It wasn’t the topic, but rather, the manner of its discussion that was odd. Darren McColl, national planning director of SapientNitro, was terribly low key expounding on the nuances and inside stuff of the metal-studded “Best Job in the World” campaign for Queensland Tourism.
McColl’s career spans over two decades, working across a range of local and global brands including Virgin Megastore, McDonald’s, Nestlé, Ford, Mercedes Benz trucks, Merrill Lynch, State Governments of Victoria and Queensland, Mrs. Field’s Cookies, Tourism Queensland, Sanofi Aventis Consumer, Mars Snacks and many more.
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From cars to chocolate, and everything in between, McColl’s work for “Best Job in the World” confounded the industry, indeed its media counterparts, perhaps because of its simplicity. How do you plan for such a campaign?
“People want more from their holidays than they used to, more than just see the Eiffel Tower or London Bridge. (But) holidays are expensive and we don’t have much time. To really recognize that and immerse in that, to trigger those thoughts beautifully fulfilled every part of (the campaign),” reveals McColl.
It’s not every day your campaign becomes the most awarded work of the last year. Yet, McColl claims nothing much has changed, giving credit to the agency grounded in reality. “Our culture’s pretty strong. We’re not a one-campaign agency. We’re inspired to continue to do great work. People are interested in our stories, and we like to tell them. We try to use that to help inspire other people,” he states.
When not at work, McColl goes scuba diving, rides his Harley, heads fishing or ends up reading some strange book on Psychology or an obscure biography. It isn’t any wonder his agency would regain what agencies almost lost—a claim on creativity.
“Two to three years ago, everyone was talking about the consumer—Time magazine was celebrating the consumers, Ad Age had the Consumer Agency of the Year Award— and we’ve turned that around again. Agencies still have a role in creativity. It’s creative and the consumer, not one or the other. It’s doing things together,” McColl expounds.
As SapientNitro proves in “Best Job in the World,” the idea is more important now more than ever.
