The Way I See It: Mark Tutssel

He’s one of the most awarded creatives on the planet (among the gongs are a Cannes Grand Prix and a cool 72 Lions) and since 2005, when he took the role of Leo Burnett’s Worldwide CCO, Mark Tutssel has been marshalling the agency’s 98 global offices to glory – making it the world’s third most awarded network. Co-author of Burnett’s bible HumanKind, which advocates advertising with a human purpose, he is near evangelical about the beneficial power of creativity. He shares with Carol Cooper the kind of thinking that turned the boy from Barry into ‘King Tut’

I was born in 1958 in Cardiff, Wales, but grew up on the coast of South Wales in a town called Barry. If I could time travel I’d go back to the time and place of my birth and see what life was like during the late 50s.

My earliest memories are of playing football in the garden and spending both days and nights thinking, talking and dreaming about the sport. As I was growing up, sport was a shared love for my family.

Growing up near the sand and sea, my childhood was idyllic. I had the freedom to explore, be curious and roam with my thoughts.

During my childhood the joke was that nobody could ever spell Tutssel correctly. It’s an old surname that can be traced back to the Domesday Book. My nickname quickly became ‘Tuts’. Now many of my friends and colleagues call me ‘King Tut’.

My father was a physical training instructor in the army and then worked for cement manufacturer Blue Circle. My mother was a hospice nurse. She didn’t retire until she was 75 years old.

I was a lifeguard in my teens and watched over the seas for nearly eight years – it was the most beautiful time of my life. I am never happier than when I’m next to the water, and to this day, I find myself magnetically pulled to places near the sea. 

At school, I was captain of the football, basketball and swimming teams, and I excelled academically – when not gazing out of the classroom window at the football goal posts. 

As a child, I dreamt day and night of becoming a professional football player – to me that was the be all and end all. Any free time I had, I’d be out on the fields practising or at home glued to the television. I was, and still am, fanatical about the beautiful game.

My father always advised me to ‘use brains not brawn’. He believed that education unlocked the door to success. So I studied and studied and studied and I gained a place at Cardiff School of Art and Design to do graphic design. To this day I study; I’m an eternal student of life.

I’ve been fascinated with advertising since I was a young boy. My cousin, Glenn Tutssel is a renowned commercial designer [London chairman of the creative consultancy Brand Union, holder of four D&AD Yellow Pencils and Fellow of the RSA]. He got me into this business by opening my eyes to the world of visual communications. After graduating from Cardiff, I won a competition through Hall Harrison Cowley [then a Saatchi & Saatchi company] that rewarded me with a 12-month scholarship at the agency.

My career was born during the golden age of advertising in the 1970s. At that time, London was home to some of the greatest creative minds in the world – David Abbott, John Hegarty, Alan Parker, Charles Saatchi, Ridley Scott, John Webster, Neil Godfrey, John Salmon – who led the industry with work that broke the mould. There was an overwhelming ‘can-do’ attitude and excitement surrounding creativity. If you look at the industry’s game-changing ideas, many of them began in London during those years. In that time, you had agencies that were beginning their legendary journey – including BBH and Abbott Mead Vickers – so wherever you looked you would find pioneers – people who bucked the status quo, challenged the norms and gave the industry direction. 

In 1981, when I started as art director at Saatchi & Saatchi, I listened intensely. I absorbed everything. I was a human sponge. I was privileged to be among so many radical freethinkers who believed nothing is impossible.

At Leo Burnett London, I was accustomed to a flat structure with an open workflow where every employee had full awareness of every brand, and it was acceptable for good ideas to come from anywhere. Then when I moved to the USA headquarters in Chicago in 2002, I found there were more processes and more of a structured workflow. It has to be that way given the enormous size of our office. With that said, there has always been a strong sense of culture and deep-rooted enthusiasm for the creative product in Chicago, it’s the home of the original ‘Mad Man’ [the TV character Don Draper is based on Draper Daniels of Leo Burnett Chicago].

I would advise any young person wanting to work in advertising that there are no shortcuts to great work. To find true success in this industry, you must be fully immersed in not only your assignments at hand but also the world at large. Young people should explore, experience and soak up all the culture, entertainment, people and vibrancy the planet has to offer. 

My primary role is to lead, shape and continue to solidify Burnett’s creative prowess – with that responsibility comes the opportunity to help foster the careers of our creative youth. I want to empower people and uphold their right to explore and think freely.

Throughout my years in this industry, I’ve taken on the roles of both player and coach. While much of my time is spent coaching, the player inside of me is always peeking through – it frightens me to walk away from the creative product. After all, that’s why I got into the business in the first place – I love making things and creating ideas that shape behaviour. I still lead the work on Samsung, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola globally.

One of the best days of my career was when Mercedes-Benz Skidmarks won the Cannes Press & Poster Grand Prix in 1997. It’s a favourite from my own work and marked a tipping point in my career with Leo Burnett. The ad challenged viewers in a smart and engaging way. It is also one of the most awarded car advertisements of all time, [the Grand Clio, four One Show Pencils, and a D&AD Silver Pencil]. It credited people with intelligence, having just an image and a logo, no tagline. It invited the viewer to interact.

The worst days in my career have been if I have had an idea that I believed in die. When that happens the secret is not to sulk or pout but to pick yourself up and keep going. That resilience, which you learn over time, is the key to success in this industry.

For me the best advertising is work that is human, emotive, demonstrates purpose and above all, rewards the viewer. With that, two pieces of work come to mind – The Guardian Points of View spot of 1986, created by BMP, and Guinness Surfer created by AMV BBDO in 1999. Neither of these spots feels like an advertisement, they feel like pure, artful entertainment telling intelligent stories in a timeless way.

Advertising is an audio-visual medium so music is extremely important. Although film fills a screen, music fills an entire room. It is the vernacular of the human soul, it has the ability to touch you, move you, and viscerally connect with you. We can’t live without it, it’s part of our DNA. 

We must never forget that we’re in commercial art. As much as I love fine art, that’s not our business. There is a joy to be had when you produce work that becomes part of commercial culture. My fulfilment comes with applied creativity that forges purposeful relationships between people and brands.

Leo Burnett’s HumanKind philosophy states that a brand and its advertising should have human purpose regardless of whether it’s a campaign for profit or social good – we’re always trying to look through a more humanistic lens. We believe that no matter what the campaign, there’s an opportunity to strike a true human emotion. The example that comes to mind is #LikeAGirl for Always, which raised awareness of the harmful impacts of the phrase and aimed to counteract the drop in self-confidence that happens to girls during puberty by showing that performing actions ‘like a girl’ can mean something downright amazing. The campaign pulled on the world’s heartstrings and accessed subconscious attitudes of young females. Since launching at the end of June, the #LikeAGirl video has resulted in more than 48 million YouTube views and billions of online, social and earned media impressions.

If a brand finds a purpose then that’s when they really touch on what their consumers care about and really connect with them. That was exemplified in Coca-Cola’s Small World Machines [a campaign that aimed to unite people separated by geo-political boundaries] Coca-Cola doesn’t just talk about sharing happiness, it creates happiness. The brand story should serve the same role as the product it promotes.

Leo Burnett’s recent IKEA campaign #HouseRules [which highlights the house rules people live by to make co-habiting a peaceful experience] conveys that the purpose of the IKEA brand goes far beyond just a college dorm room – it’s a brand that can suit every family, and every personality demonstrating that purpose can lead to aspirational value. We believe creativity has the power to transform behaviour – as an agency our goal is to not only impact on purchase but have a role in someone’s life.

People are struck first by the emotional tone of the brand and then are inspired to purchase. A purposeful relationship is built when a consumer can unite with a brand over a cause, a feeling or even just a passing moment – that is what first impacts on a consumer.

I think that though consumers are increasingly savvy and media aware they will continue to respond to big brands adopting socially motivated messages. But it goes without saying that all brands are now in an incredibly saturated playing field. They are all trying to send out socially motivated messages of purpose. There is tough competition, this climate forces brands to up their game because consumers will accept nothing less. It’s a very interesting time for marketers.

The brands that will win the race to attract consumers’ involvement will be those that relate to people on a human level – not just once, but on an ongoing basis – always finding consistent opportunities for trust, participation and purpose. In order to be valued, we have to be a consumer’s friend more than anything.

This is a riveting time because nearly everyone is creating and sharing content now. We are living in a time when creativity is highly democratised, so brands are forced to deliver the best content but they can only compete in the marketplace if they loosen control over it. Advertisers must relinquish the control of branded content and deliver it to the consumers so they can interact with it how and when they like.

At Leo Burnett we all work for the work. The laser-sharp focus we put on the quality of our product is paramount. Four times a year I review the quality of every piece of work we send out in our Global Product Committee meetings. I gather different teams of creative talent from around the network to review and rate every piece of work. It’s a way of measuring and self-evaluating our work so we can continue to improve.

One brand I’ve not worked on but would love to is the great Liverpool Football Club. But, I’ve been lucky as over the course of my career, I’ve had the honour of working on brands from nearly every product category – from Samsung to General Motors to Nintendo to Coca-Cola – which all value and embody creativity.

Brands I would not work on are those that lack integrity, spirit and human value. I only want to invest my time in brands that have an identity that speaks to the masses and carries a true purpose.

In today’s industry, brands are not measured by what they are but what they do. Great brands live in the corner of someone’s mind.

I like collaborating with folks who have a craving for new ideas and a desire to break the mould. I’d love to work with Jonathan Ive [Apple’s senior vice president of design], he’s an inspirational visionary leader with immaculate taste. I’ve also always been a huge fan of Richard Branson because I love his spirit – he has an insatiable appetite to learn, to grow and to create, and I’m in awe of his ability to propel an idea. Sporting leaders also amaze me – they have the ability to bleed every last drop of potential out of players – it’s a trait that good leaders master and one that can inspire the masses.

Award shows allow you to immerse yourself in great work and debate its merits with some of the most fertile and imaginative minds in our industry. The quality of conversation around the work is inspiring and educational.

Every time I judge an awards show I learn something new, and leave richer for the experience. I believe in fairness and I fight for bold, courageous ideas. After all, we are invisibly signing our name to the winning work.

I think awards matter, they make our industry spin and hum. They are the barometer of our business and evaluate the health of our creativity. They are not just about shiny metal objects: they inspire and educate you and they’ve become a magnet for young talent – this year at Cannes, every major blue-chip marketer was there learning, absorbing and looking for the next wave of talent. But most importantly, award show performance has a direct correlation to marketplace success – that should never go unnoticed.

Cannes 2014 didn’t really throw up any surprises for us in terms of wins as Leo Burnett’s Cannes Predictions is the advertising industry’s lead predictor and is known for its astounding accuracy, with more than 90 percent on-target rate of contenders winning a Lion. This year there were over 37,000 submissions to Cannes. I, along with my team, identified 25 top Cannes contenders from 10 countries as the most likely to win. These campaigns won 11 Grand Prix, 59 Gold, 53 Silver, 40 Bronze, one Titanium and one Product Design Lion. That’s 165 Cannes Lions in total. Of the top 25, only one did not win a prestigious Lion. That’s 96 percent accuracy. So, no surprises in 2014.

If I wasn’t in advertising, I would either have a career in football or architecture. I’ve always had a fascination with architecture and interior design; my wife is an interior designer. Over the last 30 years we’ve moved many times, but there’s something beautiful about creating a home that is forever. I’ve recently restored a turn-of-the-century house and it’s been rewarding to reinstate it to its former glory.

If I could change one thing about myself, I’m not sure what that would be. Ask my wife! I think the older you become the more you fall in love with who you are. Growing up you’re only pleased with bits and pieces of yourself, but then suddenly you wake up happy with who you are.

The best advice I’ve been given is from my father, who told me to “treat others how you would like to be treated”. That is a fruitful piece of wisdom that I use every day.

My biggest fear is of leaving this business as I’m not done yet.

The closest I have come to death was during my childhood. It was a dark and gloomy Sunday afternoon. My brother and I were playing hide and seek in the bedroom when I decided to hide in the ultimate place – outside. I climbed out of the window onto the roof. What seemed like only moments later, I woke up with a doctor standing over me saying “I don’t know how he’s alive.”

The best day of my personal life was when I became a father. My darkest day was losing mine.  

I trace all of my success back to my wife, Julie, because without her strength and endorsement I wouldn’t be able to balance my career with family life. It’s all about commitment and hard work. I’ve been afforded an amazing opportunity and gift but you need people around you to help and support that gift.

I last cried when my son got his Masters in pure economics and went out into the business world.

I don’t Google myself because my son Googles me for me! I don’t care what people think of me, it’s not a popularity contest, I’m not perfect but I have to follow my own personal compass.

The single greatest human invention is from Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web.

The worst human invention is war.

My heroes are those that lead with bravery and clear direction, the Nelson Mandelas of the world.

A lack of integrity drives me nuts. I loathe people who lie; I think it’s a horrible trait.

If I was President of the USA for a day, in the morning I would start off with a review of all the government’s classified information. I would want to review secret documents from everything surrounding John F. Kennedy to Area 51. The hush-hush moments in American history. My curiosity would get the better of me… In the evening I would host a White House gala and invite every major US sporting star, including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant and Michael Phelps. Coldplay would be performing in the background. At the end of the night, I would take Air Force One back to London.

I hope I’ll be remembered as someone who served as a catalyst for freethinking and game-changing ideas. And as a positive role model and a fierce protector and defender of creativity.

At the end of the day, what really matters is happiness. We spend a short time on this planet, you have to feel fulfilled. My family is my priority – you have nothing without family. It’s an obvious answer, but then the truth is obvious.