The Way I See It: Graham Fink

Now CCO of Ogilvy & Mather China, and formerly ECD of M&C Saatchi in London, Graham Fink’s portfolio includes landmark ads such as BA’s Face and he’s an award-winning photographer. He talks to Diana Goodman about growing up as a butler’s son in stately homes, how he inspires his staff by getting them to hum middle C and the truth about that infamous throwing-the-TV-through-the window story…

I would describe myself as tall, very determined, demanding, probably a nightmare.

I was married years ago when I was at art school, for about nine months. Now I’m single, with a flat in London and living in an apartment in Shanghai.  

My dad was a butler (still is) and we were brought up in five or six stately homes in England, living in the west wing or the downstairs bit. We lived in some pretty magnificent houses. We would be in the poor quarters and then there was the rich side. As kids, it was all very exciting.

Both my parents are quite artistic – especially my mum. She writes a bit – stories and poems – and does a lot of needlecraft. So I think I got my artistic stuff from her.

I remember being brought up a Catholic, but always arguing with our local parish priest about God and why he did the things he did. And anyway, weren’t we all descended from apes? I was more a believer in Charles Darwin’s natural selection ideas and spent a lot of time wondering about where we really came from.

I was fascinated by astronomy and the fact I could look at the night sky and be looking back in time as the light left those stars millions of years ago. I built my own telescope at an early age and spent most nights studying the catalogue numbers of the stars. Sad but true.

I failed my 11-plus. Twice. So I ended up in a comprehensive school. But it suited me as I was only really interested in art and music. And I had good art teachers.

When I was teased at school it was about my name. Fink. Even the teachers took the piss.

It was difficult, because I was always moving from school to school, which is never ideal – you make friends and then move on. But from about 14 to the time I left school we stayed in one place – a town called Witney in Oxfordshire – so it was kind of fine, really.

I distinctly remember sitting in a cinema and the Benson & Hedges advert came on. It was shot in Death Valley with a swimming pool and iguanas, and the pack was a giant sardine can. Hugh Hudson directed it [and] everything about it was amazing. The idea, the way it was shot, the music (Godley & Creme), and I thought, wow, this is something I’d like to get into.

The other ad [that made an impression] was the Fiat Strada Handbuilt by Robots spot. Music by Vangelis, tinkering with Rossini’s Figaro aria from The Barber of Seville. Again, the same director. And also the same agency: CDP. This looked like a great industry to get into.

At that time, CDP was the greatest agency in the world. I went along with my writer, Steve Limbrick, to show our work to John O’Driscoll. He said, “It’s a nice book, lads, but we don’t take on students, although we are actually looking to hire a senior team with a lot of experience.” The following day we put talcum powder in our hair, painted wrinkles on our faces and got a couple of walking sticks. We walked in and said to the receptionist, “Tell John O’Driscoll there are two old men to see him.” The next day they offered us a job.

I’ve had hundreds of students do stunts to get to see me over the years. I always enjoy it. A few years ago at M&C Saatchi two “ghosts” turned up to see me. They stood outside the agency with white sheets over their heads, holding a placard. Something about “SEE US OR WE’LL HAUNT YOU FOREVER”. It was raining at the time, so I made them wait for an hour to see how determined they were. Unfortunately the stunt was better than their book.

I’m reputed to have thrown a TV set through a window when I was at WCRS. Actually, it was a yucca plant. I only threw the TV across the room. Paul Arden, who was my hero, rang me up and said, “I’ve heard this story and it’s fantastic.” He offered me a job and I started the next day.

The argument was about using Tony Kaye. He’s someone I used to spend a lot of time with and he was so inspirational, especially with the amount of risks he used to take. And I loved all the stories he would create: goats in swimming pools, travelling with ET in the back of taxis, paying for his own full-page ads in the tabloids. Basically challenging the way everyone in advertising thought at that time. It left an indelible mark on me.

Tim Mellors, who I met much later, had a profound impact on me. He is one of my best friends and one of the wisest men I’ve ever met.

On top of all this I’ve had a whole network of friends, psychologists, philosophers, hypnotists, feng shui experts, shamen and even a modern-day wizard to turn to in times of need. Working in this business, you need all the help you can get.

I guess the ad I’m most proud of is British Airways Face. It’s like your first love, you never forget it, and it gave me the chance to work with Hugh Hudson, who had shot my favourite-ever ads. It was an amazing shoot and before the days of Flame, so it all had to be done for real. Six thousand people took part in making up the shapes, all shot from a helicopter. It was a great experience.

When I went to M&C Saatchi the main objective was to keep the BA account. We lost it and I had to make a stack of people redundant – something I’d never had to do before. However, in the long run, losing that account was one of the best things that happened to the agency. It forced us to rethink the entire way we went about running the place and a year later we were a leaner, hungrier machine.

I was very happy at M&C Saatchi but when I got a call about this job to work in China, I thought, wow, that is so different. I can’t speak the language [which is] the hardest in the world to learn. I don’t know anything about the culture. I don’t know anyone there. I’m well out of my comfort zone. Perfect.

I’m based in Shanghai, which is a lot more westernised than, say, Beijing. But it’s still very different. I could write a book about my experiences so far, which to me is testament to the fact I made the right move.

I’m on a huge learning curve. The Chinese people are very humble and hard working. They have a tremendous determination that fills the air here. And as the advertising industry is still in its infancy here compared to most other countries, there are so many opportunities. Almost anything is possible.

Obviously it helps if you can speak Mandarin. And at the rate I’m learning I should have mastered it before the next century. God, it’s hard. But interestingly enough I find the Chinese characters fascinating and easier to remember than the words. There are beautiful stories behind each character, too. It’s a very poetic language.

In Shanghai, most senior people can speak English and if not, I have my trusty translator, Eno Jin, to help out. That said, we have had some hilarious ‘lost in translation’ conversations with some of the local talent when discussing work. But in a funny way it makes you a better communicator, as you really do have to simplify everything you are saying and get it down to the bare minimum.

They always say here that what works in the rest of Asia probably won’t work in China. This is not just a cultural thing, but the fact that China is so big that what works in one city may not work in another, which makes writing TV a real challenge. You can’t always write different versions, either, as it is so expensive. Digital is obviously a big help, but TV is by far the most effective medium.

The messages tend to be quite rational and straight-forward. But this, like the rest of the country, is changing fast. Emotional advertising gets talked about, especially by the younger crowd. The use of Weibo (Chinese Twitter ) is almost a way of life here. It’s also a way of being able to say what you really want – something that the Chinese people seldom do in their analogue life.

In terms of clients, we won Philips globally recently, which was a very important pitch for me and my first for Ogilvy. China played a major role so I was obviously very chuffed. The other big players are Coke and Unilever. 

It’s interesting that in some of the pitches I’ve been involved with here, the clients want to meet you a lot more, and some are even willing to come and chat about all manner of things to understand how you think (guanxi we call it here). That is surely a better way of forming a relationship.

When I decide who to hire, the candidate needs a good book but perhaps more important is the right attitude. In fact, I really just trust my instincts. 

The advice I would give young people is, look at all the annuals from award shows, then throw them in the bin. Don’t copy. Be yourself.

Paul Arden used to say, “Don’t tell me what’s right with it, tell me what’s wrong with it.” A great philosophy. I think that’s why he got such good work out.

What makes my work distinctive? I try to keep it very simple. Brutally simple.

I inspire my staff by getting them all to hum in middle C. I’ve got this Indian drone box. It’s beautiful, just like a tiny music box. You plug it in and turn it on and it just sort of drones middle C. It sounds a bit crazy I suppose, but the effects can be quite profound.

I run this art school in London and I actually did a session in the Houses of Parliament. I had 120 students in there and I got my drone box out and made them all hum. I thought, this has never been done at Parliament before. It’s just a beautiful thing. When you’re all humming for about five minutes the room really resonates with this sound and it brings everyone together.

I usually have my camera with me and try to take pictures every weekend. The executive creative director of Ogilvy PR in Shanghai is an amazing photographer. His name is Zhu Hao. He’s had exhibitions all over the world. We often spend quite a bit of time talking about photography and Chinese calligraphy. In a funny way, they are closely related.

As a consumer, I look at most ads with bored interest. But when something really great comes along it makes me feel excited and I want to tell everyone about it. Aren’t we all the same? 

A recent example is a campaign we’re doing for Coke. On the day that Steve Jobs died there was a tribute on the front of every national newspaper in London, where the bite taken out of the Apple logo was actually a profile of Jobs. Underneath, it just said: “Designed by a Hong Kong student.” I said, “We’ve got to get hold of this guy, he’s absolutely brilliant.” We tracked him down and I flew to Hong Kong to meet him – Jonathan Mak, a 19-year-old kid who’s on a two-year design course.

A couple of months later I sent him an open brief that simply said “sharing a Coke”. He sent an absolutely fantastic image. In the white ribbon on the side of a can of Coke he’d managed to draw two hands, with one passing a bottle of Coke to the other. I thought, this is so strikingly simple, so obvious, that someone must have already done it but no one had. It’s come out in China and everyone loves it. What I like is that it’s not often that people take opportunities, and this guy Jonathan grabbed it with both hands and did something brilliant.

I’ve often thought about the amount of money that is spent in the advertising industry, especially when the process [interferes with] getting the answer quickly. I’m sure clients and agencies are equally guilty, but I just wish sometimes that a clear brief was agreed on by everyone before we started working on it.

For me, it has never been about the money. I get most pleasure from getting ideas or nurturing them and watching them being realised. There is no better feeling.

I think awards are very important. Not just because they spur on creative people to do better work and thus raise the standard of creativity, but they’re good for business. If your agency is in the top ten of the Gunn Report you are much more likely to attract international clients than if you are not.

As a judge, I always look for a piece of work that I wish I’d done. That’s it, isn’t it?

I judge a person within the first three seconds. Then I try to reassess.

It’s impossible to say what the best advertisement I’ve ever seen is, as there are so many great ads that have inspired me. In recent years it would have to be Cadbury’s Gorilla, as I think it changed the way many clients thought about advertising in the UK.

The question of whether advertising is an art form is an old argument that rages. Personally, I think art and advertising have blurred edges. Damien Hirst shoots music videos: is it art when it runs on MTV or when it runs in a gallery? Is there a difference?

Have drink or drugs ever been a problem? No. I find drinking quite easy to do. Seriously, though, I’ve never had an addictive problem with drink or drugs. If anything my addiction has been my work and sometimes to an unhealthy degree. Not eating and pushing myself to crazy limits to do better.

I did a self-hypnosis course with Paul McKenna a few years back that was fascinating and came in useful. I sometimes use it in pitch presentations. 

I am fascinated by how the mind works and what we are really capable of. Tim Mellors [now vice chairman and CCO of Grey Worldwide, Fink worked with him at GGT] was brilliant at it. Sometimes we came out of a meeting with a client punching the air because we thought we had sold an idea. Tim would often see something different. He didn’t listen to what they said, he watched the body language. I learnt a lot from him.

Do I believe in God? Not the God who sits up in heaven sorting everything out, no. But I have many numinous moments.

If I could change the world… I don’t know that I want to change it.

If I could relive my life…  I would.

What gives me real pleasure? Great ideas and getting them made.

In the end, what really matters is living your life to your full potential. Because if you are on your deathbed and you have a whole bunch of things you wish you had done, then you deserve to go to hell (if there is such a place).