Design
Ideation
Concept
Analyse
Discovery
PUSH MARKETING PULL MARKETING

THREEWORKINGDOMAINS
Pen & Pad
Adobe
Creative
Cloud
Microsoft
Office
Suite

“Before anything else,
ideas matter the most. ”
~Stuart Wilson

MY Professional values
My personal integrity

Feedback is the breakfast  
of champions.

SCALEOFSTANDARDS
Multimediocrity, Competence & Excellence
33%
66%
110%

CREATIVECULTURE
33%
66%
110%
Mediocre
Competent
1. Is it fresh and original?
2. Is it fun?
3. Is it simple?
4. Does it accomplish something good for the client?
5. Does it communicate?
6. Does it break through the clutter...does it have stopping power?
7. Is it beautiful?
8. Is it smart?
9. Is it entertaining?
10. Is it relevant?
11. Is it bigger than the brand?
12. Can you explain why this a great ad?
13. Does it make the consumers care about the brand?
14. Will it stand the test of time?
15. Would you put your name on this piece of work?
Award
winningKnowing great work- 'why it won'

THECOURAGETOCARE
Projects that are about a labour of
love, by their nature, distinguish
themselves from the mediocre.  
Outstanding work wins awards.
Be brave. Give a shit. ABCD = Above and beyond the call of duty.

Only be very tough on the poor
performance - but only on the
performance, never tough on the person.

THEBRIEFISTHEMOST 
IMPORTANTPIECEOF 
PAPERINTHEAGENCY
I believe a good brief is a springboard
for the creative idea.
A good brief is also a treasure map.
The most important piece of paper in the company
Creative Brief
Page 1/2
1. What's the challenge & opportunity?
2. Who are we talking to and what matters to them?
3. What do we want the person to think & feel?
4. Why should they believe it?
5. Mood/tone/behaviour
6. What is the single most important thing we want to communicate?
7. Where will we look to engage them?
8. What does success look like? (KPI's)
9. How do we bring this to life?
(What are the Brilliant Basics? What are the Wow Moments?)
Continued overleaf
Client:
Project:
Date:
Client contact:
Somo contact:
Version:

“The problem in life isn’t in receiving answers.
The problem is in identifying your current
questions. Once you get the the questions right,
the answers will always come.”
~Stuart Wilson

MY LEADERSHIP STYLE
How we all win

Actions prove who someone is,  
words just prove who they want to be.

MYVALUES
Multi-talented
Self expression
Fun
Play
Imagination
Creative
Idealist
Positive
Open
Democratic
Peace keeper
Caring / Love
Friendly
Social
Family man
Loyal
People person
Generosity
Collaborator
Compassionate
Morals
Principled
Ethical / Decider
Controlled
Core values & beliefs
Big hearted
Passionate
Rich abundant life
Brave
Coach
Mentor
Teaches
Encourages
Gives back
Talks / Conversation
Visionary
Unconventional
Philosophical
Psychologist
Intelligence
Strategic thinker
Wisdom
Spiritual
Intuitive nature
Educator
Dreamer
Thinker
Integrity
Altruist

LEADERSHIP

“All human relationships  
follow the same formula:  
rapport equals trust plus comfort.”
~Stuart Wilson
1 2 3

MY Advice
The wisdom my career has accrued

Don’t be the cog  
that other people want you to fill.

Listen to other people’s advice.

Being professional is a state of mind.
Not a title. Not a qualification.  
Not a large salary.

Don’t always be the baby.  
You need to grow past that perception.

Belief in limits creates a limited person.

If you’re gonna start up,  
don’t do it by half - go all in.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  
Talent will not, Genius will not, Education will not.
Persistence and determination are what counts.

Sometimes history throws young people
together and they’re in charge.  
If a ‘Bro’ culture exists at the top, there’s a
drive of masculinity flowing through that
organisation. It has a binary aspect to it.  
Both youth and testosterone are  
an explosive combination.

Relentless Family Fun.  
Relentless = working hard.  
Family = feeling part of the team.  
Fun = Enjoying it.

How you live changes your brain.

If I had the choice and the talent,  
I would prefer more people listened
to me than made me wealthy.

Staying here now is the difference
between being interested vs being
committed to accomplish something.

Life’s best lessons are learned  
at the worst times.

You can only do the work for your
clients that they want you to do.

Humour is a good way to survive in
an atmosphere where it’s important
to be accepted.

Moving from a Digital to a Traditional  
data-driven DR agency, spared me  
the ‘New Media Rock Star’ egos,  
giving me the advertising education  
I always needed - from adults.

Written by Sun Tzu in China 500BC.
There are 10 main principles of war,  
the primary one being ‘Maintenance of the aim’:  
in any enterprise, you must have an aim,  
and you must bear that in mind in all you do.

There are always a lot of people  
so afraid of rocking the boat  
that they stop rowing.

Machiavellian skills at office politics
are far better predictors of success
than a first class degree.

You may not have contextual talent but that
doesn’t mean you are talentless. You may
have a talent for lies, deception and coercion.

Mergers are like marriages.  
They are the bringing together of two
individuals. If you wouldn’t marry someone
for the ‘operational efficiencies’ they offer  
in the running of a household, then why
would you combine two companies with
unique cultures and identities  
for that reason?

Before you change agencies,  
change yourself.

TAKE A Career SABBATICAL

Is it really selling out  
if it feeds your family?

Try to play at your true level.

Sooner or later you’re gonna be fired.
Or made redundant. Or engineered
out of the business. Nobody’s perfect.

People are capable,  
at any time in their lives,  
of doing what they dream of.

Aim not only for ideas  
but ‘ideas with intelligence.’

Responsibility accrues through privilege.

The difference between power and control:
You have power but your boss has control.

Listen to the warnings.  
Not everything that shines is gold.

Doubt can be as useful as confidence.

Some people only the want money,
others prefer to do the great work.

Sometimes, we don’t know that we’re
ready until someone tells us we are.

In the end, it’s a mental maturity  
to let your best come out.

Youth condemns; maturity condones.

I don’t want any vegetables, thank you.
I paid for the cow to eat them for me.
The 12 year malt handshake

Don’t do work for free or for discount.
It will only end in tears.

Be wary of any business that only has
one client. They are not secure. 
So you are not secure either.

Only work for people you like.

I believe a good manager  
will prevail by cultivating respect,  
not by engendering fear.

People don’t want to be manipulated by another person.
Remember that and respect that. Manipulation is getting
people to do something they are either not aware of or don’t
agree to. No one feels manipulated or threatened when
everyone knows ‘up front’ what someone is doing and why.

Style is not to be trusted,  
it doesn’t deserve your loyalty.

Sometimes you just don’t have the
right gender. It’s not because you’re
not good enough.

Try and disregard the rejection,  
or at least that feeling of rejection.
Keep going. Keep going, it will pass.

Don’t offer yourself as the lynchpin,
even if you feel you can do everything.
You can’t.

This is a structure that can be explained by fragmentation of media
channels but also marketing tools and tactics. If specialist expertise is
required (as became necessary for search or, lately, programmatic)
functional teams are a simple way to address these requirements,  
if, indeed, they are not outsourced.

“If there’s a problem, then there’s a
solution. If there isn’t a solution then it’s
not a problem - it’s just a fact of life.”
~Helen Wilson

MY FINAL WORD
Remember this above all

This Much I Know - Career Keynote UCA 4/2/19

This Much I Know - Career Keynote UCA 4/2/19

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This Much I Know - Career Keynote UCA 4/2/19