International Marketing Study Program 2005
FCB visit no 7
January 27th 2005
The city of New York greeted us on the 27/1/05 with the coldest weather the majority of us had ever experienced! Rugged up from head to toe in thermals we braved the cold (while still trying to look professional in our suits) and moved like ice blocks down the busy New York streets, via the infamous subway, to the headquarters of Foote, Cone and Belding.
Battered by both the cold and the wind we were just so relieved to be indoors - although it took at least five minutes before anyone could feel their hands and toes again! However, once defrosted we received a warm reception inside the impressive offices of FCB as we were greeted by Elissa Phillips, FCB’s worldwide creative director and other key personnel. After being treated to an array of delicious food and much needed hot drinks we settled into the conference room and the presentations began.
Firstly we received an interesting background and insight into the company and how it has both evolved over the years in terms of strategic focus and the many and varied clients that they have successfully accumulated over the years, including Kraft, Honda and Life Savers. The geographic spread of the FCB group is expansive however despite being present in over 100 countries FCB likes to consider itself the “most local of global agencies”. FCB uses several tools exclusive to them including Mind & Mood and their “Creative Rumbles” which they attribute to their continuing success within the industry. Meredith went on to outline and demonstrate FCB’s mantra “Creativity at work” by means of a video and broke down the organisation’s infrastructure into modes of strategy and practice to determine the important “3 C’s”- insights at a client, customer and competitor level, demonstrated through the Matrix/Samsung campaign.
Account Director Ari and copywriter Lindsay together used the Kraft Caprice campaign (on which they had both worked) to highlight and discuss how the ad creation process works at an agency like FCB – from the first stages of research, to strategy, storyboard and creative building, to copy testing and concept approval to the final stages of implementation and tracking. The way in which they used a real life and current example (Kraft Caprice) of which they were both clearly familiar and interested in only added to the clarity of the process and depth of information they gave.
Elissa Phillips concluded the presentations with FCB’s Global Creative Ad Reel through which she talked us through the origins, strategy and outcomes involved in each advertisement which ranged in the type of media used (tv, print, outdoor etc) as well as country of origin and industry. The creative reel demonstrated the high standard of work coming out of all FCB offices around the globe and the importance of thinking outside the box. Not only was it interesting and entertaining but it allowed us to see the similarities and differences of advertising communication on an international scale.
The presentations were followed by a tour through the agency which revealed spacious and decentralised modern offices with high-tech equipment and plenty of colour and light throughout thanks to the many glass walls and open view of the central mall below and park outside. One might refer to it as a “creative oasis”.
Overall the visit proved to be extremely interesting, informative and enjoyable time - because each presenter had been so enthusiastic to talk and answer any questions in a full and meaningful way. The high level of experience, talent and passion from each presenter was clearly visible and the genuine manner with which they referred to FCB made you realise how much they loved not only what they did but who they worked for!!
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