Grand Slam

As a massive tennis fan, some games will remain etched upon my memory forever.

For example, that time when a super young Taiwanese-American named Michael Chang won his round of 16 against Czech-American tennis legend Ivan Lendl, in the 1989 French Open.
Or when Brazil’s very own Gustavo Kuerten drew a heart on the Roland Garros red clay after claiming his third French Open trophy in 2001.
And of course, how can I forget the day when Switzerland’s Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam and sixth Wimbledon’s title over American Andy Roddick in 2009?

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Those were amazing, unforgettable displays of grit, determination, skill and sportsmanship.

But there’s one game that always gives me goosebumps, for some reason: the 2012 Australian Open final, when Serbian Novak Djokovic beat Spain’s Rafael Nadal after battling for almost 6 hours. I mean, SIX hours. That wasn’t a match. That was a dogfight. That was a war. That was tennis at its utmost finest.

Djokovic is the one of eight men in tennis history to complete the Career Grand Slam, which means winning the four major championships of the ATP Tour:

1. The Australian Open in mid-January,

2. The French Open from late May to early June,

3. The Wimbledon Championships in the UK, in June-July and

4. The US Open in August-September.

Ok. Tennis. Djokovic. Grand Slams. What does that have to do with concepts?

Well, a lot actually.

Because tennis players, especially elite tennis players (a.k.a Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams) tend to have their own personal logos, besides those that belong to their official sponsors.

And only a few months after that incredible match against Nadal, Djokovic reached another milestone in his stellar career, one that impressed my creative self as much as his unbelievable Australian Open win had amazed my sports aficionado self: he unveiled HIS personal logo.

And he did it in the most irreverent, cheeky and informal way possible: by uploading a video on his personal Youtube channel. ;o)

The video is a bit over 2 minutes long and it perfectly shows what I mean when I say “with concepts, there’s always a reason-why”. From the meaning behind the logo to the symbolism it carries, the animation explains why certain creative choices were made in the process of building the logo, where the inspiration to make these choices came from and why the result – simple and classic – is so incredibly valuable.

I watched it.
I watched it again.
And I watched it one last time. 
And it was as if the seas had parted.

I say that because that was the first time that I’ve seen a concept explained in such a detailed and easy-to-understand manner. Everything was so logical, and yet, it made so much sense emotionally. Complex thoughts were expressed with simplicity and clarity. My reactions while watching the video went from “yes, of course, that makes total sense!” to “wow…really? I did not see that coming”.

Now, up until that point, I myself had already done the same thing hundreds of times: explaining concepts to my peers, selling them to creative directors, pitching them to clients. That’s part of the job. As a matter of fact, I must say, that’s one of the most exciting and fun parts of the job.

But for some reason, at that time, when I watched Djokovic’s video, it felt to me as if the folks at PRpepper (the agency that created the logo – and the video) somehow raised the bar.

By using a visual montage to explain every single “reason-why” behind the concept, they accomplished something far greater and much more significant and important than just showing how the logo was drawn or constructed.

In just two minutes:

1. They showed how, in every creative endeavor, the abstract drives the concrete.

2. They showed all the intangible thinking that goes into a tangible deliverable.

3. They showed that what you don’t see (the idea) is usually more valuable than what you do see (the logo)

4. They succeeded at conveying this idea and communicating this value.  

Now, creatively speaking, THAT’s a real Career Grand Slam, right there. ;o)

Heroes

Last week, I wrote about the role of a concepteur-rédacteur, and how in my eyes, this title actually encompasses two different métiers: to me, a concepteur is one thing and a rédacteur is another thing.

Today, I’d like to thank and honor the exceptional concepteurs and the amazing rédacteurs who have set the standards of excellence that I strive to achieve every single day.

I know I’ll never be like them. As a matter of fact, I know I won’t even come close to being like them. Of that, I’m sure. But I do know this: if I keep trying long enough and keep working hard enough, perhaps someday I’ll at least be able to make them proud.

And you know what? That’s good enough for me. ;o)

This one is for my heroes.

Dan Wieden

The father of Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan. Enough said.

Mary Frances Gerety

Author of the best slogan of the 20th century: “A Diamond Is Forever”.

David Abbott

The mind behind The Economist’s ads. And the copywriter I dream of becoming.

Spike Lee

Founder of Spike DDB. And an absolute WIZARD with words.

José Luiz Mendieta Filho

Taught me everything I know. My mentor.

Paula Scher

The goddess of graphic design. Period.

Rémi Babinet

He’s the ‘B’ in BETC. B as in Brilliant.

Tinker Hatfield

Taught me that “a basic design is always functional, but a great one will say something”.

Nizan Guanaes

The Michael Jordan of Brazilian advertising. Simple as that.

Rory Sutherland

A thinker (the fact that he’s also an adman is merely incidental).

Pierre Lemonnier

Taught me that we don’t sell products, but “the idea that people could make of products”.

Ken Segall

The man who put the “I” in iPhone, iPad, iPod. And all the “i”s in the “importance of simplicity”.

José Zacarias

Taught me that “God’s in the details”. Which only worsened my knack for perfectionism. ;o)

Lee Clow

Taught me that, when done right, advertising IS art.

Marcello Serpa

The legend. Master Yoda. Cannes should change its name to Serpa.

Philippe Michel

Genius. Gone too soon, unfortunately. I guess God DOES call the best of the best first.

Washington Olivetto

He’s not the best adman Brazil’s ever seen. He IS Brazil’s advertising.

Concepteur-rédacteur

I’m not sure if I ever told you guys, but in 2013, I was blessed to be accepted as one of the – I wanna say 17, but I can’t remember – students that were part of that year’s CELSA’s Master’s Program. Based on the West side of Paris, in the area known as Neuilly-sur-Seine, CELSA stands for Centre d’Etudes Littéraires et Scientifiques Appliquées and it’s essentially the Graduate School of Communication of the Sorbonne University.

Like I said, it was a blessing: a gift from the Heavens, if you will. After all, realistically, never in a gazillion years have I ever thought I’d even have the chance to walk the halls of such a prestigious institution, let alone study at it. And every single day I feel grateful for having been given this opportunity.

So there I was, feeling like one of God’s favorite children, and just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, I quickly realized that the year had one more surprise in store for me: through a very dear friend and classmate, I came to learn of something called Journée Agences Ouvertes (JAO), which is organized by the AACC, which stands for Association des Agences-Conseils en Communication (which is kind of an advertising / communication union, roughly speaking).

The Journée Agences Ouvertes, as the name itself states, is a day when communication, marketing and advertising agencies all over Paris open their doors to students attending such programs at the university. The goal is to give them a glimpse of the “real world”, show them the inner works of an agency and, hopefully, give them a better understanding of what’s to come after they graduate.

Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity. Even though I was already super familiar with the “real world” of agencies (having spent the past 12 years as a cog in the agency machine), I was still very excited, since this would be the first (and probably only) time I’d get to visit agencies IN FRANCE. I’ve always been a great fan of French advertising, so this was a once in a lifetime thing for me. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

That day was unforgettable, mainly for two reasons.

1.  It’s when I first heard – during my visit to the CLM BBDO agency – about a guy called Philippe Michel. He’s the ‘M’ in CLM BBDO. Yes, apparently, in the advertising world, becoming an initial is one of the perks of being an agency’s founder…;o). Anyway, the guy became my role model. You can learn why here.

2. Now this is the second reason, the one that changed my life: it’s when I first learned that in French, if you’re a copywriter, your job title reads as concepteur-rédacteur.

My mind was totally blown.

Because up until that point, even though I intuitively felt – and empirically knew – that conceptualizing represented the MOST important part of a copywriter’s work (feel free to disagree with me guys), that didn’t seem to be what most people in our industry thought. And if they did, they never mentioned it or expressed it out loud (as I did countless times).

Which is why seeing my job title (I’m a copywriter, yes) expressed in such a precise and accurate way – for the first time – felt like deliverance. For me, concepteur-redácteur leaves no room for doubt: as copywriters, our job is to THINK. Then, and ONLY then, is it to write.

And why did it change my life?

Because it gave me permission (and confidence) to break out of an incredibly wrong – and prejudicial – mindset: that the work of conceptualizing and that of writing are inextricably one and the same, like two halves of an orange and, as such, can only exist in unison.

That’s not true. It never was. And it never will be.

But if that’s the case, then why is it that the most widely accepted version has been (and still is) the one where copywriting is seen as this indivisible combination of thinking and writing? And why does the thought of dissociating the two seem so unfathomable?

My guess is this: because in order for there to a payment (from the client’s side), there has to be a deliverable (from the agency’s side). And across all industries and markets, since time immemorial, conventional wisdom dictates that deliverables must be concrete, for some reason. Tangible.

In the case of copywriting, it means the text. The headline. The copy. The slogan. The words.

The way our industry is structured today, all the thinking and reasoning and abstraction that go into the writing of these words doesn’t seem to count. No matter how great the idea is, unfortunately, it will only be seen as a deliverable once it’s expressed and presented in written form.

Personally, I don’t agree with this view. Never have. And it’s not for lack of trying. I swear: I’ve tried to agree with this view. I tried to play by the mainstream rule. I tried to accept conventional wisdom. But I failed miserably, every time. To this day, my conviction remains the same as it always was, ever since I was a student in college: in copywriting there are always TWO deliverables on the table.

1. The concept (the thinking part)

2. The copy that is born from this concept (the writing part)

And BOTH of them should be financially compensated.

Here’s a story I’d like to share with you. It happened one day when I approached an Art Director at the agency because we had both just been assigned to work together on a new account.

Me: Have you heard the news? The agency got this new account. It seems like you and I are going to be working together!
Her: Yay!! That’s great news! Which account?
Me: It’s a global account.
Her: Ohh, awesome. So does that mean we only get to work on the local version of the global campaign?
Me: Nope. We get to come up with a new concept!
Her: Awww… Shoot! I hate working on new concepts…

(Dramatic pause ensues)

Me: Hummm….I’m sorry. You what…?
Her: I don’t like working on concepts.
Me: But THAT’s the coolest part of our job! Creating. Conceptualizing. Building an entire world out of thin air! That’s the best part. How can you not like that part?
Her: Naaahh. I like the execution part.

As baffled as I was at the time, in hindsight, that moment was an epiphany. It was right there and then that I learned that not every creative enjoys (nor excels at) the ideation process. Here are other lessons that were given to me through that dialogue:

• I learned that some of us are incredibly good at creating concepts, but don’t particularly excel at the execution part.

• I learned that some of us dread – absolutely dread – the conceptualizing part, but are extremely good at executing.

• I learned that some of us are immensely talented at both (ok, maybe THEY’RE God’s favorite children… ;o)).

This is the kind of revelation that, once you see it, you cannot un-see it. So, I started thinking. Maybe when the French say concepteur-rédacteur, it’s almost like saying songwriter-singer. Remember how we talked about Alicia Keys on last week’s post? She’s a songwriter (she creates the song, writes the lyrics, composes the melody) and a singer (she executes it all).

And although in this case, we’re talking about an artist – an extremely gifted artist, by the way – who can do both, we also know singing and songwriting are different métiers. Sure, they usually walk together. Sure, you mostly see them hand in hand. Sure, they complement each other. But in the end, we all understand that they’re different métiers.

There are people who feel more comfortable in the role of songwriting. And that’s ok.
There are other people whose skill sets make them better at singing. And that’s ok, too.
And then, there are people like Alicia Keys. And that’s MORE than ok. ;o))

The music industry has long understood that it’s not only about finding that one artist who can do both. It’s about collaboration. Think about it: the best albums, the most iconic songs, the most timeless tracks and the most legendary tunes. They were and continue to be a product of collaboration between artists, with each professional doing what he/she does best.

I hope someday soon, the advertising, marketing and communication industry will follow in the same footsteps. And when that day comes, I hope I’m still alive to see some student in France (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter) have the opportunity to choose between three career paths, instead of one.

Becoming a concepteur-rédacteur. 
Becoming a concepteur.
Becoming a rédacteur.

And if he or she ever picks option number 2, I hope they’ll consider joining my decrepit old self on this crazy, beautiful and amazingly fun journey into the conceptual world. ;o)