“The only way to fight the predictable is to be more random.”

 Javier Campopiano, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at McCann Worldgroup, is making a compelling case for the power of random acts of creativity. In a digitally driven marketing ecosystem where every ounce of every day is sliced up for tightly defined meetings, often online, employees  increasingly find themselves alone together.

“We are so overwhelmed we don’t have the ability to go off script,” Campopiano explains. Yet it is in these unplanned random and sometimes completely off-piste moments that the unexpected and the creative happen. It is a refreshing take in an industry in which process has at times come ahead of people.

This people-centric approach is core to Campopiano’s leadership style and underpins his commitment to the business and art of creativity. Chance, chaos and the courage to champion compelling, yet difficult or unexpected ideas, are not baked into every agency’s P&L. However for Campopiano this humanity is the very foundation of a successful creative culture.

Creativity is a team sport

Campopiano, who was appointed Global Chief Creative Officer of McCann Worldgroup in 2023, has long advocated for the vital role of people as an agency differentiator. Talent is everything.

With responsibility for creative leadership across the McCann Worldgroup global network, which spans over 100 countries and 16,000 people that focus on talent is business critical. Working closely with creative, strategy, and business leaders to drive the world’s best creative work on behalf of the company’s clients, he manages the creative heartbeat of the agency.

Yet notably, when he talks about the fundamentals of building a creative culture, his focus is all about ensuring he maintains close to the work. Scale does not automatically equate to distance from either the work or the people making it.

One of the biggest challenges for global creative leadership teams is the risk of being disconnected. By making the creative output central to his daily life, Campopiano travels the globe with the express goal of creating space for genuine creativity.

He explains: “One of the reasons I travel so much is that I really believe that there are many moments in a process you really make a difference by being physically there.” He explains: “I text with my wife all the time but I need to see her to have a real relationship, that is the same in a work environment. You need to select the moments where you are making a difference.”

This focus on accelerating a creative process is rooted in his belief that creativity remains a fundamentally human pursuit. He explains: “Creativity is chaotic and you can only be creative with that space to improvise.”

Alone together

It is a powerful point in a wider business ecosystem in which having a meeting has become a salve for having the space to solve genuine business problems in a complex world. The irony is that being overwhelmed with this scheduled ‘connection’ leaves marketing leaders feeling increasingly disconnected from the work. It is all too easy to lose focus.

In an age of meeting obesity, Campopiano embraces the art of randomness. He believes that the specificness of meeting culture means that it is all too easy to miss the creativity that comes with going off-script. This isn't just a pithy quote, Campopiano actively calls colleagues with no purpose except simply to talk and genuinely connect.

In an industry that has been guilty of short-termism, Campopiano plays the long game. When it comes to building true cultures of creativity he is clear that leaders are still navigating the aftermath of the pandemic. While many business leaders have been keen to close the chapter on the pandemic, Campopiano believes it has driven a fundamental shift in relationships.  A shift we are still coming to terms with.

Not only are our most important relationships with our devices, but as Compopiano explains: “The pandemic created an appetite for individualism that we are still feeling.” It is an important challenge if you believe that creativity is in fact a team sport.

“I believe that some of the frictions and divisiveness that we are feeling is still a result of the pandemic,” he continues. A sentiment which certainly resonates not just with the broader macroeconomic climate, but the everyday frictions of creative leadership.

Closing the empathy gap

So what is the answer to this age of overwhelm? Where the risk is that everyone is speaking, but at the same time and no one is being heard. For Campopiano the answer to the question is to double down on humanity.

“You need to make a conscious effort to fill the calendar less and be more intentional in how you connect with people,” he explains, adding: “We need more humanity, it isn't about buzzwords, we talk about empathy but we need to act on it.”

In his own career that means that he actively chooses discomfort.  Making a conscious effort to immerse himself in subjects he knows nothing about. While within the network across the globe, he sparks those everyday conversations around what people really care about. An approach which underlines the power of curiosity as a driver of creativity.

Championing creativity

It is clear that Campopiano takes deep pride not just in being close to the work but in being a champion for the craft of creativity in the wider industry. Being an ambassador for brilliant work is a role he does not take lightly. Particularly when it comes to promoting the Last Copy of Ilon Specht, a short film directed by two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot.

‘Because I'm worth it’ has been the cornerstone of L’Oreal’s marketing machine for over fifty years. Yet while the strapline is arguably one of the most famous in the world, the woman behind the words has been invisible. IIon Specht, who wrote the iconic line, was working at McCann (then known as Mcann Erickson). Her tagline redefined how a strapline can become a living, breathing and ever-evolving marketing manifesto, yet she received little credit for her groundbreaking work. 

When Compopiano joined the agency the film telling her story was in the works. As a creative leader, his focus was ensuring it achieved the attention and fandom it deserved. “Being able to champion a piece of work and promote it and make a noise about it is a privilege,” he explains.

Building enduring brand platforms

As brand platforms go, few are as iconic as ‘because I’m worth it’. For Campopiano the visual metaphor of the strapline is that it operates a bridge between McCann and L’Oreal. A bridge that keeps the agency and brand partnership on track, yet allows it to make many different and unexpected creative journeys.

These enduring brand platforms are at the heart of McCann’s creative proposition. Platforms which manage to be both ever-evolving and completely consistent. A consistency which comes from encompasses brand tone of voice and core characteristics. A rigour which maintains a level of brand consistency and connection across the globe over decades, not changing at the whim of the latest trend cycle.

Sharing the approach to building such platforms he refers to the advice he received at the start of his creative journey: “The platform is the name of the book and then you have the chapters, if you rip it up then it's just pages in the wind.”

A creative responsibility

Playing the long game is key to Compopiano’s creative approach. McCann’s own founding principle ‘Truth Well Told’ is 120 years old. The principle is the longest standing philosophy of the business.

“The creative product is my greatest responsibility,” he explains. A responsibility which he also applies to the increasingly lost art of building enduring agency brands. “Acting like a brand is important and sometimes we forget that,” Campopiano explains. “I dedicate more time to that than I used to,” he continues, sharing that he is also focused on the role of the McCann brand in the wider advertising industry.

“There is such a diversity and so many players that were not here 10 or 15 years ago,” he says. A market shift which makes defining exactly what you do as an agency brand so important. In a cluttered media ecosystem, generic statements of letting the work speak on your behalf simply don’t cut it. Agencies need to make smarter, more simplified decisions on what truly defines their position and then stick with them.

This consistency is reflected in Compopiano’s approach and respect for the people he works with. It’s the red thread running between every talking point; from AI to Cannes Lions it is the creativity of the people he works with that he keeps coming back to.

“When technology becomes such a prevalent topic you have to focus on people more than ever. When they think technology is grabbing all the attention it’s easy to feel lost,” says Compopiano.

He continues: “We are humans and we are jealous people and we want to talk about people. Yet 80% of our conversations are about technology. We love talking about the tools, but you have to address the concerns.”

It is a nuanced view in a wider industry narrative surrounding AI, which has done little to quell people’s fears that AI is coming for their jobs, rather than freeing them up to be more creative and focused with their time. As Compopiano explains: “Most of the time the impact of that technology will be positive but you have to put yourselves in people's shoes.”

The joy of doing the work

It’s this ability to walk in the shoes of others which imbues Compopiano’s approach and keeps his feet firmly on the ground. A connection through the work, rooted in doing the work, keeps him inspired.

He shares his passion for writing, concepting and creative copywriting work. A craft which enables him to stay wedded to the industry. “If you don’t do any work you become a philosopher or an ideologist, but I never felt that I lost track of what is going on,” he explains.

He continues: “I am 50 now and I never felt the fear of losing touch with what is happening because I always made sure I was still doing the work.”

It’s this organic connection to the work, which extends well beyond the boundaries of a tightly scheduled zoom meeting, which drives the agency’s creative culture. It is the unplanned conversations, the moments of challenge and change. Connecting with the social teams, planners and practitioners across the globe. The tensions, the truths and the friction points. The moments where you can be honest that you don’t have all the answers, that the creative truth can really come to the surface. Truth well told takes time.