We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rob Lewis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rob below.
Rob, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I’m the co-founder and Creative Director of a Denver based Advertising agency called Good Conduct. The goal of our agency is to make world class creative in the field of advertising and design. But starting out I didn’t know what world class creative was. As a kid that went to art school, advertising wasn’t on my radar. It was something I fell into, and it became a slow burn for me to understand what it was and how to be good at it. For me, I learned from experience. I was lucky enough to get a lot of different experiences over the years; From spending two years cutting post produced car commercials, to my first big film shoot, working on my first conceptual campaign, a couple of years at a b2b agency, to finally landing at a shop that was doing great work and having to live up to their expectations. It took me the better part of 10 years to really understand the type of work I wanted to make, and how to do it. There are certain benefits to taking a decade to figure things out, but it doesn’t have to take that long.
First, I would say, realize that anything is possible. In the Advertising industry, you’re not limited by your own set of skills because there’s photographers and film makers, illustrators and developers that can help you bring your vision to life. Secondly, focus on what your vision is, and go find the right collaborators to help make it happen. And third, don’t give up until you’ve made your vision a reality. Tenacity in this business is everything. A strong work ethic outsmarts natural talent 9 times out of 10. And craft and detail can make or break a project. There are so many opportunities to give up in the process of making a commercial or a campaign, and those who see it through are rewarded with better work in the end. Embed yourself into every step of the process, pay attention, sweat the small stuff, and learn from the experts you’ve brought on along the way.
There are always obstacles to making great work in advertising. Some we can control, and some we can’t. First, you’ll want to get a job (or internship) at an agency known for making the type of work you’re interested in. That way you’ll know they’ll support your ideas, and they’re likely attracting the type of client that wants to make similar work. Then, make sure they have a culture that supports great thinking. If you’re up against a bunch of naysayers, that’s a bad sign. Surround yourself with people who are just as excited as you are about figuring out how to get something done, even if it feels hard or even impossible. Then there’s the client. They’re paying for it, they have opinions, and ultimately the final say. Try to work within their box, and address their concerns. If you communicate what they’re asking for in a really creative way, the only push back you can get is from a subjective taste level. But you’ll have all the ammo you need to rationalize your idea.
Rob, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m the co-founder and Executive Creative Director of Good Conduct. We’re an advertising agency built to bring world class creative to brands who haven’t had access to it before. We call it “Democratizing world class thinking for ambitious brands”. We believe that the key to making advertising that works is to make creative that connects with consumers. It makes them laugh, cry, or nudge their partner with a knowing smile. whatever emotion it is, it’s suprising and entertaining. That’s the secret to being memorable.
We’ve worked with all kinds of companies from global car brands to bootstrapped startups, and understand how to make work that works for every situation. Our team started Good Conduct after working for decades at big ad agencies like Deutsch, JWT, Crispin Porter Bogusky as well as smaller nimbler boutiques — realizing that there was a missing sweet spot between big agency thinking and small shop efficiency and care. A lot of time, the most breakthrough products and services are the ones that lack the experience or budget to tell their story the right way. That’s why we’re proud to work with DTC brands ready for their next step in growth, and brands defining and redefining their respective categories.
We do most of our work in brand storytelling that comes to life through TV commercials, online video content, out of home campaigns and real world brand stunts. We pride ourselves on our collaborative process, strong work ethic and making work that breaks through to consumers. What we do for brands with these executions is make them get noticed, be memorable, and ultimately build sentiment and loyalty from consumers.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
There’s a Danish documentary called The 5 Obstructions. In the documentary a filmmaker has to remake his own film 5 different times, each time with a different obstruction or restriction on his technique or process. Each time, the task seems impossible, but the remade film inevitably gets completed and arguably more interesting. I find the idea of the film to be especially relevant to advertising and commercial art in general. We generally see “the brief” or the client’s guidelines as hinderances, or obstacles. But often times it’s the “box” that helps forge the best creative solutions. If you can creatively solve for specific restrictions you find solutions and executions you would not have thought of organically without them.
Otherwise, I love to listen to a podcast called Song Exploder by Hrishikesh Hirway. He talks to musicians and asks them to talk about how one of their songs got made. I find it really relevant to advertising because you get to here about how musical artists approach creativity. Listening to people in a different creative field talk about their creative process can be inspiring and applicable.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I think people are the ultimate resource for creatives just starting out. In the creative industry there are a lot of people that are generous with their thoughts and time. I would encourage creative people starting out to reach out to experienced people in their local and digital communities and pick their brains about whatever topic they’re struggling with. I’ve done informational interviews, impromptu portfolio critiques, and had simple conversations with up and comers.
Contact Info:
Website: https://goodconductcreative.com
Instagram: @good_conductcreative
Linkedin: Good Conduct
Original arcticle here