The Work that Made Me: Jason Schragger
Jason Schragger is chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, overseeing offices in Los Angeles and Dallas. Born in Zimbabwe, Jason moved to Australia where he lived until 1998 and then followed by Singapore, Amsterdam, and Berlin.
His life experience has helped him oversee the Toyota T2 effort to unite four agencies of different cultural backgrounds. These agencies include specialists in the African American, Hispanic and Asian American markets.
He also leads the efforts for Toyota’s Global Olympics and Paralympics assignment, fostering a close partnership with Dentsu Tokyo. Under Jason’s leadership the Global Olympics work has appeared in multiple Super Bowl games and won hundreds of industry awards including Cannes Lions, Effies, D&ADs, Clios and many more.
Jason has been in a position of creative leadership since the age of 27, when he was one of the youngest executive creative directors in the Lowe and Partners network. Prior to joining Saatchi, Jason was a global creative director at TBWA\Chiat\Day, overseeing the Nissan United account.
He is also, as this selection of work would suggest, a man of impeccable taste. Find out the work that made Jason Schragger below.
The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Music videos were a big thing back when I was kid. Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ was a game changer. I was watching Jamiroquai’s ‘Virtual Insanity’ over and over again. My first time seeing The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ totally had me mouth-open rethinking what a music video could be. I loved Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ most, though I have no idea why.
The creative work that I keep revisiting…
The Levi’s campaigns that came out of BBH in the ‘90s and early 2000s shaped so much of how I love and see advertising. The work was simple, inventive, built around simple human and product truths, yet done in so many amazing ways. The spots created culture and launched so many musical and directorial careers.
My first professional project…
It was a small one. A poster for the Outback Air Race. I loved it and it was so much fun. It took me forever to complete and I didn’t know where to start or how to progress it, but eventually it went out the door and I was so proud of it.
The piece of work that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
It’s not that I hate the commercial, but you can’t measure a missed opportunity. It was for Johnnie Walker. I was working in Singapore at the time when we received a brief from London. I wrote a few ads that everyone loved. Well maybe not everyone. The CCO in London did NOT love it. There was a script with Mick Jagger, another with a sumo wrestler and finally one with Roberto Baggio. But he just didn’t trust someone from the Singapore office with the task and we didn’t see eye to eye.
Most of the scripts fell off with only one remaining – the one with Baggio. He made me re-write it in completely different ways, which I loved and learned from, and he ultimately chose something that he liked because it had the words ‘video game’ in it. I never ever want to be in a situation again where I am working with someone who doesn’t trust me - it's not worth it. I left before the ad was produced, even though it was probably the biggest commercial I would have made up until that point.
To this day, I try to never treat partner offices and agencies any less than the agency I am at. Oh, what could have been!
The piece of work that still makes me jealous…
Hands down ‘St. George’ for Blackcurrant Tango featuring the march of Ray Gardener to the White Cliffs of Dover! I long for the day that I can let myself that loose and have that much fun on a piece of work. I love every bit of that commercial.
The creative project that changed my career…
There was a year while in Singapore that we partnered with IKEA. A small agency of 30 people took on the world. We hit on a way of thinking for them that produced a copious amount of work that propelled my career. I learned so much and did work that got me noticed.
The work that I’m proudest of…
The work we have done at Saatchi for the Olympics and Paralympics has been so gratifying. Showing the journeys of so many great people and giving them a platform they only ever dreamt of where they can share their athletic stories and the human sacrifice and strength that went into their success has allowed us to create a fervour for the athletes and games.
