Leo Burnett's Mark Tutssel Gets Audacious

You recently commented on how advertising and those who work within the industry need to “be audacious”; do you think that audacity is currently lacking in advertising? 

Just think of the rebels, icons and leaders who have shaped the world we live in - Steve Jobs; Mark Zuckerberg; Jeff Bezos; Howard Schultz; Sergey Brin, Larry Page & Eric Schmidt [below]; Bill Gates; Richard Branson; Jack Welsh; Oprah Winfrey and Warren Buffet. They all transformed the way we think and behave by breaking the rules and executing what at one point in time would have seemed unimaginable.

Everything about our business is shifting under the weight of the digital revolution. The days of advertising to the masses are over. Discerning people enact a zero-tolerance policy to unimaginative brands. Creativity has become the primary asset of communication agencies and brands.

Clients and agencies don't create iconic brands, people do. Successful brands and clients of the future require not only sensitivity and understanding - the ability as a marketer to view everything through a human lens first and foremost - but a greater degree of bravery and creative intuition that ever before.

Recently, Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg [below], made a comment that I think speaks directly to our industry. He said, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

The world has become such a fragmented place. Filled with platform hopping, we jump from our mobile to our tablet to our TV ever so seamlessly. Consuming bite-sized content is today’s status quo, so to truly capture a person’s attention and imagination one must take a risk and create ideas that pull people in.

Clients and agencies are all constantly in search for those ideas that truly defy the category norm. The breakthrough concepts that are provocative and persuasive, and have the power to change people's perceptions. The industry needs to release the shackles and ignite the imagination of the people. To do this we have to be more audacious, more spontaneous and more responsive. Although we’ve seen many acts of bravery from several of brands, it’s still a rare commodity.

Were clients/creatives more audacious in the past and if so, why do you think that is?

We devote a lot of time to trying to sell our clients audacious work, and many do, but some remain risk averse and often return to tried and tested formulas. With that said, our mission is to ignite them and whet their appetite for bold work by creating compelling arguments for a creative product that bucks the category norm, and points a compass to the future. We strive to promote ideas that are rooted in human purpose and designed to create real value.

In the past, the traditional media landscape was extremely different – messaging was less conversational and more direct so marketers were often delivering to a captive audience. For that reason, I think clients were more liberated to be brave back then. With the vast world of digital and social, consumers are now in complete control of the interactions they choose to have with marketers.

You also mention risk and reward; do you think there are too many ‘safety first’ approaches to advertising campaigns?

Today's generation of digital natives are ad literate and incredibly savvy - they will not be advertised to. They are waiting to interact with creative ideas that have emotional resonance and offer entertainment or utility. Be it ephemeral media or collaboration, we need to find new, provocative expressions to connect with them and create value in their lives.

The rapid shift in media consumption has challenged the way we work and as a result, clients and agencies are questioning everything, but playing it safe and manufacturing solutions should not be the answer. Right now, the riskiest thing as a marketer is doing exactly the same things you have in the past.

How much do you think events and festivals such as Cannes help to promote audacious thinking?

Cannes is a barometer of the health of our industry. Much more than an awards show, it’s a breeding ground for ideas and new ways of thinking, serving as a creative incubator for tomorrow's world. For one week each year, the industry's finest creative minds come together as one to focus on the future. It's only with audacious, new, fresh, future-facing ideas that we can adapt to the speed at which our world is changing.

One crucial example of how a festival like Cannes encourages audacious thinking was through the creation of the Titanium & Integrated Lion. Introduced by Dan Wieden [above] in 2003, it was designed to celebrate and promote the most provocative and mould-breaking work. He said, "The award should be given to campaigns that show big, bold, heart-pumping risk. It should ask judges to celebrate daring”. Dan was honing in on the search for ideas that are so unique, new and pure that they cannot be labeled in any conventional way.

Now in its eleventh year, the Titanium & Integrated Lion continues to award work that is truly stimulating and moving enough to activate the masses.

Does that audacity have to start with, and emanate from the client or should agencies and partners push clients more?

We exist to provide creative solutions and recommendations to our clients’ business challenges, so not only do we have to push ourselves to take brave risks, we must compel our clients to do the same. We have to collectively craft content that is entertaining, interactive, interesting, relevant and useful to what have become very niche audiences.

Developing content that will move people and garner undivided attention must be a collaborative effort on behalf of an agency and the client. Successful brands and clients of the future require not only sensitivity and understanding but also a greater degree of bravery and creative intuition that ever before.

You also mentioned the changing habits of consumers, and that those changes can happen over months, not just years; has technology created as many problems as is has opportunities for creative advertising?

The wealth of technology has provided our industry with a beautiful, blank canvas. It is entirely borderless and has allowed us infinite opportunities to execute audacious ideas that interact with evolving cultures in a very real-time way. But in order to take full advantage of this dynamic new landscape we have to grow with it.

Storytelling still sits at the heart of communication but in today's non-linear, real-time world, narratives have to be far more fluid and immersive so people can pick up different parts of a story across an array of platforms in any order. To do this, brands have to relinquish control of the storytelling process and push to collaborate and converse more with their audience.

What do you think the big talking points will be over the course of this year’s Cannes week?

Technology is changing people’s lives with rapid velocity. With new platforms evolving by the second, people are entirely at the helm of what’s happening in the digital and social landscape. Look at what we’re seeing from Thunderclap – using social media, one simple message can spark a movement. Like this, I think we’ll start to see many more trailblazing ideas in the crowd-speaking arena.

The convergence of media, technology, self-expression and creativity has fostered a world in which people have an unparalleled ability to connect with others, shape and influence attitudes and behavior. In that, I think we’ll hear a lot about the rapid speed of communication at Cannes this year and the push for ephemeral media with platforms like SnapChat and others that follow.

What work stands out for you from the last 12 months?

In our 27^th year of Cannes Predictions, the tradition lives on with many bold, courageous and innovative pieces of work.

This year we were introduced to Count Chiquinho Scarpa, an eccentric Brazilian billionaire with a habit of courting controversy through unpredictable acts. He captivated all of Brazil through a single Facebook post announcing that in homage to the Egyptian pharaohs, he had decided to bury his beloved $500,000 Bentley luxury car in his garden.

This planned burial instantaneously became fodder for tabloids and talk shows, and the Brazilian public was outraged over the absurdity of such a seemly wasteful and narcissistic act. The Bentley Burial was televised live to all of Brazil. And, as the first shovel full of dirt was about to fall, the Count stopped the burial, declaring it as a waste. He also declared that burying your organs is incredibly wasteful.

In dramatic style, he revealed the real story behind this act, the launch of Organ Donation Week in Brazil. This idea led to organ donations for the ABTO Brazilian Association of Organ Transplants increasing by 31.5% in a single month.

From New Zealand, the spot Blazed is a directorial masterpiece. The New Zealand Traffic Agency sought out to persuade Maori dads to reassess their currently held belief that driving stoned is safe. The famous New Zealand Moari director Taika Waititi extracted remarkable performances from the cast and the result is an amazing and highly engaging commercial.

In Paris we saw the Mimi Foundation successfully give cancer patients a moment of pure joy with If Only For A Second. The campaign codified an important moment in an afflicted person's life: when you're allowed, for just a moment, to forget your illness.

In the film category, Volvo Truck's latest campaign The Epic Split [below], has achieved an important milestone by topping 100 million views. The spot stars 'The Muscles from Brussels,’ Jean-Claude Van Damme performing the most epic of splits between two FM trucks as they drive backwards. A truly remarkable stunt accompanied by the hair-raising vocals of Enya.

Old Spice has created another hilarious film campaign featuring obsessive mothers in song. Mothers gather and lament the loss of their son to girls, singing about how Old Spice products have transformed their sons into men, stealing them away. Momsong [below] is hysterical and is universally loved by the public.  

Finally, the Climate Name Change campaign for 350 Action, a climate change activist group is incredibly fresh. The campaign encourages the public to sign a petition to the World Meteorological Organization to name extreme storms after the policy makers who deny climate changes and obstruct climate policy. The thinking behind this campaign is brilliant and it is executed to perfection.

What are you most looking forward to about this year’s Cannes festival?

Seeing the work - the best of the best from our industry and the audacious ideas that have captured the imagination of the masses.

Who’s your tip for the World Cup?

If I was a betting man, I would put my money on Brazil beating Argentina in the final of the World Cup, winning on home soil, driven by the fanatical samba beat of a nation. I can see Germany being undone by the climate more than anything, and I think Lionel Andres Messi will be too much for them to cope with. As the home of the beautiful game, Brazil is the ideal background for the greatest sporting tournament on the planet.

Either way, I’m electrified by the thought of seeing the mercurial skills of Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar and Suarez on the field this summer.