Grey global creative chief Per Pedersen: We never do work just to win awards
The global creative head at Grey has come to the defence of his agency’s work in Asia, some of which has been called out for taking advantage of serious social issues in developing countries to win awards.
Per Pederson, who chairs Grey’s creative council and leads the network’s global awards agenda, told Mumbrella that the agency never produces work for the sole purpose of winning metal and uses awards as a “testing ground” for ideas.
He also said that the agency “refuses to be slaves” to awards shows and uses them to build creative reputation and culture.
In recent weeks, Grey – which was a serious contender for network of the year at Cannes Lions last year – has unveiled a series of creative ideas from Asia in the lead up to the Cannes awards deadline, including a mosquito-killing umbrella in Malaysia, English-teaching candy sellers in India and, as press released yesterday, a way to reduce the temperature of rural Bangladeshi homes using a grid of plastic bottles.
Pedersen said via email: “When we take on important subjects we try to find the solutions with the biggest impact. We do this because we believe that ideas can make a difference and because it’s an integrated part of our creative culture.
“We always try to make the footprint of our ideas as big as possible. Sometimes we plant a seed that needs a long term commitment to grow big – like the gun control effort out of Grey New York. Other times an idea takes off immediately,” said Pedersen, who uses the term “solvertising” to describe work that tackles social problems.
“We never do anything just for award shows, but use them as a launch pad and testing ground for ideas,” he said, referring to Grey London’s ‘Life Paint’ cyclist safety idea for Volvo, which he said “grew big” after winning Grand Prix at Cannes.
“Award shows play a positive role in pushing us to try out new things and I believe they help us step out from the everyday. We refuse to be slaves to awards shows, but try to use them when building our creative reputation and culture.”
Grey’s ideas have come in for criticism from industry commenters in social media, including on conservative business site LinkedIn as well as Mumbrella, with some questioning their viability and sustainability beyond an awards jury room.
In response to Mumbrella’s questions about the longevity of Grey’s work – including last year’s multiple award-winning Life Saving Dot idea – Pedersen commented: “All ideas can be criticised and discussed and I’m always open for that, but I never engage with comments from three or four trolls.”
He added: “All our ‘ideas for good’ are meant to make as big a difference as possible. They are based on local insights and collaborations with local organisations to be sustainable. This effort is a small but an important part of what we do. It inspires out of the box thinking and I think our industry needs that.”
Pedersen shared that a new video for social activist group iCONGOtv, which parodies case study videos by suggesting agencies use actors instead of real people in their films, was made by Grey India, the agency behind the Candy Class idea.
The film follows the year after iCONGOtv produced a film that wondered why advertising agencies seem to do work that solves social problems only once a year before the submissions deadline for Cannes.
Grey is not alone in raising eyebrows with work commentators suspect has been created only with awards in mind this year. Fellow WPP agency J. Walter Thompson has also drawn attention for its smart clothes peg from Australia, and a soba allergy checker from Japan.
How about you show us what a creative hotshot you are on a real brief or two mr global cco?
Any fool can do scams….theres zero discipline or accountability….like shooting penaltys with no goalkeeper.
ReplyWell done Per for not answering any of the questions and for referring to commentators and critics as ‘trolls’. Mumbrella raised a very valid question about the longevity of the ‘Bindi’ scam and was dismissed outright. Cowardly.
Grey this year and last have been an embarrassment. I have nothing against good scam, as it serves a purpose. But the cynical trash coming out of Grey under the banner of “ideas for good” is too far. I would love to see Per defend this nasty, manipulative piece of scam which failed on insight, idea, relevance and most of all execution. http://www.campaignbriefasia.com/2016/04/grey-group-hong-kong-and-joy-o.html
I looked at the Grey website where it lists all the amazing clients it works for, and yet none of them ever appear at awards time. For Per to say the agency is not slave to award shows is at best semantics, and shows again how little respect some agencies have for their audience (and their clients).
ReplyLife. Saving. Dot.
Reply“We never do anything just for award shows, but use them as a launch pad and testing ground for ideas,” he said, referring to Grey London’s ‘Life Paint’ cyclist safety idea for Volvo, which he said “grew big” after winning Grand Prix at Cannes.
Yeah….a testing ground for ripping off old ideas old ideas from 2013 and entering them into Cannes in 2015…here’s the proof:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKOZoyGrFXE
ReplyLadies & gentlemen …..the Donald Trump of creativity.
ReplyHaving been slammed so often on Mumbrella, why does Grey STILL bother putting out press releases like this? Surely their PR folks have better sense.
ReplyKudos to Mumbrella…keep on exposing these kinds of shenanigans for all to see. If not, they will think they have fooled everyone into believing what creative geniuses they are, when the truth is they can’t even copy without getting caught.
ReplyGuys, are you all ex Grey (fired) looking for some sort of revenge?
ReplySpend time to grow something bigger and let’s see if you can do it.
@why bother – while I see how Mumbrella is letting Grey hoist itself on its own petard, it might now be time to stop giving this shot any Oxygen, especially as most of these agencies will use the trade clippings in its award entries as evidence of its media coverage.
ReplyLies, lies, lies. I worked in this very agency and am in complete disbelief after reading this article. The tension to produce scam was unbelievable and people were utterly miserable. They preyed on social issues to come up with something for their own good. Time to focus on doing actual work that can win awards, not this rubbish. What a joke.
Reply@Pultek – speaking for myself, the answer is no. I have never worked for Grey, I do however work in the industry, but at an agency where they prefer my time to be 100% on real clients and not making shit up for award shows. I prefer this way of operating. Trying to make a real difference (it’s rare, but it does happen) rather than creative for creative’s sake (which, let’s face it, is a much easier task than answering a real client brief).
My objection is not scam itself (although it definitely should not be judged against real work) but the manipulative and patronising nature of much of the stuff Grey is pouring out. If you asked a critic of advertising to point out just how awful the industry can be, this output from Grey is what they would point to.
ReplyAre we blaming an agency because tries to please ‘creative’ judges inside a room?
ReplyWhat about blaming the judges for what they pick?
Is this a bloody advertising agency or a product design agency?
How does this help the average client with real world marketing problems?
ReplyDo you really think the commentators are just ex-Grey people looking to flame the agency? Please get your head out of your ass, and recognise the truth: that many people in the industry are looking at the scam work and either rolling their eyes, feeling disappointed that this is what our industry has become, or simple disgusted by the mercenary way Grey is going about to get awards. Just go to Gem Bar on a Friday night and you’ll hear different agency folks talking about how embarrassing the scam is. If you think it’s just ex-Grey people looking to stab anyone in the back, dude you are sorely mistaken.
Reply“I never engage with comments from three or four trolls”…. It’s not just three or four trolls, that’s the fucking problem. The holier-than-thou attitude is also off-putting to say the least. Do not take us for fools here, Per. We are also all industry folks who worked hard to get where we want to get to. At least give the readers a bit of respect. Not answering a simple question from Mumbrella just looks cowardly and arrogant.
ReplySo they produced a parody video to appeal against scams. Is Grey schizo or is Grey schizo?
ReplyApple makes its iPhones in China.
ReplyGrey makes its award entries in India.
Here’s an idea. Grey can help Donald Trump build the wall to keep Mexicans out of America. That’s surely a Grand Prix.
ReplyGrey creative chief brings criticism upon himself by stating absolute positions which he cannot support:
“We never do work just to win awards…”
So why send those work for awards?
If there is no award potential, would you do all these non-paying initiative scam work?
Why not do some real award winning work for your clients for a change? Because your creatives are just not good enough to do real award winning work for your clients?
But they are able to come up with ideas to change the world without pay?
Disclaimer: This writer has not worked at Grey before. And after this feature, seriously prefer not to.
ReplyYour Singapore office routinely enters fake work to qualify for awards. The work was never briefed and was designed to win in shows. The entire department knows this, and the management plays along. What makes me sick is to hear people like this pretend they don’t have a problem, then to boast along like these awards are so accidental. It’s okay to pretend you don’t do it and win like DDB and Ogilvy but at least show some humility and don’t pretend you don’t make these bogus work to win trophies for your egos and cvs. Guys like these are the peak of everything wrong with our business now.
ReplyCome on guys. I came up with an idea: to supercharge the bindi into a nutrition supplement. If u don’t believe me, ask Grey Creative department.
http://time.com/3989379/iodine-deficiency-bindi/
Reply@ali
Reply“The creators of the Dot expect that sometime in 2016, rural Indian women can go to their corner shop, choose an infused bindi and fight iodine deficiency without a second thought.”
So, update please. Please don’t say that the campaign ended with those initial 150 women. That would be so cynical.
The internal satisfaction of doing good is reward in itself.
ReplyThat’s what drives those to volunteer- often at great expense and personal sacrifice.
There’s no need to record the act so others can applaud one’s good works.
I have lost a friend whose Land Rover overturned on the North South highway on route to carrying supplies he purschased that were needed when the tsunami struck Thailand.
A photographer I knew contacted SARS and died while visiting other patients in hospital.
They didn’t do it from the comfort of an aircon office and they certainly didn’t do it for glory,
They paid a higher price than an awards entry fee.
So unless whatever you ‘create’ actually saves actual lives and makes a difference once the camera stops rolling, keep telling yourself what a humanitarian you are.
Maybe that can drown out the nagging inner voice of what you really did and why you did it.
That is precisely the point. The decent thing to do with pro bono work is not enter it at all. Just do what you can to help and don’t try to hawk it as some evidence of greatness. Otherwise people will always question your motives. It is like someone who publicises how much they give to charity. At best, it’s unseemly. At worst, pure exploitation.
ReplyThat’s a very noble move Nick and as we all know the folks who scam are anything but.
I don’t think any amount of shaming is going to change them…since these orders of racking up the awards tally come right from Grosvenor Square and the likes of it.
The only thing to do is to continue to publicise their nonsense, so the next time an agency CEO stands up in a pitch and says “we just won the Grand Prix” the client just greets it with silence and a polite smirk.
ReplyTHE HEAD OF CANNES, TERRY SAVAGE, NEEDS TO TAKE A DAMN GOOD LOOK AT THE JUDGES BACKGROUND BEFORE ALLOWING THEM TO JUDGE WORK. OR ELSE TERRY SAVAGE SHOULD BE REPLACED.
NETWORKS NEED TO SEE WHO IS ACTUALLY AT THE HELM OF THEIR CREATIVE DEPARTMENT. LOOK AT ALL THE AWARD-WINNING WORK FROM OGILVY SINGAPORE AND SOUTH EAST ASIA FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS. NOW LOOK AT ALL WPP OFFICES IN THE REGION. THEN DDB SINGAPORE’S ADS FOR SUPER GLUE. TBWA PRINT CAMPAIGN FOR TOY SOLDIERS. WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE CLIENT? OH, THAT’S RIGHT, THEY MISSPELLED IT IN TWO OF THE FOUR POSERS BUT IT WAS SO SMALL THAT NO ONE NOTICED. NOR DID THE WEBSITE EXIST.
liked the ad (or we now call it a short film because it only appeared on facebook or youtube) about the deaf mum and her baby. it was really soft and tender and who was the client? Was it Heinz or the deaf society or Osh Kosh? Or someone who feels their existence must be justified by a shiny trophy.
ReplyQuestion for Grey SG – Besides trying to save India, care to show any of the great work done for paying clients on the roster? Criteria – none that involves CSR and actually attempts to sell some stuff.
ReplyInteresting that the Singapore office is trying to do initiative or scam ads outside of the country…
ReplyHave your say