Behind The Billboard

Visuals: https://getbehindthebillboard.com/episode-117-tim-riley-the-economist-years-part-2Episode #117 features the second part of our Tim Riley Economist special.We re-join with Tim’s first ever Economist ad: ‘Protects against foot-in-mouth disease.’ Many more were to follow.We discovered tricks learnt along the way. How an casual chat about the TV show ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ became another Economist ad: “Can I phone an Economist reader please Chris?” And how to keep coming up with ideas, year after year. And the degree of difficulty in writing the ideas was as follows:PunsVisualsGood jokesGenuinely insightful observationThen bizarrely ‘The Simpsons’ popped up in the conversation and we found out why they were rejected not once, but twice. D’oh!We heard what it was like to become a CD on The Economist.More fuck-ups.The evolution of an Economist ad.Why there’s always room to experiment.The ones that got away, which included ‘The Economist Rapper’ which in our humble opinion is genius.We even found time to talk about The Economist Building - a Grade II listed Brutalist architectural complex in London's St James’s, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson.At the end we paid homage to Alfredo Marcantonio and his ‘Well-written and Red’ book, which is basically the Bible for Economist posters. And also thanked the Advertising-Gods for Dave Dye and his huge contribution to the campaign.Tim, thank you so much again for sharing this incredible story. So many tips, insights and smart thinking for every and anyone in the creative industry.We dedicate these episodes to the memory of David Abbott and every single person - creative / account person / planner / project manager / designer / art worker / illustrator / photographer - who’s ever worked on The Economist past, present and future. Utter (billboard) brilliance ;-)Thanks to all our sponsors, who make the show possible:Bauer Media OutdoorView2FillSuper OptimalGAS MusicNB: The images here are not all Tim’s work, but rather a (visual) history of The Economist years created by the great and the good from the AMVBBDO creative department.

Visuals: https://getbehindthebillboard.com/episode-116-tim-riley-the-economist-years-part-1Episode #116 features legendary copywriter, creative leader and man of many pithy award-winning words, Tim Riley.Tim, who was one of our first ever guests back in 2020, returned to draw back the curtain on his 12 years working on the same brief: The Economist.It was a fascinating chat where we heard about any and everything to do with possibly the greatest billboard campaign of all time. We’re aware we have featured it many times, but this really was the full reveal of ‘white out of red’.We discussed the history of how the client came to Abbott Mead Vickers and very nearly left before any ads had been made. We heard about the early years which featured one or two nice ads, but no real campaign to speak of.  And then a moment of genius from David Abbott, who spotted the masthead of the magazine was the same pro as a 48 sheet poster and the rest is history.We heard about Tim’s job interview with David Abbott, his first ever Economist ad, rules for writing Economist ads, why Richard Foster & John Horton were so important, tricks learnt along the way, special build ideas, ideas that worked, ideas that didn’t work, fuck ups, rejected ideas, minimalist ideas, ideas involving rappers, Presidents and a Middle Eastern country with a 3.3% growth rate. And bizarrely how Homer Simpson v nearly made it onto an Economist billboard.There were so many new things to hear, so much to learn, so much to admire on how a brilliant campaign like this is built to last. There was so much of everything we have made it a two-parter. To be honest we could’ve done parts 3 and 4 … hmm now there’s an idea.For now, sit back and enjoy the dulcet tones of Tim and the more gruff ones of Dan & Hugh.Tim, thank you so much for sharing this incredible story. We loved it, esp the fancy video screen in our temporary new studio, which bathed us in white out of red.Thanks to all our sponsors, who make the show possible:Bauer Media OutdoorView2FillSuper OptimalGAS Music

Visuals: https://getbehindthebillboard.com/episode-115-laura-duncan Episode #115 features the award-winning Laura Hutchison & Duncan Clark aka ‘LaDunq’ - a brilliant and prolific creative team who joined Uncommon in 2023 and have had a meteoric rise ever since. In just three years, L&D have been promoted to senior creatives, were nominated for "Emerging Team of the Year" at the Campaign BIG awards and shortlisted for the Tony Cunningham Award for Emerging Talent. Their work on huge brands such as British Airways, Monzo and Instagram has won awards galore and gained huge amounts of PR. We started with their first billboards for the British Airways ‘A British Original’ campaign, a cracking start. Next up was ‘ATMmmm’, the world's first sausage roll-dispensing ATM, for Monzo & Greggs in one of the most surreal pop-ups Newcastle has ever seen. Then we chatted WWF ‘A Prescription for Nature’ which positioned the great outdoors as a medical necessity to combat the nation's mental health crisis. A campaign perfectly pitched for modern times. We discovered that Duncan has been and still is a carer. And how his job inspired The Carers Trust campaign, featuring unpaid carers stuck at home unable to protest because they’re literally caring all the time. It’s a really emotive project that first came about during their time at School of Communication Arts. And then we covered Instagram ‘Anyway’. “Doubt kills creativity. There’s a hundred reasons not to do something. Do it anyway.” A wonderful use of DOOH with some incredible talent both in front of and behind the camera. We even squeezed in the Ecover work that encourages consumers to squeeze more into their half-empty dishwashers. “If it's not full, it's wasteful.” Thank you Laura & Duncan for being such charming guests with such brilliant work. Thanks to all our sponsors, who make the show possible: Bauer Media Outdoor View2Fill Super Optimal GAS Music

Visuals: https://getbehindthebillboard.com/episode-114-axel-chaldecott Episode #114 features Axel Chaldecott, art director, creative director, agency founder, Global CCO and now award-winning printmaker. Axel spent nearly four decades in the industry, creating and overseeing some of the most iconic campaigns this country has ever seen. Ronseal: ‘Does exactly what it says on the tin’ AA: ‘The fourth emergency service’ Pot Noodle:  ‘The slag of all snacks’ ‘You Know When You've Been Tango'd’ These were just some of the campaigns from Howell Henry Chaldecott Lury (HHCL), the agency Axel co-founded in 1987, which went on to become ‘Agency of the Decade’ as voted by Campaign magazine in 2000. We started the chat at Gold Greenlees Trott (GGT) where Axel, along with long-term partner Steve Henry, worked on the London Weekend Television (LWT) account and we discovered why the campaign was so ground-breaking: Gordon Smith’s idea of retaining the outer sheets of a poster in full colour, while changing the internal b&w sheets, gave the illusion of printing a new 48-sheet colour poster every week. That in itself was genius. But then the actual posters that sat within the frame were also brilliant, each one telling a story of the TV show it was advertising, like writing a topical ad every week. Next up three cracking posters for Time Out, before First Direct and a unique approach to posters for a bank … everyday objects with the line: ‘Banking without branches, it’s extraordinary’. We ended on the HSBC Points of View campaign, which ran all over the world, winning awards and much pr. An academic once cited the campaign ‘as a post-structuralist concept of 'mise en abyme’, that cognitive moment when we realise when presented with two binaries, that neither is defensible and the actual meaning lives in the gap between.’ Again, Axel explains it best, with his infectious laugh, possibly the greatest giggle in advertising. Thanks so much Axel for coming on. A real treat. Thanks to all our sponsors, who make the show possible: Bauer Media Outdoor View2Fill Super Optimal GAS Music

Visuals: https://getbehindthebillboard.com/episode-113-ian-potter Episode #113 features Ian Potter, legendary art director and the man behind the Araldite poster ‘the one with the car stuck on’ which is possibly the greatest billboard of all time. Ian’s 35-year career in the business has seen him work at some of the most prestigious agencies in the world. DDB, FCO, Chiat\Day and TBWA have all benefited from his incredible talent. He has won every major award going, including a D&AD black pencil and a Cannes Palm d'Or. There are literally no higher accolades. He has created iconic work for huge brands, including the small matter of launching Nike in the UK, which we covered in depth including an incredible story of how the client, unhappy with the work the agency was producing, turned up unannounced one day in reception with a bag of booze, which was drunk by all in an effort to get the work back on track. Ian tells it best. And of course we talked at length about Araldite which regularly features on the top billboards of all time lists. And our’s too! #BTB100. We can’t do justice to the story here, there are so many elements involved but yes it was the real glue. Find out more. Have a listen! This has to be one of our most memorable and inspiring episodes ever. Thank you Ian for taking us behind your brilliant billboards. Thanks to all our sponsors, who make the show possible: Bauer Media Outdoor View2Fill Super Optimal GAS Music