I’m lucky.
In my career I’ve worked alongside some incredible people, learnt from the very best and been fortunate enough to make some very special ideas. This industry isn’t just a job, it’s a way of life. A very exciting one. Here’s some of the moments I cherish the most from 15 years. Starting with the most recent.
In 2016 I left Droga5 New York to head up the London office. Inheriting an office of barely 15 people, and with very little work on the reel, we had one hell of a challenge ahead of us. What followed was two electric years. Two years without sleep maybe, but electric none the less. We pitched hard, and won big. A success rate of 80%, including big brands such as Peroni, Asahi, Danone and Mini BMW. I personally lead each one of those pitches. I’m not just proud that we won them, but proud of how we won them - with work we believed in. We also built a reel. An award winning reel. During my two years there we won our first cannes lions, first british arrows, first, well everything. The piece of work that’s the most dear to me from there is Ancestry, because it embodies everything I believe creative work can be - an important timely message, brave, and hugely entertaining. Like I said at the start, I’ve been lucky to work with the best. The director Noam Murro, the creative team Dan & Charlene, the account lead Natasha, the strategist Farah, are perfect examples of that. Wonderful humans and talent. I tip my cap to each of them. One of the most important things I take away from my time there is my friendship with David Kolbusz. A dear friend who inspired me each and every day.
New York. I was lucky enough to call her home for four and a half years. I learned so much there. When I joined Droga5 NYC we were small. Which meant that I got lots of time to learn from David Droga. I still remember how nervous I was in my first review with him! In my time there we grew from less than 100 people to over 500 in four years. A whirlwind. One of my most seminal moments was winning the Chobani Yogurt pitch - at the time it was far bigger than any other pitch the agency had won, and far more competitive. It was the win that kick started Droga5 NYC growing from a niche agency to the powerhouse it is today. Along with that win we made Droga5’s first Super Bowl spot. Other highlights included Under Armour and NRG. Again with NRG, I got to make work that is important to me - work that has real purpose in the world. The “Shoe without a footprint” and “Solar Forecast” are two pieces close to my heart.
And that brings me to the beginning of my journey and Saatchi & Saatchi. I owe the start to Kate Stanners who hired me from placement. Over the course of the next 7 years I worked tirelessly for her and Paul Silburn (like I said - lucky enough to learn from the very best). It was about half way through my time there that my career really started - With T-Mobile “Dance”. At the time this was a hugely brave and different shaped piece of work. And we were well rewarded by it, winning over 8 lions in Cannes (4 gold) and the British Arrows Grand Prix. The follow up “Welcome Back” went on to do just as well and also won the British Arrows Grand Prix. While I was at Saatchi & Saatchi I also tried my hand directing, with the European Tour spots. Something I definitely want to do again in the future.
Ah the future. So what’s next? Well firstly I teamed up with Professor Green, the charity CALM and ex Shortlist editors Martin Robinson and Mark Sandford to tackle toxic masculinity - by launching a new mens digital media platform called "The Book Of Man". You can learn more about this exciting launch in my "New Platform" tab at the top. Later in the year I'm going to be taking a break. A six month break, with my wife Goldie - who I met at Saatchi and who worked at Droga5 New York AND Droga5 London with me - like I said, advertising is a way of life and me and my wife love to work together. But until we pack our backpacks and head out into the unknown, I want to write. I want to win more pitches. Above all else, I want to keep working with incredible people who inspire me. So if you’ve got a project and you think I could help, I’d love to have a coffee with you. I love coffee. And I love this industry.
Rick.
Skills
- Creative Advertising
- Creative Direction
- Advertising
- Strategy
- TV Campaigns
- Brand Development
- Film Production
- Art Direction
- Client Management
- Concept and Ideation