The Other Chris Taylor

A disclaimer

thefreeak — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:21:15 +0000

I believe that the collection of work on this blog is the best representation of how my brain works. Obviously, some of this stuff isn’t my latest work. Some of it isn’t even my best. But I feel that this body of work says the most about me as a writer and conceptual/strategic thinker. It’s hard to judge yourself like this. So most of the work up here represents creative opportunities that have come out of nothing, interesting solutions to strange problems, or just stuff that I still get a smile from.

Cheers

Chris T

Won’t somebody think of the children!?!?!?!

thefreeak — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:44:10 +0000

I don’t think I’ll ever forget this little job. It started life as a pamphlet (sorry, how good is that word? Pamphlet. Pamphlet. Paaamphlet. Awesome). Somehow, and I either never knew or can’t remember, we managed to sell it in as a sticker. And somehow, thanks to the wonder of Brisbane local politics, it ended up on the 6 o’clock news.

Here’s what I can remember.

The brief was to promote a local council initiative called ‘Your City Your Say’. It’s all about letting the community think they have a voice in the corridors of power. All very good warm fuzzies for the electorate. Anyway, we came up with this idea. Basically, tell everyone to STFU or come along and have their say at one of the meetings. After some power-suiting and an agency wide effort, it got sold in, made and delivered.

That night it was on the news. They’d miraculously found a concerned citizen who said she saw two kids trying to plaster the sticker over a younger kid’s face. Which is all very terrible and horrible and makes me feel bad, but on the plus side, the kid got a lesson in democracy.

The main problems with this woman’s argument was that a) she was filmed in her dressing gown b) she had tin foil on her head, and c) once peeled, the glue on the back of the stickers was next to useless.

To the client’s credit, this little episode didn’t deter them from buying ‘different’ ideas. Which is just about as awesome as the word pamphlet.

The simplest ad I’ve ever done

thefreeak — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:23:05 +0000

In fact, it’s so simple I’m not sure I get it anymore. It was made to go on the back cover of some school diaries. So, with that knowledge I guess it makes more sense. However, the MADC award jury wouldn’t have known that. So how they gave it a bronze I’ll never know. Maybe they were hedging their bets. Maybe some people on the jury read heaps into it and all the others didn’t want to look stupid. Actually, that’s how I think most awards juries work.

Silver, silver, silver, silver.

thefreeak — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:12:36 +0000

I did this campaign with Andy Geppert at McCann-Erickson Brisbane (an agency that no longer exists which is a really odd thing to admit to because it makes me feel old). I think I had more fun in 18 months there than I have had anywhere else in my career. I don’t know if it was the excitement of living somewhere new, making new friends, or the fact that while I was there we had a creative department that has since gone on to do some truly awesome things. At least five out of twelve (that I can think) of are Creative Directors now. And there are just as many who will be one day. Everyone cared for each other and it was just fun. I cried when I left. Like, actually cried. Well, to be honest, I bawled. Ah, you weren’t there, you don’t understand. Anyway, at the second BAD Awards I went to as a McCann-Erickson employee, we pretty much won everything and everyone hated us. I can’t remember exactly how many the agency won, but in the end, they started calling us up en-masse to get our awards. What I can remember, is that this campaign won a lot of silver ones.

A bit stuck up

thefreeak — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:23:08 +0000

For someone who loves analysing briefs to the nth degree, coming up with ads without a brief can be a tough job. While I was doing a D&AD course in London, we were asked to pick any product we liked and do an ad for it. I chose Blu Tack. Don’t know why. But I came up with this:

(click to enlarge)

What he/she said

thefreeak — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:46:01 +0000

Have you worked with me?

If so, what did you think? Add a comment below.

Your feedback will be greatly appreciated, or deleted.

Cheers

The things you do for beer

thefreeak — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:42:22 +0000

To help get a campaign rolling, we were asked to create a video that displayed a unique talent. They offered up 12 slabs to the winner. It’s ok, I shared them.

The eventual prize winner ended up getting $50k. I think he balanced a whole bunch of stuff on his chin. And when I sat stuff, I mean, like card tables and stuff. It was pretty amazing, so I’m happy I got the beer.

Come on doooooooooown

thefreeak — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:35:21 +0000

I know a guy who went on The Price Is Right, made it all the way to the Showcase Playoff and then choked. It was horrible to watch and embarrassing for everyone involved. So my first thought when we got this brief was to resurrect as much of that footage as humanly possible. And hopefully play the millisecond where he realised he’d stuffed up on super slow-mo. It would have been great car-crash tv. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to go there. This being a co-promotion of sorts, with two legal teams involved, we weren’t allowed to go a lot of places. In the end, we came up with something that used truths from both our client ‘Crown Casino’ and the game show The Price Is Right in all it’s screechy, runny glory.

Don’t mention the Batmobile

thefreeak — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:17:41 +0000

When Angry Anderson sang ‘Bound for Glory’ from a Batmobile before the 1991 Grand Final, 3% of the nation raised their arms, sang along and shed a tear of toothless pride. The rest of us, along with some international guests, went “WTF?” (which is surprising because the phrase hadn’t reached the vernacular by then). Anyway, to promote Carlton Draught’s continuing sponsorship of the AFL in its sesquicentennial, we made this.

Originally, Angry said no because he was sick of people making fun of him about it. And then we used cutting edge negotiation tactics like saying “oh, ga’an” and “we’ll give you a slab”. And he said YES! Angry, you’re a champ and a good sport. Now, let’s never talk of this again.

What James said (2)

thefreeak — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:01:48 +0000

From James McGrath, Creative Chairman, Clemenger BBDO Australia

7th June, 2010

To whom it may concern,

I have worked with Chris in a number of agencies over the years and hopefully that says something about the regard I have for him as a creative person.

It is well understood that he has a passion and excellence when it comes to Radio specifically and that really tells you a lot about his creative approach more broadly. He always recognises the power of humour, structural rigour and for ideas to punch above their weight.

He is passionate, articulate, committed and has every right to believe in his ability.

You never have to wonder what Chris is thinking, he will always tell you.

If I can be of any further help please do not hesitate to contact me.

James McGrath

Creative Chairman

Clemenger BBDO Australia.

(this has been transposed word for word with no alterations, amendments or embellishments)