Al Moseley’s tenure as executive creative director at Wieden + Kennedy (W+K), Amsterdam, was punctuated by the smashing success of Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Factory,” which not only earned assorted accolades–including a 2007 primetime Emmy Award nomination, a Silver Lion at the Cannes Ad Fest and two AICP Show honors–but also went on to spawn longer form web and special venue entertainment content.
Then in October 2007 Moseley decided to exit W+K to become creative director and partner at one-year-old London agency Hurrell and Dawson. He formally came aboard that U.K. roost on January 15 and the shop’s moniker is now Hurrell Moseley Dawson & Grimmer (HMD&G). The first work Moseley has contributed to at HMD&G is a three-spot television campaign for Auto Trader which is slated to air in the U.K. and Ireland. One of the commercials, “New Car Finder,” broke on Feb. 28, and Moseley observed that there are some parallels to “Happiness Factory.”
Just as “Happiness Factory” introduced us to a charming world inside a Coke vending machine inhabited by interesting characters, so too does “New Car Finder” open up a new world–except this one is quite different, made up of car parts and populated by bouncy, chubby little robots bearing TV screens for faces and heads full of visible ideas about the perfect car. These characters make their way along a country road, each one thinking–in brightly colored holograms–about their individual auto choices from “shiny” to “turbo” to “babe magnet.” The characters then wind up at an Oz-like Auto Trader complex where they attain vehicular nirvana.
The other two Auto Trader spots–yet to debut on air at press time–explore other parts of this expansive world. One takes us underwater where we encounter fish-cars. The third commercial features a giant car zeppelin in a city setting.
Marked by a light-hearted storytelling touch, the campaign was directed by Aaron Duffy of SpecialGuest, a recently formed sister company to the New York-headquartered computer-generated imagery/visual effects/animation studio 1st Avenue Machine.
SpecialGuest, a Manhattan-based house which specializes in varied organic animation techniques and styles, did the character animation for Auto Trader. CG resources and support for the campaign came from 1st Avenue Machine.
Right choice “I know I came to the right agency because this campaign was in the works before I got here,” related Moseley. “I had a left hand in it creatively but not both hands. I was also involved in helping to line up the right production company and approach.”
The reason Moseley knew he joined the right ad shop is that the Auto Trader creative is akin to what he strove for at W+K.
“It’s work that has value not just to the client but more importantly to the consumer as a viable piece of entertainment. The potential of this idea is that we can create something that can live, a world that people will want to visit online.
“There will be opportunities for people to visit and inhabit this online world, to make 3D characters they can own online,” he continued. “We’re also implementing viral ideas where people can remake characters in their own style.”
Among the HMD&G contributors were creative director Moseley, copywriters Steve Dunn and Shaun McIlrath, producer Zoe Barlow and planner Jamie Inman.
Transition The move to HMD&G marks Moseley’s return to the U.K. Prior to W+K, Amsterdam, he was a creative at Mother, London, contributing to notable ad fare for Orange, among other clients. Earlier he served as a creative at TBWALondon, working on such accounts as Sony PlayStation.
Asked about how his transition from an international creative powerhouse like W+K to the year-old, smaller sized HMD&G has played out thus far, Moseley said he’s had to make some adjustments.
“When you’re at a bigger advertising agency and have everyone around you, you can more easily ask people to do things or help in various aspects. You have the benefit of a huge support system for your creative ideas,” Moseley observed.
“Now, by contrast, I’ve been running around quite a bit, doing things for myself a lot more. It’s been a very grounding experience for me and very positive in that respect. You come to realize that you need less in life and can sometimes as a result get more done. With fewer layers and levels of people, you can move more rapidly and be more nimble.”
Ground floor Moseley has been spending much of his time creating a vision for “an exciting brand” which he wasn’t yet at liberty to publicly identify as SHOOT went to press. The new pending HMD&G client represents an enticing aspect which drew Moseley to the agency.
“To be in on the ground floor of shaping an advertising agency by securing the right like-minded clients is a great thrill. One of the many great things about Wieden is while we had very few clients, they were all great clients. And you need great clients to do great work.
“There are so many talented creative people in this business, many who come up with great thoughts and ideas,” Moseley continued. “But without the right partner, you can’t make those ideas happen. And that’s a large part of what I’m doing–trying to find the right clients, the right partners. We have a lot of clients who want to work with us but we’re being very selective.”
Moseley added that this dynamic of “growing from the start” makes it easier to create an agency with a naturally integrated view.
“Wieden+Kennedy was already well established so we had to create a digital element and integrate it, seep it throughout the entire agency,” said Moseley. “I called it a blue cheese model where the blue veins were put in to carry change and give a new digital flavor to the agency.
“But by [HMD&G] being a relatively new shop, everybody here is very savvy digitally. You don’t have to teach everybody or change an existing culture. The culture is already here. We’re already taking on purely digital projects.”
U.K. agency market
As for the U.K. ad agency scene today as compared to when he was first a part of it years ago, Moseley said there’s a marked difference.
“Coming back has been really interesting, to see how many new advertising agencies have sprung up since I’ve been away. Even now there seems to be a new agency springing up every week,” he observed.
“Generally there seems to be a hunger and a place for smaller, nimble agencies. It’s happening all over–I think of Anomaly in New York as being a good example of this kind of agency, the new profile being that of a media-neutral shop.”
