As a Canadian newly transplanted to Chicago, Rick Kemp, a rabid hockey fan, probably won’t be rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks. His relocation won’t see him switching teams in his own profession, either: He became executive VP/executive creative director of J. Walter Thompson (JWT), Chicago, in April, after a four-year stint as senior VP/executive creative director at JWT’s Toronto office.
Kemp fills the void left by the departure of former JWT Chicago executive creative director Dennis Ryan, who left the shop in November to join Element 79 Partners, Chicago, as chief creative officer.
"Obviously, with Dennis Ryan leaving, there was a hole," says Kemp. "The position was available, our [agencies’] client bases are similar, and I was thrilled to move to a larger market and a bigger agency."
In his role at JWT Toronto, Kemp oversaw creative for such accounts as Kraft—a client that is also a mainstay of the agency’s Chicago office—Unilever, including Lipton Red Rose tea; Pfizer/Warner-Lambert and its Halls cough drops; Nestlé, and Shell. During Kemp’s tenure, the agency won such awards as a Bronze Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, for a Halls spot called "Golfer." The humorous ad features a linkster whose sore throat all but muffles his shouts of "Fore!" As a result, all over the course, golf balls bonk unsuspecting players on the head. Philip Kates of Players Film Co., Toronto, directed "Golfer." (Kates is repped stateside by Open Frame Productions, New York.)
Another JWT Toronto spot—"Laundry Night" for Kraft’s Macaroni & Cheese Dinner—depicts a guy making macaroni and cheese in a Laundromat washing machine. The commercial earned a Gold award at the London International Advertising Awards show. "Laundry Night" was helmed by Craig Gillespie, through Radke Films, Toronto. (Gillespie is repped in the U.S. by bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander.)
Kemp finds certain differences between the two JWT offices—most notably that the Chicago facility, which includes a 60-person creative department, is slightly larger than its Toronto counterpart. But both shops have a client roster heavy on packaged goods (e.g., Kraft, which is one of JWT Chicago’s largest broadcast accounts) and he sees little cultural difference between Canadian and U.S. advertising.
"There are more similarities than differences," Kemp observes. "[In Canada] we’re absorbed by U.S. culture: We watch U.S. films, and U.S. sports. By and large, the trends that drive popular culture originate in the U.S. In advertising, the sensibilities are pretty much the same—what drives human behavior is similar. I’d say that Canadian advertising has a mix of British and American influences. If anything, some of the Canadian work has a drier sense of humor."
Sense of humor, Kemp notes, varies widely among different product categories. For example, what is considered funny in beer advertising wouldn’t be considered funny in an automobile ad. "It is important to use humor in a way that accurately reflects the tastes of the target audience," he points out.
Consider two spots for Lipton Red Rose tea, directed by Gillespie through Radke, that Kemp oversaw at JWT Toronto: "Funeral" shows two somberly dressed women seated in chairs at a funeral service. A priest approaches with a tray bearing a pot of tea, and gently asks, "Mrs. Riley?" "Yes?" both women respond in unison—apparently Mr. Riley was a bigamist. After the initial shock of the revelation, the spot ends with both women bonding over tea. "Did he ever snore," one remembers. "I know," agrees the other.
"Armistice" depicts a Canadian and a German vet of World War II meeting on the shores of Normandy, France. After an initial awkward greeting, the vets sit down to share tea, and the Canadian gives the box of Red Rose to the German, telling him, "It’s Canadian." In kind, the German gives the Canadian a set of keys, gestures to a luxury car parked nearby and says, "It’s German." The spot ends with the Canadian merrily driving off in the automobile.
"[The campaign] came from the idea that tea is a social lubricant—a pot of tea is a pot of conversation," Kemp relates. "People look at tea as an opportunity to open up and get connected. So the concept was that Lipton Red Rose tea could get anyone to open up and talk to each other, even in the most awkward situations."
More broad in its humor is "Alien Lobster" for Zantac 75, directed by Eddy Chu through Radke Films. In it, a man’s nighttime bout with heartburn is comically portrayed in the form of a gigantic lobster bursting from his midsection. In the end, he’s revealed to have been having a nightmare. The tag: "When your food comes back to haunt you."
Packaged Creatively
Kemp began his career as an art director at Young & Rubicam, Toronto, in 1983. He joined Ogilvy & Mather, also in Toronto, in ’87, then went on to Cossette Communications, in the same city, in ’89. He became a senior art director at Leo Burnett, Toronto, in ’91, working on Kraft, Kellogg’s, Visa, Bell and Cadbury, among other accounts. After a brief stint at TBWA/ Chiat/ Day, Toronto, he returned to Leo Burnett. In ’96, he was appointed creative director at Bryant, Fulton & Shee, Vancouver, B.C., and came to JWT Toronto in ’98.
In part, Kemp’s ability to shape creative, but solid, packaged-goods advertising made him the natural choice for the JWT Chicago chief creative post. While it’s a tough category in which to do consistently great creative work, he knows this can be achieved. "If you stripped off the labeling, [a packaged good] is the same as a bottle of beer," opines Kemp. "For many packaged-goods brands with household names, people have emotional attachments and life experiences that have never been mined by advertisers. Advertisers need to uncover that and serve it back to people with a twist."
Kemp cites JWT Toronto’s ad campaigns featuring the Philly Cream Cheese angel, a character that the Toronto shop created in ’96. "Women loved the product, but there was guilt associated with eating it," says Kemp. "The thought was that you could alleviate guilt by showing an angel eating it. But it’s an angel with an earthly persona—she reflects the consumer. She identifies with the Philly user and gives them permission to indulge. That advertising idea travels globally. Now every country has its own version of the Philly angel. In Brazil, for instance, it’s a whole family [that eats Philly cream cheese]. Here, that wouldn’t work to show kids in heaven, but it works in that country."
At this point, Kemp relates that he is overseeing several major projects in his new post, including new campaigns for Blockbuster, Butterfinger and Kraft. He says he is getting to know the creatives at the agency and assessing the shop’s needs. Among the first orders of business: working on new-business pitches and attracting talented people. "My first objective is to get the troops fired up here," states Kemp. "My goal is to hopefully motivate them, and drive the work to an even better place. I want to infuse more of a creative culture here, and I want to be the agency doing the freshest, most talked-about work in the country."
