McCann’s Campopiano on Advertising in a ‘Post-Truth Moment’

Welcome to Big Ideas, ADWEEK’s semi-regular series in which we talk to the industry’s top creative minds. Javier Campopiano is obsessed with the truth. Campopiano, who joined McCann Worldgroup and McCann as global chief creative officer a little over a year ago, says he was drawn to one of advertising’s most well-known agencies for its storied tagline: “Truth well told.” Charged with elevating creativity across a network that spans more than 100 countries and over 13,000 people, Campopiano wants to double down on that mission to make McCann and its clients a beacon of truth-telling. It’s not just a lofty ideal, though. He believes that by capturing human and brand truths, the industry could regain its status and swagger. Since joining McCann, Campopiano has sought out other leaders to spread that ethos. His key creative hires so far include Britt Nolan from Leo Burnett as CCO, North America; Jordan Doucette as CCO for McCann Worldgroup Canada; Lynsey Atkin as CCO of McCann London; and Shannon Washington as global CCO of boutique agency Gotham. ADWEEK spoke to Campopiano about how he’s changing McCann’s creative direction, why indies aren’t always best, and how to solve the industry’s confidence problem. ADWEEK: What attracted you to McCann? JC: I was doing two big jobs as Grey’s global CCO and [WPP’s] Open X CCO. I liked the idea of a job that was as big and important as those two, but a little more focused on one thing. McCann Worldgroup and McCann were as big as it gets, but with less stakeholders and more simple partnerships. I met Daryl [Lee, McCann Worldgroup CEO] and fell in love immediately with his vision and what he was trying to do. I was sold on [McCann’s] “Truth well told” tagline. It’s the most beautiful platform that any communications or advertising company has. What does that tagline mean to you? Isn’t it a little ironic coming from an ad agency, since people may doubt that advertisers always tell the truth? We’re in this post-truth moment, and it’s a chance for us [as a company] to reclaim that legacy. We’re going to double down on human truth and brand truth, applying that to the work we do. We used to have the commercial break, a space where advertising would talk. Even when we exaggerated something, like how a stain would disappear from a garment, there was a tacit agreement that it belonged to the commercial break. Now that has disappeared, and the limits are completely blurred. You don’t really know if what you’re scrolling through is a paid influencer, a true story, or made up. This is an opportunity for us to champion the truth and help companies that also want to be truthful with their customers. I don’t see a contradiction there. For many people, companies still have more credibility than governments or institutions. They have to be truthful, because the moment you’re not, people will tell you immediately. What have been your biggest challenges since starting at McCann? Advertising is in constant turmoil, and we face the same changes as the rest of the industry. Because of our size and scale, we have more tools to face those challenges, but we also have to be nimbler. We are clearly seeing the pendulum going towards indies right now. Independent agencies show up in a way that puts us on the front foot. There is this perception that independent agencies are more creative. What do you say to that? The narrative of everyone who opens an independent shop is that they’re neglecting the past, it’s better to be small and agile, it’s quality over quantity. These places are also founded mostly by people who used to work in big networks, so it’s easier to point the finger at those big agencies and craft that narrative. But it’s a simplification of what the two offers are. There are amazing, independent places that are connected and act as mini-networks. Then there are places like us. We have our own mini-networks within the network that work much like the small, agile groups of people at independent agencies. I don’t see the difference there. The difference is in the scale and reach we have. "We can’t live in a world where creative people disappear for two weeks and come back with a ‘ta da’ moment," Campopiano says What are you changing about McCann’s creative direction? The quality of the work was already there, but I’ve been focused on making our creative communities as open as possible, and exchanging more between those communities and the rest of the company. We’ve been making subtle changes, like doing a series of livestreams where we share what transpires in our creative council with the rest of the organization. We’re also bringing to this process people who didn’t have access to that before, like young creatives or other parts of the agency that usually would not have been invited to these meetings. We can’t live in a world where creative people disappear for two weeks and come back with a ‘ta-da’ moment. The creative process needs to be more open and visible, because everything we are doing can be affected by other things happening in the company, the industry, the world. You hint at a trend I’ve noticed –the advertising industry seem to be having a crisis of confidence. What do you say to those lacking confidence? There is a confidence crisis for sure. Part of it is because we feel we are in economic crisis mode constantly. And everything [in the changing media landscape] makes it look like advertising is on the verge of disappearing. But I don’t think so. What we do as an industry is a unique craft. It’s a creation of these worlds where brands can connect with people in a way that is meaningful and enduring. It’s not as easy as just creating a funny video. The need for the type of thinking that advertising can provide is bigger than ever. What pieces of creativity outside of advertising are you into right now? I recently rewatched [the BBC’s 2020 series] I May Destroy You with my daughter. It’s probably the most disruptive piece of content I’ve seen in a long time. I started playing video games for the first time in my life because of my daughter. I’m late to the game, of course, but it’s a space where I find good storytelling. I’m also looking forward to the second season of [Apple TV series] Severance. I was writing something similar to that. The way it depicts the world of work and analyzing that could be useful for our industry.

Agencies

McCann’s Javier Campopiano on Indie Threats and Advertising in a ‘Post-Truth Moment’

The creative leader discusses how he's changing McCann's creative direction and the industry's role amid turmoil

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