McCann Melbourne CCO Pat Baron catches up with McCann Worldgroup ECD John Mescall

Pat Baron, newly appointed chief creative officer at McCann Melbourne catches up with McCann Worldgroup NY executive creative director John Mescall (left) in Cannes.

This week I caught up with John Mescall Global Executive Creative Director for McCann Worldgroup based out of New York at a McCann think tank who shared his thoughts on Cannes this year and more broadly what it takes for agencies to conceive and bring to life great campaigns.

John said, “It takes a village. The best ideas need a village to bring them to life, just read the credits of any of the best campaigns from Cannes this year.”

Collaboration is so important, John added, “We have to be educators, sometimes showing agencies awarded creative work doesn’t inspire them it can cripple them.”

But ideation is only the beginning, you have to be able to sell your idea to clients.

John says, “You can try too hard. We’re trained to present but sometimes you have to know when to stop, there’s a difference between selling and pushing. We have to remember that everything that wins big at Cannes has been bought by a client.”

We discussed how important it is to build trust.

“It’s all about earning your clients’ trust, it’s earning trust versus selling”.

And it’s not just building a trusting relationship with clients, it’s also about building a trusting and creative agency environment.

John says “It can cripple them because the work seems so perfect that there is a gulf between the polished perfection of a case film and the everyday projects people work on. So we have to show the best work but more importantly break it down and talk about the architecture of the idea, and where these amazing finished projects actually started. Most great campaigns started life inauspiciously, and it’s important that people know this”.

Any brief has the potential to become something great, and all great work starts with a problem. John says “As creative leaders if we educate well, we can give everyone the chance at doing wonderful things”. So well said and great advice. Having worked with john day in and day out I know he actively lives this everyday.

John went on “we must be ambitious and ambition comes from knowing you can do great work and creative leadership is about instilling that belief… Anyone can do this (creativity) you don’t need to be a creative to win at Cannes.”

In John’s new role he’ll be travelling the McCann globe sharing his experience, wisdom, passion and expertise with us all.

John says “Our role is to impact culture and create the sort of campaigns that can activate their way to influence.”

Exciting times ahead.