Andrew Robertson – Understanding the balance between what’s important and what’s interesting

The MCA Prodcast

This week on The MCA Prodcast Pat Murphy talks to Andrew Robertson, President & CEO of BBDO Worldwide where he’s worked with some of the world’s biggest brands including Meta, AT&T, FedEx, GE, Mars Inc., PepsiCo, SAP and Wells Fargo. He has been inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame and currently serves on the Board of Hope Funds for Cancer Research.
Andrew reflects on his first experience in sales – selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door in his local town. What lessons about sales and marketing did he take from that experience and can they be applied to selling on a global stage (rather than in the customer’s front room)?!
Andrew reveals what makes a successful advertising company; the mantra at BBDO is ‘it’s all about the work’ – that if you have the best talent then the work will speak for itself. Andrew is unquestionably a people person and he also explains the importance of maintaining great relationships with those you work with; “You have to love your clients. If you choose to love your clients, generally, what you'll find is they'll love you back.”
Andrew talks about the seismic shifts he’s witnessed in our industry – the invention of the internet, the advent of smartphones and now the arrival of generative AI. Andrew foresees a future where the ‘craft’ will be in knowing what to ask for in order to execute an idea in the best possible way. However, he doesn’t believe machines will ever be able to fully replace creativity as AI can only model on what already exists. “At some point, you have to have a leap, you have to have an idea”, he says. Andrew also considers the ‘landmines’ we’ll need to watch out for along the way, such as IP issues and bias.
Pat and Andrew also discuss the role that humour can play in advertising and how certain subjects have, rightly, become no-go zones. That said, humour can still be incredibly effective in advertising – even at communicating a serious message. Andrew highlights how stand-up comedians were employed to great effect in BBDO’s powerful Sandy Hook campaign, where they delivered shocking lines from past mass shooting perpetrators.

See Andrew’s favourite ad: The Economist – On the Edge of a Conversation

Hosted by Pat Murphy

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