STUFF FROM THE LOFT - Dave Dye

My first South American.

One of the most thoughtful creatives I’ve come across.

We worked together for a bit at Mother and I loved that he was forever curious about what the people in the real world were thinking, would they give a shit about our little product or dumb ad?

Not surprisingly his new agency is different, its New.

That’s not a typo, that’s its name.

It’s also appropriate because he’s teamed up with a Rocket Scientist from… actually, not a rocket scientist, ‘a founding Faculty Director of MIT Connection Sciences’, similar, to me, (although ironically one of their clients are actual rocket scientists; NASA).

We had a great chat, in fact Beresford, our young recording engineer at Wave, came in afterwards to tell me it was his favourite one he’d done, hope you enjoy it too.

“Frank Lowe single-handedly cajoled a whole generation of writers, art directors and film directors into revolutionising British and world advertising.” – Sir Alan Parker.

It seemed a bit over the top.
I know he was very good and had a big impact on the business, but ‘single-handedly’?
But I guess Alan is his mate, so he’s probably bigged him up a bit.
Having just spent three hours nose to nose with Frank, I got a taste of what Alan was talking about.
I can’t think I’ve met anyone who’s as sure of their own opinion.
That may read like a back-handed compliment, it’s not meant to be.
Just that he totally believes in the power of advertising, he’s unwavering, and that was very striking.
Especially today, when nobody seems be very sure of what advertising is, should or shouldn’t be.
It’s easy to see, (and hopefully hear), how generations of clients and agencies would’ve been persuaded, cajoled or battered into aiming higher.
Higher to Frank meant “not just achieving sales success, but ensuring any advertiser entering people’s lives uninvited, left them a little better or richer for their visit”.
Enjoy being cajoled.

['Since he quit advertising, Dave has had a big effect on it.First, with Howies.His mail order catalogues built up more than customer base, they built up a fan base.They were, and still are, traded on Ebay.Not for their clothing, for their vibe; that decent feel-good, smart, happy, moral life is for living, do the right thing voice. (Dave: Did I miss anything?)Their writing and ideas were ripped them off mercilessly by ad agencies,\xa0constantly being used as reference for tone ofRead more', 'Since he quit advertising, Dave has had a big effect on it.First, with Howies.His mail order catalogues built up more than customer base, they built up a fan base.They were, and still are, traded on Ebay.Not for their clothing, for their vibe; that decent feel-good, smart, happy, moral life is for living, do the right thing voice. (Dave: Did I miss anything?)Their writing and ideas were ripped them off mercilessly by ad agencies,\xa0constantly being used as reference for tone ofRead more']

['My first South American. One of the most thoughtful creatives I’ve come across. We worked together for a bit at Mother and I loved that he was forever curious about what the people in the real world were thinking, would they give a shit about our little product or dumb ad? Not surprisingly his new agency is different, its New. That’s not a typo, that’s its name. It’s also appropriate because he’s teamed up with a Rocket Scientist from… actually,Read more', 'My first South American. One of the most thoughtful creatives I’ve come across. We worked together for a bit at Mother and I loved that he was forever curious about what the people in the real world were thinking, would they give a shit about our little product or dumb ad? Not surprisingly his new agency is different, its New. That’s not a typo, that’s its name. It’s also appropriate because he’s teamed up with a Rocket Scientist from… actually,Read more']

['‘Chris is one of the few very, very bright people around.’ – CHARLES SAATCHI. ‘On his day he’s a much better writer than I am.’ – DAVE TROTT. ‘He is intelligent, witty and versatile and I’d say he’s probably one of the best three copywriters in the country.’ – JOHN WEBSTER. ‘He’s just done a podcast with me!’ – DAVE DYE J. WALTER THOMPSON. Guinness. BOASE MASSIMI POLLITT. Bambi Nappies. Pepsi. The Labour Party. Cresta. Cadbury’s Smash. Southern Comfort. SAATCHIRead more', '‘Chris is one of the few very, very bright people around.’ – CHARLES SAATCHI. ‘On his day he’s a much better writer than I am.’ – DAVE TROTT. ‘He is intelligent, witty and versatile and I’d say he’s probably one of the best three copywriters in the country.’ – JOHN WEBSTER. ‘He’s just done a podcast with me!’ – DAVE DYE J. WALTER THOMPSON. Guinness. BOASE MASSIMI POLLITT. Bambi Nappies. Pepsi. The Labour Party. Cresta. Cadbury’s Smash. Southern Comfort. SAATCHIRead more']

‘Chris is one of the few very, very bright people around.’ – CHARLES SAATCHI. ‘On his day he’s a much better writer than I am.’ – DAVE TROTT. ‘He is intelligent, witty and versatile and I’d say he’s probably one of the best three copywriters in the country.’ – JOHN WEBSTER. ‘He’s just done a podcast with me!’ – DAVE DYE J. WALTER THOMPSON. Guinness. BOASE MASSIMI POLLITT. Bambi Nappies. Pepsi. The Labour Party. Cresta. Cadbury’s Smash. Southern Comfort. SAATCHIRead more

['When I interviewed Sir Alan Parker he kept saying ‘take that out, take this out!’. I tried to explain that these ads were part of his journey, they shed a little light on his journey from the mailroom to Hollywood. He was having none of it ‘I’m a less is more guy, you’re a more is never enough guy’. He’s right, well, in terms of ads I’m definitely a less is more, but in terms of the blog, interviewing peopleRead more', 'When I interviewed Sir Alan Parker he kept saying ‘take that out, take this out!’. I tried to explain that these ads were part of his journey, they shed a little light on his journey from the mailroom to Hollywood. He was having none of it ‘I’m a less is more guy, you’re a more is never enough guy’. He’s right, well, in terms of ads I’m definitely a less is more, but in terms of the blog, interviewing peopleRead more']

['A lot of people have suggested that I do a podcast on myself. Aside from the obvious difficulties of trying to ask yourself probing questions, it felt a little bit indulgent, particularly as I did\xa0a whole series of them with my friend Ben Kay, (I think we recorded more episodes than the latest season\xa0of Game Of Thrones). But when someone who’s kindly agreed to be interviewed by me asks me to be interviewed by them, it feels rude to sayRead more', 'A lot of people have suggested that I do a podcast on myself. Aside from the obvious difficulties of trying to ask yourself probing questions, it felt a little bit indulgent, particularly as I did\xa0a whole series of them with my friend Ben Kay, (I think we recorded more episodes than the latest season\xa0of Game Of Thrones). But when someone who’s kindly agreed to be interviewed by me asks me to be interviewed by them, it feels rude to sayRead more']

['Unfortunately I seem to keep writing the same intros to these interviews; ‘Wow! I knew Person X was good, that’s why I wanted to interview them, but having gone through their archives I’d forgotten just how much great they’d done’. But never has this been more true. Today, in the ad world, Paul is best known as the director of the Walker’s Crisps ads featuring Gary Lineaker. (He’s shot about 150 of them over the last 20 years.) It’s probablyRead more', 'Unfortunately I seem to keep writing the same intros to these interviews; ‘Wow! I knew Person X was good, that’s why I wanted to interview them, but having gone through their archives I’d forgotten just how much great they’d done’. But never has this been more true. Today, in the ad world, Paul is best known as the director of the Walker’s Crisps ads featuring Gary Lineaker. (He’s shot about 150 of them over the last 20 years.) It’s probablyRead more']

['Words. Boy, they’ve really fallen off their perch. They used to be so respected, as were the people who knew how to use them. They could breathe life into cold, dead facts, in their hands\xa0‘our beer costs a lot’\xa0 could become ‘Reassuringly expensive’. Better and shorter. Writers would often burn the midnight oil in an effort to get the maximum meaning from the minimum word count. It’s odd, because people have never read more than they do today, Facebook, Twitter,Read more', 'Words. Boy, they’ve really fallen off their perch. They used to be so respected, as were the people who knew how to use them. They could breathe life into cold, dead facts, in their hands\xa0‘our beer costs a lot’\xa0 could become ‘Reassuringly expensive’. Better and shorter. Writers would often burn the midnight oil in an effort to get the maximum meaning from the minimum word count. It’s odd, because people have never read more than they do today, Facebook, Twitter,Read more']