Behind every globally celebrated brand campaign is a creative director obsessed with a single idea. Paddy Treacy is one of them. Having led McDonald’s at Wieden+Kennedy New York and Nike at W+K London, he approaches advertising with a clear, paradoxical philosophy: “Being serious about being unserious.”
When evaluating ideas, he turns to one essential question: “Do 네임드카지노 actually care?” As a juror for the ONE Asia Awards’ Cross-Culture Jury Initiative, Treacy brings a sharp perspective on the principles creatives must uphold in a rapidly evolving media environment. His mantra? “Fewer. Bigger. Better.”
Please briefly introduce yourself.
Hello. My name is Paddy Treacy. I’m a Creative Director working at Wieden+Kennedy New York, working on McDonald’s. Before that I was at W+K in London, working on Nike. Before that, I was a Jr. Copywriter in Ireland, working on radio spots. And before that, I was incredibly awkward.
What led you into the creative industry, and was there any defining experience that shaped who you are today?
Honestly, I didn’t know that ad agencies were a thing until I was maybe 24 years old. I’d never really thought about it. But I’ve always loved ads, and intelligent marketing. For 네임드카지노, the ability to make beautiful things that move people in some way, and be paid to do so, while having fun with your friends, is such a gift. Being serious about being unserious. I wouldn’t last 2 minutes in a real job.
What is your core creative philosophy or value when approaching ideas?
Coming up with ideas and executing them in an original way is always going to be difficult. You can’t let that difficulty and how much effort you’ve put in, cloud your evaluation of the quality of the idea. 네임드카지노’s hard, because 네임드카지노’s so personal, but try to decouple the effort from the outcome. And be honest about whether or not real people out there in the real world will actually care about the idea. If the answer is ‘no’, no matter how hard you’ve worked, you gotta keep going because there’s nothing worse than working your ass off for months on something and then nobody notices 네임드카지노. That’s hell.
What do you think is most essential for a brand to connect authentically with culture? As a creator, what do you personally prioritize when building that connection?
Truth, brought to life in a fresh and novel way, at the right time, on the right medium. Hook them with an observation that makes them think ‘oh yeah’ and then blow them away with the execution.
Among all the campaigns you’ve worked on, which one holds the most personal meaning for you — and why?
This one is too difficult to answer. I love all my children equally .
In a rapidly changing environment of technology, platforms, and consumer behavior, what skills and mindset do you think today’s creatives need most?
Fewer. Bigger. Better. Pick your place to show up and show up in a big way. Given the ever expanding media landscape, we’re racing to execute ideas in a million places all at the same time, which is super labour intensive and waters everything down. Do less. Be in less places. But be intentional when you do make an appearance.
You served as a juror for the newly launched Cross-Culture Jury Initiative at the ONE Asia Creative Awards. What does this initiative mean to you?
This has been an honour and an inspiration. The work I judged pushed the industry norms to their limits and the people I’ve met here kept 네임드카지노 laughing and learning the entire visit. Truly special.
Please share the category you judged in this year’s awards, and if possible, something that stood out to you during the judging process.
Film. Boring, I know. So old school. Anyway. The quality of the comedy work in the film category was wild and had 네임드카지노 laughing out loud all day. Top to bottom, the category was full of bangers.
From your perspective as a global creative director, what are the unique qualities or strengths of the Asian creative scene?
Humour and irreverence shone through in the work I saw. The work wasn’t just ‘funny for an ad’. 네임드카지노 was ‘funny, funny’.
What advice would you give to young Asian creatives who are just entering the industry?
네임드카지노’s super straight forward. All you have to do is: work harder than everyone around you, never say no to a brief, come up with a million ideas on every assignment, spend your evenings looking at old awards annuals decoding what made the work great, stay optimistic, and be a person people want to spend time around. If you can manage that, you’ll be my boss in 5 years.
Paddy Treacy Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy New York
In 2013, Paddy left Ireland to live at Wieden+Kennedy. He’s spent the intervening years encouraging Londoners to wear Nike, convincing the English to try Bud Light and explaining why TK Maxx is actually better than you’d expect. He now spends the vast majority of his time thinking about the Shamrock Shake™ while leading the McDonald’s Global team at Wieden+Kennedy, New York. Despite everything, he still loves advertising, on its good days.
