AKQA, the global interactive agency headquarted in San Francisco, is expanding around the world. It is just opening an office in Amsterdam and has named Martin Cedergren the executive creative director. Cedergren has a diverse background at European agencies, including one he started himself and is renowned for the work he has done for Volvo and other clients, which has won numerous awards. Cedergren discusses his agency background, his work with video advertising, his role as a creative director and what’s ahead for AKQA/Amsterdam in this week’s iChat.
iSPOT: Before starting at AKQA, you worked for a variety of agencies, started one of your own and won many awards. Can you give us some highlights?
Cedergren: I’ve been working in advertising almost my whole life, and I got hooked on digital. Not even half the people were on the Internet when I got started, but things have been changing so fast. We’re talking about one decade and we’ve seen a whole revolution going on. When I started in 1994, there was almost nothing you could do online, you’d put up a website with almost no images. I started with an agency called Adera and if you wanted to do rich media at that time, the Internet was too slow, Flash wasn’t invented yet. But after awhile I started to do more things on the Net and did some major work for Volvo. We put up the whole group on a home page and we did it with only three people.
Then I went off to a new agency, Reference, where I did an enhanced website for a computer game called Grand Masters and had a close relationship with Macromedia. I’ve always been interested in new technology and it was interesting to work with a game developer. They thought the Flash player was lame and wanted to do their own player.
Then it was time to start my own agency with three colleagues in 1999, it was called Starlet Deluxe, and we were privileged to work with international brands, which was unusual for an agency in Sweden which is up north and a little remote. We worked for Atari and other brands and merged with another agency and did work for Nokia. Then I had a good opportunity and joined Forsman & Bodenfors, where I’ve been until three weeks ago.
iSPOT: How much experience do you have with broadband video advertising?
Cedergren: A lot. I worked closely with brand Volvo for many years, the first project was the launch of the SUV-XC90. Previously all online car advertising was like putting up a digital brochure, but we changed the whole thing. It was a big breakthrough campaign. The concept was to sell the car without showing the car, it was all about showing nature, so we used video to show the whole landscape, you could scroll around through a forest, but then you see the car for the first time parked outside a house. We’ve done a lot of video for Volvo launches using video in Flash. It was ground breaking to work with video because the quality of the images is so important for car advertising. We can work on a bigger scale and it gives you a full experience.
Video always plays a central role in major Volvo campaigns. It’s very important that the car looks as good as possible and encourages visitors to see the product in action. We have to put quality to the maximum without making the files too large to download. The trick is to mix some parts of the scene using still images and some key parts in moving images, a kind of hybrid impression that gives the visitor a feeling that everything is video. This technique allows an increased size of the format of the video displayed and a longer play time.
iSPOT: Can you provide other examples of the video advertising you’ve done?
Cedergren: I’m really proud of the work we did together with B-Reel for Systembolaget, the Swedish alcohol retail monopoly. Systembolaget’s task, limiting alcohol-related problems in Sweden, is affected by decisions made by the leaders of the European Union in Brussels. So for the 50th anniversary Systembolaget wanted to tell European Commission president José Manuel Barroso how important this is and how it has an alcohol monopoly in Sweden. We created an advanced hybrid film for Mr. Barroso that was published on the web at www.dearmrb.se. The campaign strengthened support for the Alcohol Monopoly in Sweden and led to lots of stories about alcohol-related problems in media all across Europe. A few months later the EU issued a statement supporting the Swedish model.
iSPOT: What will you be doing at AKQA?
Cedergren: There’s a strong Nike presence in Amsterdam and we’ll be working with Diageo brands like Smirnof and Tanqueray. We’ll also be working with Unilever and some secret projects I can’t mention. Video is the standard now and the whole focus of the office will not be just another digital agency but more of a hybrid concept store. Maybe we won’t release any websites, it could be anything to find interesting ways to create, like digital billboards.
ISPOT: How does the European audience consume video advertising?
Cedergren: It’s different in different countries. Many have good connections, for instance in northern Scandinavian countries 80 percent of the population has high-speed connections so it’s a good audience. You can erase the line between Internet and TV. Germany and Holland are also very good. In some cases, you will have to create different versions of videos to cater to different needs, but in general the situation in Europe is very good.
iSPOT: As a creative director, what is your role in determining how video will be used in a campaign and how you’ll work with production companies to produce the best work?
Cedergren: I’ve had the privilege to work with talented production companies in the past. When it comes to video online, it’s a matter of technique. You can’t just put up a QuickTime and you’re done; it doesn’t work that way and it takes a long time to load. As a cd, using video allows me to push out the ideas a lot further, it’s a lot like storytelling. The main focus is to create a good story and collaborate with people who can help you tell it. I think video is the best media to do it.
