Interview with Pelle Sjönell, ECD BBH Los Angeles
Group 5 (Theatre of Retail)
Interview with Pelle Sjönell Executive Creative Director BBH NY / Los Angeles.
Mikkel: Pelle, we are really glad we could have a little bit of your time. I am talking on behalf of my group, and as I mentioned we are having a project on the information society, and we thought it would be great to have some reflections from you as well.
Pelle: Thanks for thinking of me.
Mikkel: I just wanted to make sure you remember being my teacher, at Miami Ad School, when you were working at King?
Pelle: Awesome, yeah surely do..
Mikkel: I’m very fascinated with your work from both your time at Fallon and BBH, that’s why I thought of asking you.
Pelle: Thank you. I remember the time with Miami Ad School was awesome, I’m trying to set up the same thing with Hyper Island, as we speak. Cause for us as professionals, it’s always helpfull to work with students that actually knows what is going on in our industry.
Mikkel: So don’t currently have any interns from Hyper Island?
Pelle: We have had earlier but no now, I’m currently in Los Angeles busy setting up a BBH office here. But we will definately be setting up something with Mathias, and Hyper Island soon.
Mikkel: That’s great! That sounds really good, I’m sure that will work out since BBH is such an attractive agency. I didn’t know you where in L.A. at the moment, I’m really sorry if I woke you up earlier. So are you permanently situated in LA now?
Pelle: I go to NY every now and then, but yes I am permanently situated here.
Mikkel: Well, let’s get started, cause I don’t want to take too much of your time.
What gets you excited at the moment in digital?
Pelle: Well, the most exciting thing for me in digital is that brands can be what they really where supposed to be in the first place, and also to help brands to communicate to real people in ways that both adds somehing to the life of the consumer, as well as adding something to the brand. And I think digital dramatically has helped changing behaviors for both brand and consumers. I think the digital revolution has created an even playground for the brand and the consumers to communicate on. It’s great that consumers now are able to connect with brands and get a deeper relationship with brands that they like.
When we where in the traditional world of advertising, when brands could only buy attention, brands often took them self way too seriously, and though it still happens in digital it seem like it’s more obvious for them that this is becoming less and less effective. That is what gets me excited. When we develop creative work, for anything that is digital, we ask our self how can we make brand communication more interesting, and more usefull for the consumers? Digital for me is not about how great it is to play with technology, It’s more about how this technology enables us to create more entertaining, engaging, and usefull work.
Mikkel: As a creative coming from the traditional world of advertising, which digital skills do value the most when you hire creatives?
Pelle: I think it’s important to remember that it’s not a fundamental skillset that we need to change, it’s not like being a blacksmiths and then circumstances forces you to become a baker. We are still all blacksmiths, it’s more about the mindset, and the attitude as well as approach to media. I think there is alot of anxiety amongst creatives that they have to learn new things, I just tell them that it’s similar to when we had to watch TV’ads to get familiar with the TV medium. It’s not nessecary to be able to build a TV, in order to make a great tv spot. You as a creative still have the black belt in communication, you just have to bare in mind the new media is different, and we have to familiarise with them and use them in our privately so that we can get to use them professionally.
I did the same journey my self, and I’m still on it, I’m was also coming with a background from being a traditional creative. As an example on the front page of King’s website we wrote, “we make ad’s not websites”, today that would just be such a wrong attitude, and I just realize this know, and by that same time my brother had an interactive agency, and back then I thought he was just all about computers and technology, but I realized today we really are in the same business, and we have so much to learn from each other. But interactive agencies at that time had nothing to do with brands, they where more or less production companies delivering digital technology. So I realized that now technology and communication finally meet, and I learn from the tech guys everyday, so as they are learning from us every day.
Mikkel Tell me about a book, blog or article that you recently read, and found interesting.
Pelle I found a article on Wired about the evolution of the Internet. It was saying The internet used to consist of just websites, and you used to just surf from one website to another, but who are actually surfing websites these days? Most people use the Internet with a purpose, and a good part of this use is coming from apps, and not even through a browser. I think I heard we are near 50/50, when using the mobile just grabbing the specific information we really need.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all/1
Mikkel: How do you manage to stay updated on the constant development within digital?
Pelle: Live it. I use it all. If see something new, I don’t just read about it, I try to find a use for the technology in my life. Actually maybe I haven’t found the use foursquare, but I’m using it all the time, to observe how it is changing, and I think this apply to other things such as Twitter, and all the google tools that pops up every now and then. It’s something I want to do, but I rarely try something before I somehow find a use for it. That’s when you realize why things are so popular. That’s also great when you start to understand how to use digital technology in your everyday work, but it always starts from personal experiences. It’s so easy to fail in trying, if you pretty much just read about it.
Mikkel:The digital life offers so many distractions, tweets, sms, mails etc. How do you stay focused?
Pelle: It’s about to shut the door, and destinguish what is important. I try and isolate my self and disconnect, but it’s hard because it’s already becoming such a major part of life. It’s a good question, It’s hard to give you a good answer. Of some reason I don’t think its time to answer this yet. You also have to remember that alot of procedures are so much faster today than they where yesterday. When I went to adschool it took half a day to find the information, that you can find in 2 minutes today, and you can make awesome visual things in a few hours that would take so much longer back then.
Mikkel: What is your favorite app and what makes it so brilliant?
Pelle: I really like keynote for presentations. By the way I think the next generation of computers are being slightly larger ipads. But also apps such as twitter, facebook, I use very often, and I really prefer the app experience rather than the browser experience. I tend to use my computer less and less, I’m reaching a point where I’m not doing regular production such as photoshop etc. anymore. Most of my work as a creative director I can actually do from my Ipad.
Mikkel: What should human fear the most in the digital revolution?
We should remember to be nice to each other, when we are not face to face. I think sometime email is killing alot of emotions, Twitter language especially. I also think the written language in twitter have rarely conveys that excitement I actually had when I first time saw the thing that I just posted, you know what I mean?
Mikkel: Yeah I know exactly what you are refering to, like the smily can’t replace a real life smile.
Pelle: Exactly, I hoping we will soon get more comfortable with webcams, so we more easily share real excitement instantly.
Mikkel: Pelle, what about future, what will everybody be talking about in 5 years time?
Pelle: Wireless electricity would great! If that happened alot of things would change for the better. We haven’t sorted out the flying cars yet :-).
Mikkel: Yeah, I agree that would be sweet, can’t wait….
Pelle thanks for your time, it was great talking to you, I wish you good luck with the BBH L.A. office. Looking forward to talk to you again!! :-)
