Welcome to The Strategy Journal, a resource for aspiring creatives to get real advice from the most unique and experienced voices in the industry.
This week, I'm in conversation with James Parker, a Social Creative who’s worked at companies like AMV BBDO, LADBible, Joe and VICE. James was born in Ireland and was able to pursue a number of creative hobbies including filming, music and sports which established an interest in media from an early age. He moved to London from Essex at the age of 17 to become the youngest ever employee at AMV BBDO as a Social Intern.
Since his job at AMV, James went on to write scripts at VICE, articles for The Guardian, become Head of Social at DRIVETRIBE, and more recently work at the social media agency Coolr. His journey is an important one for The Strategy Journal, it proves that your personality and work ethic can be just as important as - if not more than - a degree in the creative industry. The way you talk about your passions and projects with potential employers is extremely important, and packaging yourself correctly can often present you with specific opportunities that are personal to you.
People want to work with someone who isn't boring, who isn't arrogant, with someone who isn't lazy. So get proactive and show your quirkiness.
He’d gone on to start LADBible Video and at that point, he’d written 2018’s tweet of the year on behalf of Burger King UK. Seemed like he’d done a lot of cool and culturally-savvy work at such a young age, I mean this tweet blew up.
I decided to reach out to learn some more about how he got to his position. He was very talkative and charismatic and super eager to clear a lot of my confusion. After a few drinks at a reasonably priced pub in Soho (crazy, I know), I had learnt a lot about the next possible steps I could take to further my career.
This week, James answered some of my questions about how lockdown has affected his approach to work and the creative industry’s approach to advertising. During the pandemic, he’s been making content on Twitter and has finally got his hands on The Last of Us Part II.
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In terms of thinking, learning and doing, what has lockdown allowed you to do?
Lockdown created a huge issue for the advertising industry. Rightfully so, people didn't have time for unnecessary purchases. This left a gap in the market for clever creatives to break through, making timely content around the lockdown situation was the order of the day. Though clients have been tightening their budgets we've managed to get a few to spend on lockdown specific campaigns. As well as commercial, the lockdown has let me work with some great charities like Mind, Samaritans, and Papyrus.
This sort of followed on from my work at LADBible where we started ‘Happy Places’. Those who were facing mental health issues would share imagery that made them feel good alongside a bit about their condition so others could have a read and realise they aren’t alone.
Lockdown's allowed a wealth of new content to be created - how do you keep up with feeling inspired?
I keep up with creators by staying up to date on social and talking to friends in the same field. Plenty of Twitter comedians like Carl Anka, Justine Stafford and Richie Driss (I could go on forever) are growing by thousands of followers and people have a lot more time for content intake right now. I think lockdown has encouraged a lot more people to be creative and take some risks with their own social content, I hope that stays after this strange period of time. It’s also stopped so many celebs and influencers pushing b*llsh*t products because they've now adopted some newfound form of conscience so that's grand.
What advice would you give to young strategists looking to crack into the creative industry post lockdown?
I would advise young creatives and strategists to remember all the original content you are seeing right now and noting how well it's going down. For example, Anifa Mvuemba created the first animated walkway for her new collection - remember that when Versace steals the idea and everyone starts praising it. Innovation is about speed and bravery, being the first to try something new. I also think the lockdown is putting the 'why' element back into planning, people aren't just posting ads for the hell of it right now, they’re tailoring their content to suit the current situation.
Which brands do you think are doing the most right now?
In terms of brands during the lockdown, I think the following are doing well: fast food brands like Burger King and KFC, I don't think they should be open but the fact is capitalism exists and at least their social media teams are handling things well - giving clear answers and even producing funny content every day.
Fashion brands making masks instead of their latest collections is cool, Brewdog making sanitiser is also a great example. Gaming services and streamers are doing great whilst in lockdown, I really hope that the industry stays this popular in the future - the turnout for Animal Crossing was insane.
Premier League and other sporting brands/teams using old highlights to keep their huge audiences entertained during a time of no action are incredible. Musicians and comedians too, it's been pretty interesting to see how celebs are responding to the news daily: using live platforms to voice their opinions or concerns and also donating to COVID based charities. Zoom and TikTok are also two platforms I don't really like myself but I can admit they’re thriving right now.
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