Veteran advertising producer Bob Nelson, formerly director of broadcast production at DDB New York, has become president of eyeball, a self-described “multifarious design company.” Though it has been in business for 18 years, designing and producing strategic communications for corporations, broadcast and cable networks, and advertising agencies, the Manhattan-based eyeball has flown pretty much under the radar.
Ironically, the company was also below the radar of Nelson who on the agency side was otherwise pretty well versed on production and creative resources in the marketplace. A pair of reps turned him onto a possible opportunity at eyeball, a first look which opened his eyes and resulted in his making the jump over from the ad agency side of the business.
The move represents a new chapter not only for Nelson but also for eyeball. “Bob joining us is an honor and it translates into what is sort of a coming out party for us,” related Limore Shur, eyeball founder/chief creative officer.
Nelson assuming a leadership position in the business also frees Shur to focus even more on the creative end. “In that respect, this is a freeing experience for me, to be able to put my trust in someone like Bob to drive the bus as it were,” said Shur.
Indeed Shur has found a savvy driver who has benefited from the savvy of others, most notably such mentors during his first tour of duty producing at DDB as legendary art directors Helmut Krone and Bob Gage, and copy chief Phyllis Robinson. “Bill Bernbach was the first creative director I worked under,” recalled Nelson. “I had the privilege of working with people who created creativity in advertising.”
Nelson exited DDB to head up the production department at Levine Huntley Schmidt & Beaver, a venerable house in the 1980s. He later was director of broadcast production at TBWA and Lowe before returning to DDB about six-and-a-half years ago.
As a producer, Nelson won six Lions at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, as well as assorted ANDY and Clio Awards. His work has been honored at the AICP Show, and is included in the Museum of Modern Art’s film archive. He remained a hands-on producer while managing all of his agencies’ video and audio content, regardless of media platform. Among his clients were Diet Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch, Heineken, New York Lottery, Sprite, Diet Coke, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Lipton, Philips Electronics, Evian, and Club Med.
SHOOT caught up with Nelson for reflections on his agency experience, his decision to join eyeball, and plans for his new roost.
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SHOOT: What led you to eyeball after so many years on the agency side of the business?
Nelson: I was introduced to Limore by two sales reps, Richard Fink and Robin Fried. They knew I was looking for something different. When I first looked at eyeball’s website, I was stunned. The work was amazing.
The company’s tagline refers to it as being “a multifarious design company.” I wondered what that meant and was astonished to find out–work that was beautiful while being edgy, funny, mysterious, irreverent, elegant. And then there’s the scope of the media, encompassing everything from network branding to installation videos to gaming to digital, small screen, live action and television advertising. Their work [for Target, Best Buy, the campaign for the video game Bioshock, branding for Country Music Television and PBS, TV spots for Hartford, State Farm and Ford Sync] is quite compelling.
What I saw in the situation was work I wanted to be a part of. There would be days as an agency producer that I’d look at 25 reels and say to myself, “Am I having a bad day? Why isn’t anything jumping out at me?” Then eventually I’d see a reel that jumped out and inspired me. I felt this same kind of eureka moment when I met Limore and saw eyeball’s work. Since coming here I recently saw Limore while on a conference call with a client. I watched the moment of inspiration when his pen starts to work and drawings come up on scratch paper.
SHOOT: Did you have occasion to work with eyeball when you were an agency producer?
Nelson: No, eyeball was a totally new discovery for me.
SHOOT: What’s on your agenda for eyeball?
Nelson: Eyeball hasn’t placed a lot of their concentration on ad agencies. I see that as a great opportunity. Part of my focus is to gain them exposure in the agency community. But at this time there is a real need for more than just exposure. There is a need for someone who can talk to an agency creative team, who knows that it takes them six months to get to the point where they have a storyboard and can even talk to me. I know the blood, sweat and tears that go into the process to get to this point. It’s important that agencies know that on this end somebody will nurture, care and respect their project and the process they went through to get here.
SHOOT: In what ways will you bring your agency experience to bear at eyeball?
Nelson: I don’t look at it as agency experience but as a maturity and experience in the world that many production companies don’t have, particularly among those companies that are more in the digital/graphics world. In my work as an agency producer, I had to deal with studios that lacked an understanding of the corporate mentality and what is going on in those corporations. For an agency producer, it was often challenging to navigate a world of bright young technical geeky kids with no glue, who didn’t understand what agencies and clients were dealing with. I am bringing a sense of cohesion, glue, maturity and ability to relate to the corporate world. I have experience in presenting in boardrooms of major Fortune 500 companies. There is a lot of opportunity in advertising, working with agencies and with marketers. Collaborating with marketers has been part of eyeball’s agenda and roster for many years–working with TV networks, cable networks, video installation work for major retailers.
I was very much looking to start a new chapter in my career. I needed to find the right person and the right company to do it with. You have to make a personal judgement as to what you want to do every day of your life. I’ve been fortunate enough to live through a couple of Golden Ages at a few different places in the agency world. Now it’s fun to again be excited.
I’ll give you an example. We’re doing an installation for a major marketer that eyeball has a long history with. Being involved in the creation of a living environment for this client is something I haven’t done before and I’m enjoying the experience.
SHOOT: How has the role of ad agency head of production evolved?
Nelson: The world has changed in that the media have changed. How agencies deal with that varies from one shop to another, from one holding company to another. Some agencies and holding companies are trying to figure out how to reconfigure themselves. Others already have. People are trying to hyphenate the word “content” into their titles.
It all very much depends on the particular agency. You have to look at each on an individual basis. What I do know is that it’s a very challenged right now for everyone. Everybody is trying to do more with less. Heads of production are trying to get more work done with fewer people and less experienced people. Developing capable talent is key. I always have been as proud of the young people I was raising and training as I was about the work we were producing.
