Newsmaker: JWT’s new worldwide CCO Matt Eastwood on his career, his rise to the top and the global network creative challenges he faces
With a career that spans numerous agencies and three continents, globally celebrated Australian adman Matt Eastwood has found a new home in JWT, in the role of Worldwide Chief Creative Officer. At the time of our interview, Eastwood is in Sydney gearing up to take part in JWT’s Global Creative Council meeting. It presents a great opportunity to review all of the network’s regional work and also offers him the chance to talk about his creative goals with the agency’s global leadership team.
Still based out of New York with an office already established in London and Singapore, Eastwood is keen to devote as much time as possible to all key regional markets to make sure he spends quality time with JWT’s leading global clients. He plans to allocate a fair amount of time to the Asia-Pacific region overlooking the work coming out of this region.
After working at DDB for eight years, and as chief creative officer of the flagship New York office since 2010, Eastwood explains he wasn’t necessarily looking for a new job but after being ranked in Ad Age’s Global Creative Report as the 5th most awarded CCO worldwide – and #2 on the global Bestads Rankings over the last two years, the offers if you like came to him.
“I got this amazing introduction to JWT global president Gustavo Martinez and we just connected,” he said. “It seemed like the next big thing – I’d been living in New York running DDB (New York) for nearly four years so I was thinking about what was next for me,” he explained.
“JWT is an amazing network and creatively a bit of a diamond in the rough. We have this opportunity to lift our game and do amazing work globally so that for me was the challenge, and, as I’ve always said: I’m more of a renovator and this place has good bones.”
Eastwood is in fact Martinez’s first hire since he took on the global president position back in November 2013. The appointment signals that creativity is high on the president’s priority list. And, although the CCO role had been vacant for some time – not being filled since Craig Davis’ departure back in 2009 – Eastwood believes that as a consequence no negative backlash hit the business, adding that only good things can come by now having a fresh guardian at the creative helm.
He is eager to work alongside his many new creative comrades, including good friend and executive creative director Richard Muntz who runs the JWT Melbourne post, Simon Langley in Sydney, Russell Ramsey in London, Tay Guan Hin in Singapore (pictured on left), and Shanghai-based Lo Sheung Yan – aka Mayan – (pictured on right) who is chairman of Asia-Pacific and the Worldwide Creative Council.
Eastwood has already visited Asia with a quick trip to Hong Kong and Singapore a month ago: “I’m currently on what I’m calling my “Listening Tour”. I think it’s important to spend time really getting to know the local leadership and gaining a strong understanding of each office’s position in the market. Asia is one of JWT’s strongest regions, particularly in Singapore and Shanghai. But other offices are really starting to make some strong progress.”
“I’m very lucky to have some amazing creative leadership in Asia. Lo Sheung Yan (Mayan), who leads the Worldwide Creative Council, is an incredibly supportive and inspiring leader. Before my arrival, he was really the one pushing the offices to do better. But I also have great leadership in people like Guan Hin, Valerie Cheng, Polly Chu and, now, Norman Tan joining in Shanghai. It’s a really impressive line-up of creative talent.”
Both Eastwood and Martinez hold a shared vision to create a pedigree of work that will set JWT apart from the pack. But will the network actually be able to break into the top three global creative networks?
“It’s most certainly a goal – or is it more of a demand! – and, in fact, it’s a goal that I have been very vocal about across the entire network. I have set a target for each office to be creatively ranked in the Top 3 in their market. For some offices, it’s easy – they’re already there. For others it will be a journey. But, as the saying goes, every journey starts with a single step.”
As for clients, Eastwood admits he’s like a kid in a candy shop.
“Honestly, JWT has some of the most impressive global clients on the roster including HSBC, Nestle Kit Kat, Shell, Unilever, Rolex and the Royal Caribbean and my aim is to build key relationships with them all.”
With some 200 offices worldwide, he admits a great perk to navigating such a large network was spending his first day on the job at JWT in Cannes in June.
“I had the opportunity to meet all of the JWT global leadership team at the award festival; something that otherwise may have taken me months to get around to doing,” he quipped. “My intention is to spend some real time in our major offices and regions. For example, I have a physical office in Singapore and one in London. And, of course, in New York. I don’t want to be a visitor, I want to get involved and look for ways to make a real difference.”
On the subject of Cannes and the recent scam ad accusations that have been directed towards campaigns from Australia and Singapore, Eastwood admits his main concern is that the heightened negative spin may discourage ad folk from being proactive thinkers.
“We have to make sure we don’t demonize the idea of coming up with an idea and going to our clients with it because that’s what they pay us for. At the moment it seems like anything that is an agency-led idea is bad… which is ridiculous.”
Although he believes the industry will find balance with the issue, he hopes adland can continue to encourage creatives to think dynamically.
Queried on his thoughts about another topic hot on the radar: the opportunities presented to brands stepping into the self-publishing space, Eastwood says it boils down to a matter of purpose and suitability: “Because of the buzz around brand as publisher, you do get a whole lot of clients who actually have no need for content creation and this creates a problem as it trivialises it for the brands that actually do have a purpose for it.”
JWT itself has its own branded entertainment group within the company. For example, the agency runs a channel for cruise line client Royal Caribbean called Awesome-ness TV.
“For the right clients, they absolutely have to play in this content space. The types of things consumers are passionate about – and travel/holidays is a great example – is an area where brands can provide an informative platform and JWT does this well.”
Not only does Eastwood produce the goods, he also benches the work that makes the industry sit up and take notice. Throughout his global career working across Europe, The U.S. and Asia-Pacific, Eastwood has judged many a prestigious ad show including The One Show, Cannes, London International Advertising Awards, ADC New York and New York Festivals.
Martinez (pictured on right with Eastwood) said he had been looking for a CCO who was respected by clients, knew how to build global brands and was a citizen of the world.
“Matt has everything I have been looking for in a global creative partner,” he admitted. “Matt joins JWT at a truly pivotal time in our history – our 150th anniversary, a year in which we as a network are recommitting to creating pioneering work. I am thrilled to welcome a fellow global citizen and look forward to our future together making new history at JWT.”
Eastwood is as excited to be working with Martinez, who he says, as a person is both genuine and decisive: ”Gustavo and I sit next to each other, in each others’ offices all day and he is very emotionally connected to his vision – he’s not a person who won’t tell you how he feels. He is very human and I realised this after our very first meeting.”
In Martinez, Eastwood has found a man that doesn’t muck around: “It’s rare, the paralysis that comes with having a leadership board where you have to talk to 12 people to get sign off – but he’s not like that, I think change at JWT is going to happen fast.”
Eastwood comes out of the ECD role at DDB New York which was a bit of a creative wasteland before he joined – a fact that is hard to believe given the history and heritage of the New York office. But over the past three y
ears the agency has emerged as a creative force and has been winning major awards at the international shows.
Campaign Brief asked Eastwood what were the steps he took to turn New York around?
My process is really quite simple – make a plan, and take action. And be a cheerleader. I really wanted DDB New York to be back on top again, where it deserves to be. I wanted everyone to have that feeling of success – of walking two inches taller.
In 2012 we won at many of the big shows and left behind our reputation as an agency that, let’s just say, was unfamiliar with awards. But in 2013, we really outdid ourselves. We picked up, in a big way, at every major award show. In many cases, winning more awards than any other US agency. And not just for a couple of nice pieces of work. The wins were far and wide, across many of our major accounts, hopefully proving that the standard of work across the entire agency is at an all time high. There’s no doubt that success breeds success. By the end there was a very strong feeling of shared purpose. And The Gunn Report listed the office as the third most awarded in the US, right behind Wieden and R/GA.
How does a young copywriter from the tiny Western Australian market in Perth get to become a Worldwide CCO?
I recently presented a speech titled “Passion Trumps Talent.” And I really believe that. I don’t think I was the most talented creative person to come out of Perth, by any means, but I am definitely one of the most passionate. I had the passion to succeed from a really early age. And I just kept pushing myself. Many times I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, and then chewed like hell. But I think that’s how you grow and become better. I’ve never been scared to fail. Even the worst moments in my career (and there have been a few) have turned into lessons that have stuck with me throughout my career, and made be better.
Matt, you are one of the nice guys out there and you’ve told me before that you try and only hire and work with other nice people. Why is this the case?
We all spend a lot of time at work. And, frankly, I want that time to be as enjoyable as possible. I want to have fun doing what I do. I’ve definitely made the mistake in the past of hiring someone because of their award pedigree, ignoring the fact that they were a bit of an asshole, and I’ve almost immediately regretted it. Those kind of people are bad for morale. They have an attitude of work first and people second, and that’s just wrong. When you treat people well and they will do their best work for you. It’s that simple – people first. Now, as a constant reminder, I have a poster on my wall that says “Work hard and be nice to people”.
What did you do before getting into advertising?
I knew that I wanted to get into advertising from the age of 13. So I when I left school I went straight to University to study advertising. And then got my first job straight after that. So, really, I did nothing before I got into advertising!!!
What was your first big break in advertising?
My first big break really came when I won Commercial of the Year at the Perth advertising awards. I think that got me on the radar of some important creative directors in Australia. And it really gave me the opportunity to move to Sydney and start building my reputation nationally.
What was your second big break?
My second big break was probably being chosen as the Founding Creative Director of M&C Saatchi in Melbourne. I was twenty-nine at the time. And, frankly, it was a huge leap of faith for the agency to hire someone who was yet unproven in a leadership role. But we won Agency of the Year four years in a row, which then got me a lot of attention globally.
What are your three favourite ads/campaigns that you have been involved with either as a CD or a creative?
I’d probably call out some of my more recent work.
I love th e “Hashtag Killer” campaign we did for WATERisLIFE. It seemed to really resonate with people. And, for me, it feels like a very contemporary and relevant idea. The campaign for WATERisLIFE set out to eradicate the ironic #firstworldproblems meme – in which people tweet about such life burdens as non-heated leather seats or forgetting their maid’s last name – and, in the process, raise awareness about serious developing world issues. A defining moment on our work for WATERisLIFE was when I witnessed the impact the campaign had on people’s everyday lives – Villages that we filmed in ended up having wells built because we were there and now they have fresh water – that’s been really great.
I love the work we did for the New York City Ballet. The “New Beginnings” film we created for the 12th anniversary of September 11th still brings a tear to my eye, even though I’ve seen hundreds of times.
But probably one of my favorite campaigns is “Yeah, that kind of rich” for the New York Lottery. As a body of work, from Print to TV to Social, I think it’s really strong. It’s all very funny, and it’s all built on a really great insight.
What is your career highlight to date?
When I moved to London, my first pitch was alongside Maurice Saatchi. It was an incredible “pinch yourself” moment. I could hardly believe that this kid from Perth was now pitching alongside one of the industry’s true legends. Over the next four years I was able to spend a lot of time with Maurice, and I learned a lot. He helped shape me as a leader.
What are the 3 ads/campaigns that make you green with envy?
There are so many campaigns that I love, but I’ll focus on “classics” rather than more recent work. In no particular order, Apple’s “Crazy Ones”, Volkswagen “Snow Plow” and PlayStation’s “Double Life”.
Is there a person you have enjoyed working with the most?
Tom McFarlane (left, executive creative director at M&C Saatchi, Australia) was, and always will be, a real mentor for me. He gave me my first job as a creative director and taught me a lot about how to do this job. I still seek out his advice every now and then.
Who is the most interesting, or most inspiring, or funniest person you have ever met or worked with?
Maurice Saatchi – for reasons already spoken about.
What’s your favourite leisure activity/hobbies outside of advertising?
Luckily, I love to travel. So that fits in well with my career. I don’t think you could do a global job if you didn’t enjoy being on a plane and visiting new countries.
Favourite holiday destination?
It’s sounds crazy, but my favorite place to vacation is our weekend house in Upstate New York (right). The house is right on the water, and we have a boat so we water ski through the summer. It actually has a very Australian vibe. I guess it’s my little bit of back home here in the States.
Favourite hotel?
There’s a hotel in Berlin called “Das Stue”. It was designed by Particia Urquiola, who’s one of my favorite designers. And it’s built right on the edge of the Berlin Zoo, so you wake up with a view of all the animals starting their day. It’s really quite amazing.
Tell me something about yourself that not many people would know.
When I was 13 my family nicknamed me Diplo-Matt. I guess I was the one in my family that was always smoothing things over.
Ten years ago Eastwood was kind enough to write the foreword to Campaign Brief’s 20th Anniversary issue. It is shown below and gives an insight into his early career in Western Australia.
Read Campaign Brief Asia’s previous Newsmaker profile stories:
Yang Yeo – Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai
RajDeepak Das – Leo Burnett India
Rahul Mathew – DDB Mudra West, India
Rob Sherlock – ADK
Masako Okamura – Dentsu Vietnam
5 Comments
Agree with Matt’s Scam stance. Proactively going to clients with work isn’t scam, its what we should be doing. Running it without them agreeing or pretending to run it when it didn’t run – that’s scam.
that was a pleasure to read. congratulations perth boy.
Great read and a great insight to an obviously much liked man. Hopefully he can deliver the goods.
Yes nothing wrong with taking proactive ideas to a client but please make sure youre clear to me about why youre doing it. To make my business grow or to win a trip to the podium? If its the former and you fail, what shall i think of you? If it’s the latter, and all you want is my letter of approval and you’ll take care of all the costs then that is a stinky move. Thanks.
Great article CB, well done Matt all the best. Cheers Spinni