5 Minutes With… Eloise Smith
As a child, Eloise Smith always dreamed of being a poet but by the time she completed her English Literature and Language degree at Oxford, she realised she was far too gregarious for such a solitary pursuit. Instead she turned her love of language to good use in the advertising industry. Throughout her career she’s worked at RKCR/ Y&R, St Luke's, AKQA, Work Club and most recently Havas, skipping between traditional and digital. And her chatty demeanour is bound to come in handy in her latest role at the recently announced Lowe Profero agency (Lowe and Partners acquired the Profero network earlier in the year) which combines advertising, media and digital production. After all, bringing together these three separate disciplines is going to involve a lot of collaboration and communication. Eloise talks to LBB’s Laura Swinton about plunging into the world of Lowe and Partners, why prioritising technology before brand building is a heinous crime and why 2014 looks set to be ‘a big bucket of new’.
LBB> You've just started at Lowe Profero - what was it about the agency and the wider Lowe network that attracted you?
ES> Lowe Profero stood out for me because it's an advertising agency, a digital production company and a media agency in one. That’s pretty unusual. It means that the thinkers talk directly to the makers and the broadcasters.
From a creative standpoint, it’s hugely valuable to have access to a real depth of technical and media understanding by just swivelling round in your seat. Ultimately, it gives us the ability to create great ideas that look beautiful, work seamlessly and perform successfully. That’s got to be a good thing.
Becoming part of the Lowe & partners network is the cherry on the cake for me. It gives us access to a phenomenal client list and a whole network of great creative and advertising minds.
The partnership signals Lowe’s commitment to bringing digital thinking into the heart of what they do. That's rather exciting, I’d say.
LBB> With the recent Lowe and Profero team-up it's bound to be a pretty dynamic time for the agency and a chance to really shape the culture of this new entity. What qualities and ideals are you hoping to inspire in your team?
ES> First up, a new level of collaboration. Mass collaboration, we could call it. Collaborating across departments, across agencies and across disciplines is increasingly the only way to make really impactful work.
Second. A belief in brands having the right to make social change. In a world where governments aren't always the champions of people, brands can be.
Third. Optimism. We live in a time of unparalleled innovation that is fundamentally changing the ways we live. In our industry, every day we get a chance to impact that changing world, even in a teeny tiny way. That's got to be worth bouncing out of bed and whistling all the way to work for.
LBB> As I understand it you recently met the whole Lowe Counsel. It's a fascinating set up and I'm wondering what your experience and impressions of it was?
ES> It’s rare to get 20 ECDs from around the world together with the sole purpose of collaborating creatively. And considering that it was a room full of so many creative giants, it felt surprisingly collaborative, ego-free and informal.
Rickard Villard at Lowe Brindfors inspired everyone with his approach of ‘dropping less bombs and planting more flowers’ – a commitment to ideas that grow over time, rather than simply disrupt and then disappear. Pancho and Chacho at Lola shared their impressive addiction to socially-enabled vehicles, from tweet-responsive planes to tandem bikes that post as you ride. And Jose Miguel Sokoloff at SSP3 Lowe impressed with yet more compelling work for Colombia’s National Ministry of Defence.
LBB> Over your career you've had the chance to work in both traditional and digital advertising. How do you see the relationship between the two evolving?
ES> Digital specialists, film specialists and print specialists should always exist. The most important thing is that they work together to fulfil a brand purpose. A brand purpose should be more than a strapline. It’s a point of view on the world and what they can contribute. This then drives everything the brand does. It should enable media-appropriate campaigns that are aligned in thinking rather than executional wrapping.
So my dream would be that talking about the divide between traditional and digital becomes an irrelevance. Instead brand purpose is created in a media-neutral environment before pulling in executional specialisms.
LBB> Also I'm interested in your thoughts about new generations of adfolk, many of whom will have a purely digital background. Are they missing out in anyway by not having that experience or is it not such a big deal?
ES> The danger of growing up in a pure play digital environment is that traditionally they've not been part of positioning brands. This can lead to a focus on innovation and execution before brand building - a heinous crime. However, increasingly brands now recognise the value of digital to their business. Inevitably this will mean digital thinkers become more key to brand positioning.
LBB> And when it comes to younger creatives, what are the keys to nurturing new talent?
ES> By encouraging more 3D thinking. Thinking in customer journeys is far more powerful than being able to find a single, shiny but disconnected execution.
LBB> How do you personally keep abreast of new and potential technologies and platforms? And, with every new development creating a flurry of excitement, how do you figure out which are genuinely going to stick around and be creatively useful?
ES> Our head of technology is both a human fountain of new and potential technology and a filter of what's relevant to us and our brands.
LBB> Before you got into advertising what did you do? Did you go to university?
ES> I did a degree in English Literature and Language at Oxford University. This gave me an advanced knowledge of Middle English, feminist critical theory of Shakespeare and women writers of children’s literature in the Romantic period. Interesting, but not wildly useful in later life.
Luckily, I then went on to study Copywriting and Art Direction at Watford College, which prepared me a little more for the topsy-turvy world of advertising.
LBB> How and why did you get into advertising in the first place?
ES> As a child I secretly wanted to be a poet. Sadly, I grew to realise I liked chatting too much to live the life of a hermit. So I considered management consultancy, law, IT and journalism for about five minutes before realising none of these offered the mash-up of creativity, strategy, business and technology that advertising offered.
LBB> Who are your creative heroes?
ES> Actually, mine are all heroines. And they aren't all creatives. They're every woman that's made it in our industry, each of whom has given me the confidence that maybe if I work hard and smart and get a little lucky, I might just make it too. To name-check a few: Rosie Arnold, Tiger Savage, Nicola Mendelsohn, Kate Stanners, Charity Charity, Pip Bishop, Gail Gailie, Laura Jordan Bambach, Alexandra Lariu, Lisa de Bonis. And of course, Sheryl Sandberg.
LBB> And outside of work, what inspires you? What do you enjoy doing?
ES> This week I’ve been mostly enjoying reading Dr. Seuss’s The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins with my toddler in theatrical voices, counting my baby boy's teeth (three as of yesterday) and intricately planning the garden of my dreams.
LBB> Which pieces of work - either work you've been involved in or perhaps pieces from Lowe Profero - have particularly resonated with you?
ES> Funnily enough, I saw some work at Creative Counsel the other week that I found fall-off-your-seat inspiring.
Arun Iyer from Lowe Lintas & Partners, India, shared their campaign for jewellery retailer Tanishq. It breaks a whole stack of taboos by celebrating second marriages, possibly for the first time in Indian advertising.
It’s work based on the belief that brands have the right to enact social change. A big brand making big social change. Now that’s exciting.
LBB> What does 2014 hold for you?
ES> A big bucket of new. A new job, a new team, a new agency, new offices, new clients, a new network and new opportunities for growth.
