5 Minutes with… Paul Meates
There’s no place like home. For Paul Meates, the chance to take up the role of executive creative director at CHEP in Sydney was too good to pass up. Having spent much of the past decade sweeping up awards for his work alongside clients ranging from Meta to Coca-Cola and plenty more besides, Paul is now looking ahead to a creative leadership role based much closer to home.
And New York’s loss is set to become CHEP and Sydney’s gain. In addition to his success in the day job, Paul is also a co-founder of The Great Brain Cell Sacrifice, a company that donated a book for every bottle of wine it sold. As of the time of writing, the project had donated enough books to fill seven libraries in America’s most under-funded schools.
To reflect on how he’s set to bring his unique brand of creative entrepreneurialism back to his homeland, Paul sat down with LBB’s Casey Martin.
LBB> After a decade with Droga5, why was now the right time to try something new?
Paul> I never really thought of myself as someone who would leave Australia for good. In fact, I thought I’d be gone a couple years, and that turned into a decade. But I’m very glad I spent so much time at Droga5 NY, as I learned a ton working with creative leaders like David. I was lucky enough to collaborate with the top tier directors, editors, artists, and creative technologists who you have access to there. I was fortunate to work alongside some of the best creatives in the world, which only makes you better because if you sit next door to them there are no excuses left - you just have to work really hard to match them creatively.
After 10 years, I felt really satisfied with what I’d learned and produced there. So it felt like the right time to move on to something new.
LBB> And what made CHEP - and a return to Australia - the right destination for you?
Paul> I remember a few years back I turned around and CHEP was doing some of the most interesting work in Australia. Incredible people were leading that charge, but I think it also had a lot to do with what CHEP was set up to do, which is the “how-are-we-going-to-do-that?” type of work.
I love that they are as excited as I am by work that gets attention, that permeates culture, rather than work that buys its way in. That’s the work I admire. And it's the work CHEP consistently produces at the highest level.
And then there’s the tech side of things - endless opportunity for the agency to do things that might be dismissed as too hard elsewhere. The too-hard basket is full of riches.
LBB> If you had to pick one thing, what’s exciting you most about the new role?
Paul> I’m most excited about building a space that is as creatively fulfilling as it is successful. There are a bunch of initiatives Gavin McLeod and I are already working on that hope to achieve both those aims.
LBB> As part of the new position, you’ll be heading up the creative talent in CHEP’s Sydney office. How would you describe your leadership style, and what’s been your message to the team so far?
Paul> I aspire to be like the creative leaders I’ve had who are infectiously enthusiastic about the work. When that enthusiasm is honest, not just empty “ra-ra” nonsense, then it can really drive the work and the people doing that work forward. I had a moment fairly recently when I forgot this, and a young creative told me to “let them drink the Koolaid” which is American for “help me believe in this thing that you want me to throw myself at.” It was a good reminder.
In terms of the mission for CHEP, we are focused on two things - the best of what all agencies can do, and the things that no other agency can. A tall order, if we were starting from zero, but we’re not far from it.
LBB> This is your first time living permanently on Aussie shores since 2013. How have you been finding the move, and have you noticed any subtle or cultural changes since your last role here?
Paul> Every few years, I’ve come home for a visit and experienced Australia again as if for the first time. One year I came back to Perth and mullets were back in. It was really weird. You lose a day flying home, but this felt like I’d lost 30 years. I went to a local footy game and about 10% of the little-league team had mullets. Then we walked to where the 12-year-olds were playing and about 40% had mullets. By the time you got to the 16-year-olds you’d hit “peak mullet” at about 80/90%.
On a more serious note, I think the industry has changed - the world view of the work has risen significantly, access to incredible production talent has ballooned, and like much of the world the industry seems to have had a good hard look at how we treat each other in order to get the best the work out of ourselves.
LBB> Your aspiration with CHEP is to produce ‘differently-shaped’ work. Can you tell us a little more about what that shape looks like?
Paul> It’s easy to spot, because you haven’t seen it before. It’s usually an answer to a problem, not an answer to a list of deliverables.
LBB> “It’s never been more difficult for a brand to break through and be noticed than it is today”. To what extent do you agree with that statement?
Paul> There is more noise for sure, but there is also so much more opportunity for thinking that breaks through that noise. If it is indeed more difficult, that just calls for more ambition - both from clients and the agencies tasked with ensuring their brands get heard.
LBB> You’re the co-founder of The Great Brain Cell Sacrifice, a company that donated a book for every bottle of wine sold. What made books such a passion of yours, and will you be looking to continue this work from your new home?
Paul> In America, there are so many befuddling problems. For instance, an outrageous number of kids don’t have a single book in their home, or access to a school library.
Initially, the Great Brain Cell Sacrifice idea was intended to help my kids. The thought was to meet all the parents from our local school at a bar, get roaringly drunk together, kill a bunch of brain cells, and raise money for books to nurture the brains of our own children. But the shortfall in funding at our school paled in comparison to other schools, so Thom Glover and I decided to make it a business with the hope of helping the kids who need it most.
When it was all said and done, we donated enough books to fill 7 school libraries in the most under-funder schools in America. We had plans to grow the business to encompass tequila in Mexico and also additional wine varieties back home in Australia. But as a side project it was already pretty ambitious, and we felt that would be a bridge (or two) too far.
