Tony Granger: The Creative Monitor

Tony Granger has been at the helm of agencies such as Bozell New York and Saatchi in London and New York. For the last five years the South African has been the global CCO of Y&R. Here he tells Danny Edwards about the lessons he’s learnt and the methods he’s employed to put an ‘iconic brand’ back on its feet.

How long have you been working in the US and what were you doing before that?

I came to the States in 2000, from TBWAHunt Lascaris in South Africa, to work at Bozell New York. When I think back on it, Hunt Lascaris was a brilliant training ground and John Hunt was a great mentor. We learned how to do everything as creatives, a real hands-on education. And they did great work, still do.

What attracted me to Bozell, [was] quite the opposite; it had lost its way creatively, but its appetite for great work had been revived. I remember being in [former Bozell president and CEO] Tom Bernardin’s office for the interview and his display unit had nothing in it but a single Cannes Grand Prix. So, going to a place that really hungered to do great work seemed like a truly worthwhile way for me to spend my time.

What attracted you to the global role at Y&R in the first instance?

The possibility of doing something that hadn’t been done there before attracted me. Y&R is one of the truly iconic brands in the business — the first agency started by a creative person [Raymond Rubicam, in 1923, alongside John Orr Young], in fact. A smart agency with great people, but it wasn’t the first agency you’d think of for great creative work. In truth, it hadn’t had a global creative director in years. And while there were great creatives there, without leadership at the top, they weren’t being supported and inspired. They didn’t share or learn from each other. So, creating a real global creative community was another challenge that excited me. I like challenges.  I like to make a difference. There’s a pattern — I like to be nervous as hell, it’s a good thing. 

Before the move you were at Saatchi New York, which won countless awards and International Agency of the Year in Cannes 2007; did you feel you had done all you could in that environment?

Not at all. I was really proud of what we did at Saatchi. It wasn’t just me, it was the team. We had won a ton of new business (Wendy’s, JCP, Ameriprise), huge businesses, and the creative was doing fantastically. I was really happy there.

When Saatchi won International Agency of the Year at Cannes in 2007, I felt we had just started. My mission was to win new business and raise the creative pedigree year after year. It’s hard to do it once, but to do it time and again is really hard.

The Y&R gig came out of the blue. The more I thought about joining Y&R, the more I thought what a great opportunity it would be to see if an entire network can be reinvented and refocussed.

And was that the same situation at Bozell, prior to your Saatchi stint?

At Bozell, we went from hardly being recognised for our work to third Agency of the Year at Cannes 2002. That got more media attention than Wieden that year who was above us. I remember a reporter asking me if I felt like Cinderella at the Ball. I never thought of myself as Cinderella, but the truth was, no one saw us coming.

When Bozell was folded into Lowe it was time for me to move on. When Bob Isherwood approached me about going to Saatchi in London, I thought, why not? David Droga had fun there.

How big a leap is it from ECD of an agency to worldwide CCO of an agency network and what prepares you for such a role?

It’s a huge leap, even just in terms of sheer scale, but you use familiar skillsets, too.  Being a creative director is the best job in the world. You get to work with people who live by their imagination. And the best of them are eager to learn, to try new things, work with different people, stay ahead of the technology curve. It’s your job to help them unleash their talents and to get rid of the obstacles that get in their way of doing great work.

Regardless of size, what a creative leader must do is give people the right tools and resources, help them find great partners, and give them the freedom to make some mistakes along the way. That’s the only way to drive a culture that values innovation and that understands the relationship between creativity and innovation. 

Ultimately, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing someone you’ve mentored grow and build their career.

How much of an idea did you have of the changes you wanted to make before you actually started at Y&R?

The truth is I didn’t want to overthink things before I got there. It’s always better to figure it out once you’re on the ground.

Something I often say, which still holds true, is that there are three kinds of people at an agency — the ones who are excited about change, the ones who fear change and the ones who are cynical about change. The key is to take the first group and have them help infect the others with their enthusiasm. Eventually, the ones who fear it will start to embrace it. And the ones who don’t want to try things differently fall off, and that’s OK, too, because openness to change is a mark of a great creative. Particularly in these times, where we are on a perpetual learning curve.

And what exactly were those changes you felt needed to be made to the agency’s approach and how did you affect them?

Well, here’s where a global network is truly different. We have 187 offices around the world with a diverse group of people and skills. And it was my belief that we’d all benefit — especially our clients — from a network where people felt intimately connected to each other. So I started by making sure all our creative heads spent time with each other face-to-face. I started regional boards, then a global board and we set up a unique digital infrastructure, so we could all experience the work across the network, help each other improve our work, share resources and collaborate on projects. 

We began to see people’s strengths and started leveraging people from one part of the world with a particular experience or skill on a piece of business in another part of the world. And now it’s a matter of course for us to put the right people against an assignment, no matter where they reside or where the client is located. It’s radically refreshed our work for clients and gives our creatives an experience that’s not easily matched.

Our people feel the specialness of their own office, but also the support, relationships and opportunities of working in the whole network. I really think our collaborative culture differentiates us from a lot of other large networks and makes working here so special, unique and fun. We think of ourselves at Y&R as a global boutique.

What does the term ‘global boutique’ mean?

The strongest global networks always have the strongest local agencies. That’s because consumers connect to their brands locally and buy locally. So the local flavour of an agency makes all the difference to a marketer. Take for example, Y&R Cape Town’s Hope Soap campaign. We put toys inside bars of soap to encourage kids to wash their hands more frequently — and to prevent the spread of infection and disease, which is still such a predominant risk in Africa. I was so proud that it took home two silver Lions at Cannes.

It’s funny, years ago at Cannes, it was always the same six markets winning all the Lions. But now you see work from all over the place that is worthy of awards. Our office in Macedonia won a Titanium this year for an amazing piece of content. As a government assignment to promote tolerance, they created a single day of prayer and for the first time had a group of Christians and a group of Muslims praying at the same place at the same time. Enormously powerful — an idea that has global impact, but comes out of local conflict. 

How hard is it to affect company-wide changes in such a large environment?

If you’re too patient nothing happens and if you’re too impatient nothing happens. I took my time getting to know our talent at Y&R — made some great discoveries of people who were already working here. Then we went market by market and made changes where we felt we needed to. And new talent attracted other new talent. And our rising reputation brought even more people. 

What was the biggest challenge you faced coming into the network?

That the network didn’t feel focussed. Good focus creates terrific work, terrific work attracts the best clients and the best clients attract the best talent…it sounds fundamental, but it’s true. You would be surprised at how many agencies lose sight of that. We’re laser-focussed on the quality of the work.

What do you think have been your biggest successes in the last five years at Y&R?

Strengthening talent. Sometimes it’s by helping people demand more of themselves. And sometimes you do it by bringing in people who create a ripple effect around them because they bring something new and special and everybody wants to learn from them. But it’s always about the quality of the people and how motivated they are to deliver the best work for their clients.

Having a global creative community that sees itself as a community makes me really happy. Our people are so collaborative and yet they still retain that competitive spirit that reinforces their focus and gives them that edge they need. 

And I am also pleased that there is a closer connection between planning and creative. Can’t claim full credit for that – [global planning director] Sandy Thompson has reshaped the face of planning and added some great tools that the creatives find useful and usable. The two groups are much more closely aligned than ever.

We were the number four agency network at Cannes this year with 66 Lions, we’ve gone from 12th to fifth on the Gunn Report. I’m certainly not happy with number four and five. But the constant progression year-on-year is encouraging. 

What’s your view on the digital landscape?

Digital is everywhere, I don’t really think of it as something separate to what we do or how we think. We are storytellers. We create content. And today, thanks to the fast clip of technological change, we have new ways all the time to drive our stories through channels that will entertain and engage and motivate consumers. And people consume media so differently today — for example, approximately 70 per cent of people watching TV are also using another device. Mobile has become the way we seamlessly weave our online and offline lives together. So creativity and innovation are bound together. Innovation has to be tied to the core idea. It’s not an add-on. 

For that very reason, I think it’s important for us to stay close to innovators and bring them in as partners early in the development phase of a campaign – we have built close relationships with Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, Twitter and Google. We also have an innovation incubator called Spark Plug that gives residencies to start-ups and gives us access to amazing new technology. We have a partnership with Shazam [which will allow brands to extend a TV ad into further engagement on mobile devices].

So, we are deeply committed to innovation. But we see it as our landscape, not something that we’re peering through binoculars on an observation deck to see. And that’s probably why, at Cannes this year, we had winners in 14 out of the 17 categories. We start with an idea and figure out the best way to tell the story. So whether you are doing a spot on TV or a film that you’re going to seed online or a live billboard, the idea must remain a simple truth that connects emotionally.

Here’s an example: Y&R Singapore and VML created a mobile voice-activated app, Guide Dots, that’s designed to enable someone blind or visually impaired to navigate the streets. As the person walks, the app tells them about shops, crossings, and hazards along the way. 

Here’s another one: Y&R New Zealand’s Weather To Wake is an alarm clock app that only wakes you up if the weather conditions are conducive to the sport you want to play outdoors.

Sometimes innovation is not about technology. For Land Rover, Y&R New York created a spot called Roam — using a parkour troupe simulating the movement of a Land Rover across extreme terrain against the gorgeous music of a Bach Prelude. A different kind of innovation there. 

Is there anything you would do differently over that five-year period if you had the chance?

Should have, could have, would have… I wish there was a way to make us No.1 sooner, but with 7,000 people in 187 offices that takes time.

Despite your experience in a number of high-profile roles, is the first day in any new job a bit nerve-wracking?

Damn right it is. If it isn’t anxiety-producing that first day, [it’s] probably not worth walking through the doors. It’s never good to get comfortable. Creatives, and when I say that I mean everyone at the agency, are at their best when their pulses race, when their adrenaline is surging. We all love those moments when your energy is up, your reflexes are sharp, your senses are magnified. Makes for the best work.

When you look back at your career what was the common thread that led you to where you are today?

Chemistry and partnership are the most important things to me. I have had some amazing partners (Tom Bernardin, Kevin Dundas at Saatchi in London, Mary Baglivo at Saatchi New York, Hamish McLennan and now David Sable).  For a creative to succeed they really need a business partner who’ll have their back, who sees things from a similar point of view. It’s OK to disagree now and again, but the vision needs to be similar. 

Do you already have plans for the next five years for Y&R?

My dream is for us to be the most respected agency globally. I am totally focussed on the work and talent. The last five years have gone by in a blink of an eye and the next five will do the same.

Part of the beauty of these times is the pace of change. I know tomorrow will be different from today, so how am I going to anticipate it, be ready for it, make it part of what we do? I think this is the most exciting time to be in our business since TV was invented. I’m enjoying every moment.