David Smail: Postcard from San Francisco

After nineteen years of living and working in Asia and seventeen of those in Vietnam, David Smail (pictured left) felt like he needed a new experience. Smail, ECD at BBDO Vietnam, recently spent a couple months at the BBDO office in San Francisco on an exchange program and wrote about the experience.

‘Love you guys!’ squawked the speaker sitting on the table in ‘Escape From Alcatraz’. (More about this later.) Alex, Jakub and the team had just finished a con-call presentation to a trio of kind-sounding clients sitting somewhere across the city. Those were the final words uttered by one client as a salutation in the last few awkward seconds as the call’s participants are deciding who should hang-up first like a couple of puppy-enamored teenagers. More about puppies later too.

And with those three words, I had a realization. I don’t think any client has ever squealed ‘Love you guys!’ my entire career in Asia. Whether they feel that way or not, it seems that sort of thing just isn’t done – perhaps because it may throw the delicate client/agency relationship out of whack. Granted, this was a pro bono client, and the simple Instagram-based idea presented was indeed brilliant. But nonetheless, ‘Love you guys!’ Wow.

And that’s sort of how it seems things work at BBDO in San Francisco. Where I spent eight weeks as, well, I really don’t know what I was. It was an idea hatched about a year ago, and brokered by Chris Thomas, former head of BBDO Asia, and now of the Americas. I wanted to go spend some time in another office, to observe how things work in another market.

My motivation was this… After nineteen years of living and working in Asia. Seventeen of those in Vietnam, I felt as if I, and BBDO Vietnam, the office I’ve led for the last nine years, may not be having the same conversations as the rest of the world. Regional/global meetings are great for catching-up and expensed dinners, but it’s really not doing The Work. So I wanted to go see what sort of work, conversations and collaborations were happening in another market. And BBDO San Francisco was doing some really great work. Plus, after all of those years in Asia, and frenetic Saigon, I needed a bit of perspective to see how ‘jungle’ I’d become. Hence the mission codename: Sane Francisco.

The First Day: I arrived at the office at 930am on a Monday morning, and was received by the welcoming and all-knowing, Adriana. She led me on a tour of the office as I noticed most people were already nose-deep into their work. Or anxiously discussing how many weeks before the Game of Thrones season premier. So important stuff. I was ushered to a seat at the end of a long row in the open plan office near the two ECDs, Steve and Matt, and next to Executive Assistant, Felicia, self-appointed ‘Queen of Everything’. A title I would not dispute. On the desk was a BBDO SF notebook, canvas bag, and a small gift from Steve and Matt. This would be my station for the next two months, and according to my Facebook post that morning, it was a very ‘Nice welcome.’

And there I sat for a few minutes wondering what the hell I’m going to do for the next eight weeks. Steve and I struck-up a conversation, and with that I was whisked into a con-call/meeting for an upcoming production. The discussion was about who was going to shoot this year’s holiday campaign. Note that this was April, so there’s actually some planning going on. Not really what we’re used to, as our annual panic-filled race to get the Tet work done and on-air can attest. In the room, one of the agency producers, Patti, was working with the team to try to find a new creative solution to fit the client’s challenging budget. Mind you, that budget was ten times what we’re fortunate to have in our market. So there was some of that perspective I was looking for.

Then I went back to sitting next to Felicia, who was quite upfront saying that she makes strange noises, and that I should just ignore her. Those noises, were usually exclamations like ‘Shoot!’ or ‘Oh, no you din’t!’. Aside from being hard to ignore, they were actually quite endearing. She also played a lot of 80s R&B.

Later, I sat-in on a focus group happening in D.C. by remote control, and otherwise made it look like I was supposed to be there as people walked by ‘Who’s that?’ looks on their faces. Though they were all very friendly. Jim Lesser, the head of BBDO SF, and the one who agreed to host me, sent out a lovely email the night before introducing me, and saying that I would spend the next couple of months being a fly on the wall. I guess not everyone reads Jim’s emails.

The day was humming along, and then at almost exactly 5pm, something strange in the office began to happen. A phenomenon of which I haven’t witnessed at that hour in almost a couple decades. People started packing-up their things, wishing their co-workers a pleasant evening, and going home. Guilt free. By 5.30pm the office was almost completely empty. And being the first week in April, there was still a good two hours of daylight left. I was actually rather thrown by this. People seemed to have lives outside of the office. What am I supposed to do now? So I rendezvoused with my wife, and we went to discover some of the city, and found a happy hour nearby. Not a bad first day.

The next day, I was invited to lunch at the Wayfare Tavern with Steve and Matt. The fried chicken was excellent, and they both proved themselves to be extremely cordial individuals. As well as a caricature of most great comedy duos. Think Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Bert and Ernie. Steve is a tall drink of water with silver hair and a kind and knowledgeable, ‘been through that and survived’ straight-man demeanor. While Matt is just a little shorter, a little rounder (sorry Matt, I’m sure the juice diet helped a bit), and is a whirlwind of flailing limbs, outbursts, songs and quips. Like a child with severe ADD, whose doctor gave up on prescribing Ritalin because no dose would ever be enough. And that’s good, because doses of anything would only suppress his constant state of whim and talent. That’s supposed to be a compliment.

So it was basically about eight weeks of that, every day. But it was a fantastic, professionally voyeuristic experience, and here’s what I observed…

The people are all really nice. Almost in an endearingly annoying way. When they ask ‘How are you?’ they really are interested in your answer. It wasn’t uncommon to overhear a group of colleagues talking about their new babies, random tooth pains or backaches. And when doing so, everyone volunteered information on their dentist, doctor, herbalist, voodoo high priest, etc. It is a testament to the family atmosphere that exists, even being a fairly large office.

And with a large office, you have lots of roles. This was one of the major eye-openers. It’s an organized group of adults that show up to work, love what they do, and are able to do it very well, with a limited amount of drama. And whatever drama there is, is usually from Matt unconsciously attracting attention. Though everyone seems used to it.

Status meetings are a hoot. You can tell immediately that the management team and senior account folks really like, support and demand a lot from each other. They are also incredibly intelligent, funny people. These meetings, led by the affable Managing Director and Australian transplant, Marc, end up being a comedic round table of one liners and jabs. But all in the name of getting great work done for clients.

As far as the business, there are loads of meetings and hours of the day spent sequestered with others in rooms, conversing with little black pucks on tables. Listening to disembodied, and often unidentifiable, voices emanating from the speaker, and silently shaking/nodding heads, pulling funny expressions, and sharing quick scribbles on notebooks. I swear that director sounded exactly like Keanu Reeves.

Speaking of meetings. They take place in sixteen (booked down to the second) meeting rooms distributed around the space that BBDO (and other Omnicom agencies) just moved to about a year ago. Each of the rooms is of a different size and shape, adorned with sofas and hydraulic stools, or the standard tables and chairs. And giving a nod to the motion picturesque city, the rooms have been named for different films shot in or featuring San Francisco. So quite common to have a meeting invitation pop-up to meet in ‘Vertigo’, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’, ‘The Birds’, ‘Dirty Harry’ or ‘So I Married an Axe Murderer’, just to name a few. The artwork for each of the names on the glass doors is iconic and beautiful, crafted by one of Matt’s designer friends in his formal stomping ground of Chicago.

They also have their own advertising vernacular. It was somewhat peculiar to my ear at first, but people were interestingly ‘Leaning Into’ an idea. ‘Bucketing’ concepts. Or ‘Pivoting’ from one creative strategy to another. They actually sounded a lot more like 50s/60s fad dances.

And there are perks. I realized I really miss the perks. These include season tickets for the San Francisco Giants that everyone has a chance to put their name in for to attend a game or two. This allowed the missus and me to see Colorado completely blowout the Giants. Nice. On Fridays at 4pm, the ‘Libation Station’ gets wheeled around the office with local ales, and the cocktail of the week created by the resident bartender/art director, Tu. Often accompanied by his cohorts Taylor and Rachael (aka Taychael), another creative team. Other little goodies include granola and candy bars (Mars, of course), nuts, fresh fruit (seems everyone loves bananas) and glass-door refrigerators stocked with soft drinks (Pepsi brands), beers (various labels, as they currently are without a beer account – brewers take note) and wine (E&J Gallo is also a client).

They love dogs/puppies. It’s a very canine, and I can assume other species, friendly office. All of them well-behaved and adding to the general upbeat, tail-wagging spirit of the place.

And then there’s the work. Oh, the work. While there, I was able to observe a project team working on the finishing touches of a piece of music for a spot where the soundtrack was the key. Watching them go back-and-forth for days, getting every single note perfect. A luxury we don’t often have in Asia, either with the time, or the partners that would be invested enough to make it happen on our budgets. I witnessed the aforementioned pro-bono Instagram initiative sold and made a reality with a minimum amount of fuss, and lots of enthusiasm. I tracked several projects for one of the office’s largest brands, and empathized with the diplomatic tightropes that need to be traversed when working with other partner agencies. I was able to work on a great live brief with a couple other teams that inspired a cornucopia of award-potential ideas (‘Yeaaaahhh, boyyyyyyyy!’ to Madhu and Eric), had the client not re-evaluated the brief after the presentation. So I guess it happens here too. And we had a tea party at a doll store/ while making string bracelets and playing parlor games. That last one was pretty surreal.

And speaking of awards, the final days before the Cannes deadline was a duck’s pond crossing (calm above water, paddling like the dickens below) to get entries done and submitted. It was humbling to see all of the amazing work they’d completed over the previous year. Some of which most recently took home some metal.

In the development of the work, it was encouraging to see germs of good ideas being nurtured and grown, even as they progressed through the many reviews. They were like snowballs rolling down a hill, picking-up momentum and gathering hefts of goodwill and buy-in. Creating yeti-sized concepts that were a force to be reckoned with. (And easy for clients to buy.)

Overall, it was an eye, ear and mind-opening experience. Working, collaborating, even just conversing with other professionals at the top of their game. Trying to keep-up in a match of wits when discussing people’s favorite snacks to stock in the kitchen. And realizing that my tongue has atrophied a bit in an English as a second language market.

Should there be more of these type of exchanges? Absolutely. Offices and networks around the world may balk at this. Or at least the Finance departments might. But I think the industry could definitely benefit from more of these mind and world-opening experiences. I feel fortunate to be associated with a network that I think realizes that.

Lastly, I appreciate all of those whose support and acceptance allowed me to partake in this grand City by the Bay adventure. And the sacrifices that were made by the crew at the office back home. Hope you all enjoyed the postcards and fridge magnets. And for all of those in the San Francisco office who entertained my questions, tolerated my eavesdropping, and made me feel genuinely welcome. No tears allowed on this one, Felicia… Love you guys!