In Conversation with Bruce Williams
I have over 30 years experience as an Art Director, Copywriter, Creative Director and ECD with some of Australia’s top agencies, working on some incredible local and international brands. I have created memorable and transformative campaigns that have nailed the brief, pushed the envelope and won awards along the way. I am proud to be on the board of mental health charity One in Five – and my passion for better mental health for everyone is an on-going labour of love.
How did you get into the creative industry – was it by accident or design?
I’d always been good at sketching and design, but after school I really had no idea what I wanted to do. I wound up at Deakin Uni in Geelong doing economics – but did a lot more sport, surfing and socializing than study.
Luckily part of the course I really liked was marketing – I was taken by the thought that big bold creative ideas can transform behaviour and build brands.
Someone suggested I do graphic design, so I hobbled together a folio and applied… looking back it was a pretty average folio, and every college dismissed me… except Monash, where I’d had an interview with the Dean at the time who saw a few things he liked at took a chance on me.
And while I wasn’t a natural designer, I honed my craft at art direction and writing, completed AWARD School, got a taste for agency life and never looked back.
Tell to me about your involvement in the Mental Health Industry and how did this come about ?
In 2015 I stepped into pharmaceutical/healthcare marketing. We were approached by a small charity, One in Five, to create an awareness campaign to highlight their commitment to research in mental illness. We enlisted celebrities and our researchers to share the message – change the face of mental illness. One of those chosen was Danny Frawley, which would help us connect to the AFL culture.
Literally a week before we went to air, tragically Danny passed away. We needed to redo the ad and in fact ended up creating a tribute message for Danny and his wonderful commitment and involvement in our charity.
Since then, I have been on the board of one and five and my involvement has gone much deeper than just creativity. Last year, I combined my love of football and specifically men’s mental health issues to launch our inaugural luncheon, with 200 attendees and generating over $75,000 to support a depression and suicide prevention fellowship at Monash University.
In your opinion, what’s the best work you’ve done?
The 1 in 5 campaign is up there. I’m also proud of the work I did at Clemenger Proximity, it was fun and groundbreaking. We were one of the first agencies to combine digital and direct to really connect with audiences.
Launching the HUMMER in Australia was the most creatively challenging – we needed to make it look ‘big’ on a relatively small budget… we developed a campaign with so much impact it made the news and the tagline NOW GET LOST perfectly summarized the aptitude and attitude of the vehicle. It was the first and possibly only launch of a vehicle that didn’t actually show the full image of the vehicle.
I’ll always be proud of the launch of Federation University – an exciting opportunity and great responsibility. We created an aspirational campaign that linked the journey of a new learning institute with the dreams and hopes of students in a cinematic feast that helped set up the credentials of the new university.
I worked with the Collingwood Football Club for over 12 years culminating in the development and implementation of the Side-by-Side membership brand platform which helped establish Collingwood as a leader in membership communication, and lead the way for other clubs to follow.
So far, what’s been the biggest challenge of your career?
Everyday brings new challenges… Unlike other careers, creativity is hard to measure and manage. I think all creative’s have the challenge of staying relevant, staying connected and staying at the top of their game.
There’s a saying ‘you’re only as good as your last job’, which can create stress, but also keeps us on our toes…There’s no simple answer, but in my experience, it’s really nothing more than hard work and dedication to discovering new and improved ways of working – and of course staying open and enthusiastic enough to embrace inspiration when it hits
Name three essential things someone starting out in the creative industry should know from day one.
#1 – Be prepared to work hard
Creativity is 1% inspiration 99% perspiration, so be prepared to put in the hard yards… it never fails to get results – and makes what we do so much more rewarding.
#2 –Go beyond the brief
Never be content with just answering the brief – the best relationships are built by delivering above expectations… Remember Ai can never wake up in the morning, ring a client or their CD and say ‘what if we do this?… but you can.
#3 – Be kind.
Be considerate and thoughtful to everyone you work with, but mostly be kind to yourself – sometimes we are our own worst enemy. You won’t always get things right, but by respecting others and believing in yourself, eventually you will – and everyone’s mental health will benefit along the way.
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