On My Radar: Adrian Rossi
The Creative Chairman of Grey London, Adrian Rossi, admires a certain Italian art director, a particular Korean film and a legendary American boxer as he reveals some of his creative inspirations.
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What the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen recently?
It was a huge advert for a massive global organisation. I saw it on a recent trip to Italy - The Sistine Chapel. The art director, Michelangelo, did a great job and showed the importance of craft and great teamwork to get it done.
What website(s) do you use most regularly and why?
This is the last web I didn’t get site of quickly enough. Ended up all over my head. Looked like I had been zapped by Spider-Man. The vagaries of living in a house built in 1870.
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What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought and why?
A handheld, plastic, battery powered fan in a Sri Lankan street market. Cost was 24p. The surprise was it lasted as long as two days. That was 48 hours of unadulterated bliss.
What product could you not live without?
Water.
What’s the best film you’ve seen over the last year?
My mum’s dog running after a rabbit and getting stuck down its hole. At that point we realised it needed to go on a diet. Both animals survived unharmed.
What film do you think everyone should have seen and why?
The original Korean Oldboy. Ideas can come from anywhere. Great acting – like, unreal – the octopus scene is the definition of living, breathing and eating a part. Brilliantly shot. And an incredible story, which Hollywood managed to totally fuck up.
What’s your preferred social media platform and why?
Taking a leaf out of my friends book in Silicon Valley, they prefer it when social media is switched off.
What’s your favourite TV show and why?
That is like saying what is your favourite food. It depends what mood I am in. I might fancy pizza, or burritos, or sashimi, sometimes all in one day. Same with TV.
What’s your favourite podcast?
Whatever my girlfriend tells me to listen to.
As an industry we have been too comfortable for too long.
What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?
My daughter’s art exhibition at school. Children express themselves without boundaries. Their imaginations are infinite. Over time ours get narrowed and corralled. We spend our lives being continually told what we can’t do. Learn from children, not the other way around.
What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?
People talking about the death of it. All the social media giants are going to kill us, Accenture is going to eat us. Blah blah blah. Are you kidding me? Muhammad Ali wasn’t called The Greatest for no reason. It was because he fought Liston, Foreman and Frazier. To be the best you have to beat the best. You do that by raising your game to new levels. That happens by having bigger and better competition.
I say bring it. As an industry we have been too comfortable for too long.
If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?
People who don’t say they do advertising. Be proud of what you do.
Who or what has most influenced your career and why?
My uncle is a mechanic and one of the most creative, hungry people I know. He is an automotive magician. So much so that people send him their cars from all over the world. Last time I visited he had anything from a Formula 1 car to a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit. Every now and then he has a look at our battered VW Golf.
Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know.
My parents still think I am on work placement.
