When Mark Figliulo learned that Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Chicago, was looking for a chief creative officer last fall, he wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to get the job. Figliulo, a longtime creative at Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, who left the agency in ’98 to direct full time, says, "I wasn’t really interested at all." That is, until he met Howard Breen, president/CEO of the Chicago office of Y&R.
"We immediately hit it off. His personality was similar to mine in that he was straightforward with me," recalls Figiulo. "There was absolutely no bullshit. I told him all of the things that were wrong with Y&R’s office—and, frankly, there were a lot of things wrong."
Breen didn’t bristle at Figliulo’s candor. Rather, says Figliulo, "he basically said, ‘I’ll take care of the money, and you take care of the creative.’" Figliulo joined Y&R this past November, and their collaboration has been successful. The agency recently gained notice thanks to a well-received campaign for tax preparers H&R Block. (Despite the positive reviews of the campaign, H&R Block had put its account in review at press time.) The spot package was directed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal Coppos Films, and was the first creative effort by Figliulo and several of his new hires. "Worried About Bill" centers on a man who attempts to fill out his tax returns on his own, and slowly but surely, the effort consumes him. At one point, Bill doesn’t even notice his wife’s attempt to seduce him, and he desperately turns to his teenage daughter’s boyfriend and the family cat for advice. When it gets really bad, he startles his wife and daughter by demanding quiet so he can focus—though the house is so silent, you could hear a pin drop. The ads, which include several :15 versions such as "Bill/Brad or Chad or Something" and "Bill/Please Be Quiet," end with the tag "Get help."
Though he encouraged the creative team and helped usher the idea through, Figliulo is quick to give credit for the H&R Block campaign to Y&R creative director John Matejczyk: "I want to be very clear. I supported him as a chief creative officer, but that’s his work."
"I love the direction of these spots," Figliulo adds. "Craig could have taken a broad approach. But he went very understated and real, which was exactly the right choice."
Direct knowledge
While Figliulo is an experienced spot helmer, he didn’t get involved in choosing a director for the H&R Block campaign, and stays out of the process in general. "Because of my background in directing, I don’t want my creative directors to feel like they have to hire me, or like I’m some production guru," he explains.
Figliulo first began directing spots while he was a creative director at Leo Burnett. Having risen to senior VP/executive creative director at that agency, he decided to pursue directing full-time. In ’98, he left Leo Burnett to sign with Dark Light Pictures, West Hollywood. Employing a directorial style which combined both real people and visuals, Figliulo helmed spots for clients such as Rockport, Dewar’s Scotch Whiskey, Reebok and Glad. But he found directing full-time to be a struggle. "I just fell out of love with that side of the business," says Figliulo. "I was kind of a newcomer and was getting boards that I wasn’t thrilled with. So I’d rewrite the boards—and that’s the last thing creatives need or want."
Figliulo notes that directing took him away from the concept phase of spots, and that if he really wanted to build a career as a director, he would have had to move to Los Angeles, and the native Chicagoan didn’t want to leave his hometown. Eventually, he started freelancing for ad agencies, and upon Breen’s offer, found himself drawn back to the idea of working full-time on the agency side.
Now, "I’m perfectly happy doing what I’m doing right now," Figliulo says, noting that he will direct select projects through Y&R. He is waiting for the right spot at the moment, and his duties as chief creative officer are keeping him busy. He is currently working on bringing in new business (Y&R will soon announce new clients involved in technology), improving the quality of the creative, and expanding Y&R’s staff. Recent hires include VPs/creative directors Dan Fietsam, Corey Ciszek and Jon Wyville, all formerly of Leo Burnett.
As for his goals for the agency, Figliulo says, "I want [Y&R] to become far and away the best creative shop in Chicago. And that’s not going to be hard to do. Chicago has a great pool of talent, and it’s a great city. I think Chicago needs an agency that reflects that. I would like to take the Chicago aesthetic and apply that to advertising."
He defines the Chicago aesthetic as "a straightforward, plainspoken integrity that we all share when you come from this part of the country." Y&R’s clients, such as Sears and Farmland, tend to provide products and services to ordinary people, which means that Y&R’s advertising may not be trendy and cutting-edge. That’s fine with Figliulo. "I think a place like Wieden + Kennedy [Portland, Ore.] is really great at culturally connecting to the youth market, and I really envy them for that," he says. "But what we want to do that’s really different is to culturally connect to the everyday man."
Figliulo notes that the directors Y&R hires are key in making that connection. While Gillespie accomplished the goal with the aforementioned H&R Block spots, Figliulo cites two recent spring fashion themed Sears spots—"Apostrophe" and "Crossroads"—directed by Phil Harder of A Band Apart Commercials, Los Angeles, whom Figliulo describes as "a great young director."
Figliulo urges other agencies to seek out fresh talent. "One thing I did learn being on the other side of the business is that agency people know the top-tier people, and that’s it. We have to give people more chances," he says. "There are a lot of great people out there that you just don’t know about, because the business works by the ‘As’ and the ‘Bs’. It really shouldn’t work like that. There are ‘A’ directors, and then there are a lot of [potential] ‘A’ directors waiting to be given the opportunities. We’re always looking for those kinds of directors."
