Dispatches from Dreamland: Gelner on 180LA

180LA opened its doors in 2007, introducing the Amsterdam-based agency to the American market. The company now operates with just over 100 employees servicing clients including adidas, Expedia, Sony Electronics, Pepsi, Boost Mobile and Mitsubishi. William Gelner, CCO and managing partner of 180LA gives Simon Wakelin the lowdown on agency dynamics in his latest blog entry below…

“I got a call from the 180 guys in Amsterdam who said they were opening an office in LA by the beach,” recalls William Gelner on leaving BBH and The Big Apple for Santa Monica. “I had already been a long time fan of the company, and then met [managing partner/CEO] Michael Allen before I finally pulled the trigger.”

Gelner attributes his “entrepreneurial bug” as responsible for branching out from BBH and doing his own thing. “180LA felt like the next logical step beyond running amazing global accounts in New York,” he explains. “It was the right time to run an agency myself.”

Gelner arrived in LA after successful work as group creative director at BBH, NY where he launched the Axe brand across America. “In 2002 when we introduced the product both the brand and the category didn’t even exist,” he recalls. “The notion of deodorant in the US was anything but sexy and cool, but we did something right as it became the first North American brand to hit 100 Million in sales.”

Since opening 180LA most of Gelner’s time has been devoted to growing its culture and winning new business. “We are just over 100 people now, big enough to go after sizable chunks of business against larger agencies – and win,” he notes. “We’ve grown steadily over the years with the last 18 months seeing our biggest growth period.”

Recent hires for 180LA include CDs Carl Corbitt and Anja Duering who arrived from Goodness Mfg, LA. The pair were also nestled at W+K, Amsterdam for some time and will focus on running both the Mitsubishi and Boost Mobile accounts. “They have great energy and bring a nice combination of European and international sensibility to their work while understanding the needs of the American market.”

Looking back, Gelner notes how opening 180LA as the economic crisis hit led to difficult times for the agency: “The first thing that happens in a recession is companies stop advertising, so we were trying to build the agency while businesses were massively cutting back. It was all about perseverance, about believing what we were doing was right.”

Perseverance saw 180LA create some memorable, progressive work for Mitsubishi with the world's first online test drive where users drove a real car over the Internet. “That was a huge undertaking that had never been done before,” he explains. “It was also a big, risky move because it was our first piece of work for Mitsubishi.”

Additional work for Expedia also illustrates the agency’s knack of focusing on the positive aspects of a brand – in this case moving both brand and category into a more emotional and transformational place.

One spot sees people asked If they had a chance to go anywhere in the world, where would they go? We follow one chap who spontaneously decides to fly to China on Expedia’s dime, taking in the beauty of China throughout the uplifting spot.

“That campaign was based on an observation that online travel agencies were almost a parody of themselves,” notes Gelner. “They are all about the destination, the price and the deal. We shifted the focus from the transaction to the transformational, from the rational to the emotional.”

Work for Boost Mobile also hits the mark. Crafted by Danny Kleinman we are introduced to a dodgy pickpocket navigating his way through rush hour crowds on a subway. As the train stops at a station the dodgy fellow bumps into a man before quickly exiting the ride. As the unfortunate victim checks himself he finds his wallet intact, along with additional money slipped into his pocket. All to convey that staying with Boost Mobile saves you money.

“That’s a great example of a 180 thought,” says Gelner on the work. “Most consumers who use pre-paid plans are credit challenged, living from paycheck to paycheck. Everywhere they turn they feel like they’re getting ripped off, especially when it comes to mobile. The work underlines the fact that staying with Boost will get your money back.”

With recognition successfully promoting challenger brands such as this, Gelner notes how a new client recently pondered if 180LA was the right fit for their product:

“A new business client commended our work on challenger brands – but then asked why we’d work for them as they were number one in their category,” explains Gelner. “It was a valid question. My partner [Mike Allen, who used to be a client of Nike] answered, explaining that even when you are the leader you need to act and behave like you aren’t. The moment you start relying on what you have is the moment you become irrelevant, especially with how fast things change today.”

With so many platforms for advertising to dwell, I wonder if agency concepts can sometimes become too fractured across different media and lose their initial creative intent? “I think it just comes down to having a very clear point-of-view as a brand, however you express it,” he answers. “Then everything you do will live up to that even if it’s a simple banner, social media idea or a big TV spot. It’s important to have that “North Star” identity as a brand.”

Meanwhile, World Cup work for Pepsi directed by Laurent Chanez beckons featuring football icon Lionel Messi. “It was just approved,” reveals Gelner, enthused by the news. “I’ve always wanted to work on football stuff.”

New work for adidas also continues its focus on the return of NBA star Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. Rose was the youngest player in NBA history to become MVP before tearing his ACL, effectively forcing him out of the game for eight long months.

The initial spot last year was directed by Stacy Wall, featuring the residents of Chicago mourning the loss of their iconic point guard with Rose vowing to return. Follow up work will be directed again by Wall.

“Creating some great work for adidas has been very satisfying for us,” notes Gelner on the work. “We’ve done a great job taking some of Nike’s share in that space and also helped adidas find their swagger in the basketball world.”

With the NBA so large in China, I wonder how ideas for adidas – and ideas in general – translate in foreign territories? “As long as it’s a global idea that can travel, featuring a player they can identify with, it’s fine,” he answers. “What’s interesting is that we’re learning how some of these big NBA guys just don’t sell shoes. They are giants chiseled out of granite and just amazing on the court – but the guys that sell shoes are the quick, fast players. It’s an interesting dynamic.”

As we close the convo, Gelner notes how he has seen an influx of businesses opening on the West Coast of late:

“When we came to LA six years ago there were only a couple of new places, but there’s been a bunch of new agencies and production companies opening here. You can feel that energy as well as see it happening. It’s good to be a part of that. One of the main reasons I came out here was to begin something from the ground up, and seeing that momentum around us in other places feels good.”