Dispatches from Dreamland: Hunter & Deutsch

Deutsch LA CCO Mark Hunter reflects on his first two years at the agency. Since joining he has revitalised the shop with compelling content that includes the memorable The Force for Volkswagen during Super Bowl XLV. Here, shots catches up with Hunter as he discusses the nature of all that is advertising stateside, and how it compares to work back in his old stomping ground in Europe.

“The challenge for me was, ‘how do I take the creative of the agency to the next level?’” recalls Mark Hunter on the challenge of joining the agency. “What’s really nice today is knowing that creatives who never thought of coming to Deutsch are now considering it.”

Hunter joined the ranks of Deutsch back in 2010, a role that motivated him after challenging senior creative roles at BBH, London, Euro RSCG and Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam.

“Deutsch has a history of being a happy, positive place to work,” he adds on joining the shop. “The size here is also right; there are about 400 people so the agency has clout – but it’s not an uncontrollable monster like you see on Manhattan Avenue. There are two offices, but in fairness it feels like more of an independent shop in LA because the offices are fairly separate.”

Hunter notes the agency’s client list was also reason to join, noting Volkswagen, PlayStation, Taco Bell and the recently acquired Target account as everyday inspirations. With so many quality brands, I ask Hunter what the definition of a good client in 2013 will be:

“One factor that doesn’t get attention is a client’s success at selling its ware,” he answers. “You are more apt to create good work if your client’s business is successful, because it makes them more confident.”

Hunter expresses how agencies need to work with clients who share their ideals, clients who are like-minded – such as the agency’s flagship client, Volkswagen:

“I have literally presented ideas to the president of Volkswagen and had him look me directly in the eye and say, ‘I want the work to be better.’ This is inspirational coming to you from the very top,” says Hunter.

“Volkswagen is an innovation company,” he continues. “Their products are constantly filled with innovations, and they are not blind to the changes in the ways that audiences are acquiring and sharing information today.”

Deutsch recently nabbed David Kim from Venables Bell to handle EVP duties and head up digital efforts on the flagship Volkswagen account.

“We do more for them digitally than all our other clients combined,” he adds. “One of Volkswagen’s strengths is its ability to talk to audiences in a very human way despite being an innovative, hi-tech company.”

Comparing Deutsch to other agencies, Hunter believes that the agency is on par with the best: “Obviously Wieden + Kennedy remains in a league of their own, but I believe Deutsch is on par with the likes of The Martin Agency and, quite frankly, CP+B,” he says.

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, Hunter is also deep in the mix with Volkswagen and Taco Bell, focused on work to be unleashed in early February:

“The stakes never get lower, that’s for sure,” says Hunter on the yearly celebration. “We’re in the middle of it right now with Volkswagen and Taco Bell, so we’ve got two fires burning. It’s super exciting, exhilarating, and scary – but we absolutely love it.

“We kind of feel that we are to blame for the heightened awareness of all things advertising around the Super Bowl, more so because we released The Force earlier than expected two years ago,” he adds. “It seems like a small thing, but back then it was still the world’s biggest secret. So we released the work and had an unbelievable response, over 15 Million views before the game. That was a seismic shift, and by last year everyone was pre-releasing early. Essentially the game has been blown wide open.”

Pondering back to earlier times in London, Hunter recalls his time at BBH, a stretch of five years that coincided with assignments alongside iconic creative talents that include Nick Gill, Russell Ramsey, Rosie Arnold, Fred & Farid and Stephen Butler to name a few.

Then in 2004 Hunter headed to Amsterdam to run the Nike account at W+K, nestled as creative director for three years before ultimately retuning to London to become ECD at Euro, followed by duties at TBWA.

As we continue discussing advertising in the States, Hunter underlines the contrasting nature of all that is British vs. America in adland:

“I think commercials are still a general topic of conversation in the UK,” he offers. “People are very much interested in ads, and the mainstream press even talks about them. A huge portion of the populace watches the nightly programming, and when a new ad breaks everyone is at home watching.”

Pondering the British scene leaves Hunter reminiscent of the Soho scene in London: “Everyone in the ad industry is located within this postage stamp-sized area of Soho!” he says. “Not just the agencies, but editing houses, music houses, post FX shops. You name it, it’s all there.”

Pondering further, Hunter notes how global ads were also top of mind in London: “London being London you tend to make a lot of global work, which means making ads without a lot of dialog because they have to be told visually for regions such as Italy, France and Russia,” he explains.

“One of the biggest changes here in the US has been making a lot of dialogue-heavy advertising, or creating funny commercials with only one sense of humour – the American sense of humour. But it’s refreshingly different from, say, finding the common denominator of what is funny in Spain, Germany and England for a brand to then run in each territory.”

However, as much as the European scene is familiar to Hunter, the West Coast offers him just as much, if not more creatively:

“London will always be London, and Amsterdam continues to be amazing as it has been for the past 25 years,” he says. “But I sense that everyone wants to come to LA, partly because agencies such as 72andSunny, 180 and Crispin, Porter & Bogusky attract a lot of people here.

“When agencies do cool work it attracts people. I feel that we are at a tipping point here. It’s a bit like students and artists who move into a busted up old neighbourhood, then gradually coffee shops open, and then mainstream people want to be a part of the action and hang out with cool crowd,” he surmises.

As for the road ahead, Hunter notes Target, newly acquired in 2012, already has the agency firing on all cylinders with experiential briefs, digital briefs and a whole lot more. “It’s definitely an account to keep an eye on,” he quips as we wind down the interview.