The Egotist Briefs: Paul Venables

From his body of work and the success of Venables Bell & Partners, you'd think Paul Venables was born writing gold pencil-winning copy. But he actually started his career as a telephone receptionist at a small New York agency. (He tried to start at a big New York agency, but failed the typing test.) From that humble beginning, he rose through the ranks, and by 2001 was Co-Creative Director and Associate Partner of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners.

That same year, he left Goodby and started VB&P, which in less than a decade has already become one of the most respected agencies in the city.

What is it about SF that lets us produce such great advertising and build creative-driven agencies like VB&P, Goodby, etc.?
San Francisco is a quirky place. The city itself has embraced and supported unique, creative types throughout its history. From the Forty-Niners (the original ones, not the football team) to the beatniks to politicians like Harvey Milk to, yes, the advertising community. That’s right, I just put Milk and advertising executives in the same sentence. I’m crazy like that. In addition, there’s always been a healthy aesthetic sense woven throughout life here. Those two things create an intellectual and physical environment like nowhere else in the country, and maybe the world.

Now, when it comes to ad agencies in particular, it doesn’t hurt that we’re on the Left Coast. Things are more progressive, transparent, innovative but also relaxed out here. I like to think that the farther an agency is from Madison Avenue Bullshit, the better its thinking. The existence and long-term king-of-the-hill success of Goodby, Wieden and Crispin sorta prove that, don’t they?

The third piece is the client base. We have more entrepreneurial and flat-out innovative companies. You have Silicon Valley, Hollywood and Napa Valley, for starters. Then add a healthy dose of financial and auto. Throw in our ability to attract clients from across the country in search of that West Coast Thinking, and it all adds up to more opportunities for creative solutions. I’ve always felt that mid-sized agencies in New York, even good ones, are relegated to working on cable channels and the local health and racquet club. At least that’s what I saw when I was there.

How do you feel about the level of creativity that San Francisco has to offer?
I feel pretty good about it, considering I peddle scads of it. Like I said, creativity and San Francisco are synonymous. Well, okay, I didn’t say that yet. But it’s true.

What’s the best creative advice you ever received?
The best creative advice I ever received was Jeff Goodby telling me I was really, really good at selling work to clients and that was a problem. Not really a problem, I guess, but he warned me that a guy like me needed to make sure the idea was killer before I went in to unleash it on the client. It was a way of getting me to pause before sealing the deal. And if you know me, getting me to pause in and of itself is quite an accomplishment. It also gave me the courage to kill more work before it ever got to the meeting. Every creative director needs the courage to kill.

When you started VB&P, did you have a creative philosophy? And has that changed throughout the years?
I’ve always had a creative philosophy. Give me real problems to solve. At Goodby, I worked on the phone company and Discover Card and Polaroid and SEGA and Sutter Home Wines and Isuzu and, well, you get the idea. Brands that faced real problems. When we opened VB&P, we didn’t rush out and do ads for the used record store or tattoo parlor to try to win a One Show Gold. I started with Microsoft, then added Barclays Bank. Creatively I need a challenge, and I need to see our impact in the world. Not just at an award show.

VB&P grew fairly rapidly. What steps did the agency take to make sure it kept the creative culture intact?
There’s nothing more important than our culture. The world doesn’t need another ad agency. But the world can’t get enough of special places to work. And it’s not just a creative culture, it’s the entire agency. There are so many ways our culture manifests itself, I can’t even begin to list them. Culture doesn’t just happen around the foosball table or at the agency talent show. Lots of agencies have stuff like that. Culture happens in one-on-one conversations. The difficult talks. The direct guidance and honest feedback. Culture here is about compassion and respect and managers working for the people that report to them and not the other way around. Culture is human relationships, not corporate ones. That happens to make the parties more fun, too.

Obviously a great portfolio is a given, but what else do you look for when hiring a creative person?
Give me an eager, energetic, enthusiastic creative mind over a great book or incredible intelligence or striking good looks. There’s no doubt tenacity and passion are the traits I value the most. This business can grind people to bits. You need to rebound quick, and come out better than where you started. It’s not for the sensitive and frail. Egos and prima donnas get drop kicked out the door around here.

You have a reputation for taking clients with a background of doing, let’s say “uninspired” advertising (Intel, Audi, PG&E), and creating memorable campaigns that are vastly different from their usual stuff. What’s the secret?
This is another area I could write a dissertation about. There are two key elements to taking, as you suggest, less-than-inspired accounts to new heights. One is you have to be willing to point at them and tell them the emperor is naked. If they take that well, you’ve got something. Something quite precious, actually. The second element is what I call an “excitable” client. Someone who will run through their own organization tearing down silos, taking responsibility, championing the work and being that internal advocate every agency needs on the other side. We are always on the lookout for that excitable client. Doesn’t matter if they work in the world’s most boring category on a dead brand with a me-too product that has no budget behind it. If that person across that table is rarin’ to go, count us in. Conversely, I’ve bailed on some sexy brands in some desirable categories throughout my career simply because of the people across that table.

We’ve read that you consider the agency a “teaching hospital” when it comes to nurturing talent. How does that manifest itself and how does it help your overall creative output?
Yeah, we’re a teaching hospital. This means, in simplest terms, people get feedback. Every idea you come up with here will get its due. When I creative direct, I sit and give feedback on every single thing you come up with. Sometimes it’s about how to make it better, sometimes it’s about how to present it or sell it or shoot it. I’ve armed myself with creative generals who share the same philosophy. No scripts under the door, or into the great email void and you don’t hear back on what was liked and why, or what was presented and why, or what the client said and why. We work this way for two reasons: One, it’s the human way to treat people. And two, I’m helping myself out. Every tiny thing my juniors learn helps me get to better work the next time, and it helps me sell that work. The teach a man to fish kinda thing.

Personally, what excites you creatively?
I think the thing that excites me most creatively is working with a team to help them realize their idea. Helping people aim high and actually pull it all off, from beginning to end, that’s gratifying. That’s the 60,000-foot answer. Down in the weeds, I really get excited by typography. I’m a writer by trade, so I can’t do a damn thing with type myself, but I get off on words coming to life, in any medium. They gain more power than what you first baked into them, in a way. It’s cool.

Give us three tips that every creative could benefit from.
1. Advertising is the art of winning people over. Not selling them, not bullshitting them, not throwing technology at them. Truly understand them, and win them over.

2. Your attitude and approach is what will make you the most valuable person in the creative department. (Because your CD is a person, and you have to win him/her over, too.)

3. Ask for the headaches. Too many creative types worry about the next juicy assignment. Make a tough assignment great. That’ll get you anywhere you want to go.