![[AdStory] Frédéric Royer (Publicis Conseil): Growing up was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done](https://media.iqads.ro/2013/01/photo-large-24897-cover-850.jpg)
Born in the little French town of Saint Brieuc, Frederic Royer dreamed of becoming a great explorer in the Jacques Cousteau crew. Today, Frederic, the Creative Director / Head of Art at Publicis Conseil has come to the conclusion that there is nothing like working in advertising, with all the joys and frustrations that come along. He told us about his childhood and the mistake of growing up, about the lesson learned after being told he "draws like a pig", the ad campaigns he admires and the ones that make him proud, sources of inspiration and his thoughts on advertising.
I grew up on the streets of St-Brieuc, Britanny. Yes, I know, pretty hard to find on a map.
As a child, I dreamt of becoming a diver in the Cousteau team. I don't keep old pictures of me. Maybe you should ask my mother, she may have some ;).
Perhaps the craziest thing I did in high school was to grow up. Maybe it's not the craziest, but surely the stupidest.
In college I was the guy who was late.
I decided I wanted to work in advertising when I saw what it was like to work elsewhere.
My current relationship status with advertising: it's complicated.
What is great about Publicis Conseil is that we have a terrace from where we can watch the 14th of July Parade. For free.
This is where we brainstorm. I love brainstorming. We should do it more often.
This is how my desk looks like. Stuff I need to sort and store for ages. And a laptop.
The work I am most proud of is either Rewind City, for our Orange client...
...or the Sooruz Naked Riders print campaign we did last year.
I love to fish insights from Olivier Artmann's brain and neuroses.
What great creative campaigns have in common is a damn brilliant copywriter.
The best clients are the ones that trust us, even if they disagree. The worst clients are the ones that listen to you for an hour only to conclude that "You're totally right, but we'll still do it the other way"
I feel most frustrated when I'm back from a meeting during which the client had not said "yes, great. Let's shoot it".
In my opinion, the best ad campaigns ever are:
TVC: "Litany" for the Independent. So clever.
And "Write the future", so much fun in it.
Online: Thefuntheory.com was pretty awesome. Dove "Evolution" too.
Print: The Harvey Nichols winter sales...
...or the "Must Have" calendar. So true. Loved the insights.
And the old "Michael Jordan 1, Isaac Newton 0". I felt more intelligent after reading this line. Thanks guys.
Ambient: Impossible not to mention my last "oh my God how I wish I made this one" for Decode Jay-Z from Droga.
Or the HBO "Voyeur installation".
The best piece of advice I have ever received from someone in the industry is "You're too bad for being my assistant. Nobody will ever hire you, and not even as a poor roughman, you draw like a pig." Robert R., in 1993 if I remember well. He's retired now... What does not kill me makes me weak for a week or two, and then helps me start again.
My best sources of inspiration are people not working in advertising.
In my browser history you can't find anything. I delete it every time, I don't want anybody to know what I'm doing-thinking-liking-watching-listening to... Big brother freaks me out.
What is great about working in advertising is that at the twilight of my life I can say that pollution, reality TV, junk food, global warming due to the car industry, tobacco and alcohol deaths, the lack of culture of younger generations, maybe one war or two, all this is a little thanks to me.
