As USA media columnist Michael Wolff said when he brought George Lois and Lee Clow onstage for their hour-long interview at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Friday, neither of the creative agency icons needs an introduction. It’s true: any ad agency creative worth their salt has studied these men since day-one at OCAD.
Lois, the one-man creative team who cusses with the best of them, is the mind behind the iconic Maypo and The Four Seasons campaigns. He also gave Esquire some of its most memorable covers. Clow, every tanned inch of him exuding California charm, began building Apple’s iconic brand in 1984 with TBWA’s “1984” ad.
George Lois, left, and Lee Clow
Once their session on the big stage was over, the two creative powerhouses sat in the press centre where they faced several dozen international reporters and addressed a broad array of questions in their usual styles: Clow, with relaxed confidence, and Lois, swearing like a sailor.
What do you think Steve Jobs would say about the current Apple campaign?
Clow: Of course we had an amazing adventure doing the advertising for Apple, introducing the world to products that almost did their own advertising, expressing how amazing they were. Being a part of that brand building has been the highlight of my career. Now it’s a big challenge to market Apple. They’re being challenged because there’s this cynical bent to the media that decides ‘Apple’s been a darling for many many years, Steve Jobs was a darling and the products were amazing, so now let’s scrutinize Apple and see if they can do it any more, whether their leadership is good enough, whether their advertising is good enough, whether the kids in the store are smart enough.’
It’s a little bit of a pendulum swinging, and it makes a challenge for us working as their communications partner. And of course the challenges they have to develop the products that are going to continue to amaze our lives.
Where are the technological opportunities for people to be more creative?
Lois: Everybody these days talks ‘technology, technology, technology.’ And I talk ‘creativity, crea-f–king-tivity.’ It’s true. You read a big article in Fortune magazine, you could read 25 pages written by the heads of agencies. You have to look for the word creativity. It must be here somewhere. Nobody talks about it. Creativity can solve any problem… With technology, just go with the flow, but understand how to create big f–king advertising ideas. That’s what it’s all about. That’s the only way to be great.
Clow: I really believe that all the new media touch points that are being created by technology… deserve to be part of the next creative revolution. I don’t think it has happened yet. I don’t think we’ve figured it out yet… There are discoveries to be made in terms of how to use this new media combined with traditional media to make brands more embedded in our culture and more a part of our lives.
What have been your sources of creativity over the years? Have they changed?
Clow: Who knows where that comes from? I think some of us are lucky enough to be born more right brain than left brain. Our intuition and admiration for thinking out of the box, thinking creatively, starts very young… It’s more genetic than anything else – the ability to express yourself creatively. Then it’s a matter of figuring out how to channel that into something you can do everyday. But creativity, in the begining, comes from your genetics and you’re lucky enough to be born with it.
Lois: Lee’s exactly right. It’s a gift you have, kind of a weird gift maybe. I used to call it ‘street talk.’ I grew up in the streets of New York and I understood how to talk to people. Somehow I understood the culture and how to push the culture, understood how to complain about the culture, protest the culture.
Picasso, one of the greats of all time, could not do advertising. Normal Mailer couldn’t do advertising. A–holes like us do great advertising.
What role can award shows and festivals play in shaping the industry?
Clow: I think awards have continued, throughout the history of our business, to play a role pushing the art, pushing the product, the creativity. The actual politics and structure of awards, some of them are better than others… Awards still, ultimately, are a tool to celebrate and push the work forward.
I think we still haven’t figured out how to recognize and award the thinking in new media spaces. I know Cannes has tried to do the Titanium and find ways to appreciate it. But I still think the reason the creativity in a lot of the new media isn’t very good is [because] we haven’t found the best way to celebrate, to say ‘that guy’s a genius’ like we have with the more traditional media. Awards are going to have a big role in allowing new media to become more artful and creative.
Lois: Also, awards are great because they bring people together, not to work together, but to [interact]. I’m not a big fan of “group grope.” Everything you do should be yours, even if you work with somebody else.
When was it better to start in advertising: now or the 1960s?
Clow: It’s harder [now] to start in advertising because I don’t think it’s as easy to understand what door you should go through, given your talent, given what you love to do, given all different media forms. But at the same time I think it’s going to shake out because there’s always going to be a creative energy coming out of the next generation… Creative people will find a way, by virtue of the fact that they’re creative people, to sort out the business.
