Unknown Origins

Rasmus Smith Bech on Creative Direction

December 20, 2021 Rasmus Smith Bech Season 1 Episode 99
Unknown Origins
Rasmus Smith Bech on Creative Direction
Show Notes Transcript

From Copenhagen to being a runner in Hollywood to a serial creative at advertising and brand agencies, media and entertainment companies; Zupa, KesselsKramer, GREY London, Adam & Eve DDB, Channel 4, Uncommon Creative Studio, and now the Executive Creative Director at the BBC, Rasmus Smith Bech leads the creative output across all BBC campaigns and branding.

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Music by Iain Mutch 

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Roy Sharples:

Hello, I'm Roy Sharples, welcome to the unknown origins podcast. Why are you listening to this podcast? Are you seeking inspiration? an industry expert, looking for insights, or growing your career? I created the unknown origins podcast to provide access to insights and content from creators worldwide with inspirational conversations and storytelling, about art, architecture, design, entrepreneurship, fashion, film, music and pop culture. from Copenhagen to being a runner in Hollywood, to a co creative observer, castles, creamer, grey London, Adam and Eve DDB channel for uncommon creative studio, and now the Executive Creative Director at the BBC, where he leads the creative output across all BBC campaigns and branding. Hello, and welcome, Rasmus Smith. Be So what inspired and attracted you to be a creative director in the first place?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

To be entirely honest, I if we rewind even further back, I don't, I don't think I ever aspired to even work in advertising. I think I'm more fill into it. I think I think back in the days, I was probably around 18, or something, I came back from a, I wouldn't call it a field experience in Los Angeles, trying to make it in the movie industry. It was more as a run on so on. So it's nothing, nothing major. But I came back and all of a sudden, I needed a bit of money. So I worked in a nursery for a bit where I fell asleep reading stories to the kids all the time. So I wasn't really I don't think I was made for that. So one of my friends actually said, why don't you come in and work in an advertising agency, and you can earn a bit of money and like, be have run on? Nothing creative there. At that point, it was more making coffees and whatnot. And then I did that, and that was, I don't think I've ever thought before that point about who made the adverse I think I probably assumed that Coca Cola did their own adverts and whatnot. I don't think I thought it was some companies and it was actually a job you could have. So I think that was my first introduction to advertising. So I worked there for a bit. And after bed, I was one to study again. And then they suggested actually, some of the, my colleagues and then the people in the creative department in this advertising agency said like, why don't you apply for this atmosphere in school and signed up? And I got in? And then three years later, I found myself with an advertising degree. And I was fed out, or what have I done? What is this slide, but anyway, I stopped with it. And I found I had to find my own truth or reason for doing it, and so on I and I think I found it and then I just kept going at it. And then eventually, I worked for many years and use many hours, thinking of all the creative work, pitching writing work in different agencies, and then eventually, I guess, when we've done it for enough years, people trust you to guide the projects from from or guide other people to do the work. So that is, that is the long version of how I ended up in the role throughout my career. I think I've always had a bit of a view on advertising and I've always tried not to pollute the world too much, both in the literal sense of actually what we use and whatnot, but also actually in terms of what we put out there in the world of adverts and so on, have always aim to make some work that actually is interesting and people find inspiring and useful or something like that isn't just shouting at them. So, yeah, that Africans thriving aiming for that my my my whole life or whole career. And then along the way, I also found out that some brands you work with on appeal more to you, just surely from the point of view that they may be more interesting to the to the to the consumer. So some things will be a harder sell right to convince people to to buy some kind of new version of a bottle they already know is a harder sell than the new FIFA computer game. So I think along the way, I have been leaning towards stuff that has a bit of big following and have lots of fans already in engagement. And actually companies that people people really care about, and we exist so so a BBC is one of them. So that's why it would I, there's probably not many companies I would sit in house at, but PVC is one of them. Because I truly believe in their mission. And I actually think it's really important that they exist for loads of different reasons. But one of the most obvious ones is also to do with the news. And there's a lot of things we we all notice every day and the small bubbles we live in and different realities, and what is fake news and Real News and feel like they're the true like they're one of the defenders of the democracy. Yeah, actually, and spreading entertainment and, and information and teaching people across the board in different ways in a very affordable way. So that's why Yeah, really, I'm fully behind the mission of the BBC and really think they should exist going forward. So yeah, that's, that's, I'm trying to contribute to that.

Roy Sharples:

Being British. I've never known life without the BBC and what it stands for, as an institution, and British cultural heritage, and broadcasting, even to date. And bearing in mind, I haven't resided in the UK for many years. No matter where I am in the world, the BBC is the single most trusted source of truth that I will always go to. Because I trust the information to get clarity on the news, societal issues, economics, and politics. So you've joined a highly influential organization, which must be very exciting for you?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

Yeah, it's super exciting. And also, the role I'm in I locally, get to me, lots of different departments and different people within the organization. Again, it goes without saying, but it's a it's a massive company with lots of different skill sets. And what it is just fantastic to meet everyone from the show riders to braid your host and all the way to the news team. And all these these people, there's so many different aspects of the company. So it is it is, is really exciting times obviously knew what I'm looking forward to really get to know the company even further and like, understand what they truly allow.

Roy Sharples:

Travel is a catalyst for inspiring innovation and creativity. Because you experience different cultures and diverse societies, learning to appreciate and respect these differences in lifestyle and behavior unites us. Traveling forces us to depart from the familiar and take on a world of new experiences, cultures, languages, architectures, foods and lifestyles, influencing our mains bodies and souls, by shaping us into better, more well rounded people with a more integrative worldview. You've lived in Denmark, Holland, and now the UK. How much of that has shaped and inspired your creative practice?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

I don't know how it has influenced my inspiration. But I know how I think it's shaped how I work at least Yeah, or what, what what the outcome and I think I had to rely on some other skill sets said, I'm actually quite grateful later, as when when you one thing was, for example, when I lived in Amsterdam, some of the stuff we were working on had to be translated. So sometimes you had to rely on not knowing exactly the words that would come out of it. But so I think naturally, you gravitate towards an other kinds of ideas that are not as beautifully were crafted because you don't know what comes out in the other end. Yeah. So you want to think about your shape or work in a different way and the same probably it's the same scenario with moving to London and so on. When it's not your first language. Obviously, there will be someone that is a better rider and so on then you and crafting all the words. So you, you tend to maybe find something else that makes you unique. And what another way you can stand out. So that was probably what has defined the kind of work I ended up doing, then for slowly, I think I've gained confidence in terms of like just writing in a different language and actually also seeing it as a strength and you start you, I would probably I write slightly different than someone who who's a native write English speaker, so, but it might also make it more interesting. And luckily, in advertising, we can get away with a lot of stuff and sentence structures and chubby language and whatnot, what you end up doing you, you don't rely on very localized observations or insights, which can sometimes be powerful and unique. But when you don't do that, you hit on more universal truths that are more human truths, and they could translate from any market. So I think that's probably also been one of my strengths, is that I've just been trying to find something that anyone can relate to doesn't matter if you're born in Amsterdam, or Mexico City, like you can still use still understand the feeling of missing out on someone's birthday, you know, like, terrible example. But you know what I mean? You just, you less rely on local ponds, and like, really small, small end sites. So and in terms of inspiration, I think this is like in a very broad term. And it's not directly inspiration. But I think, moving countries and a lot of different jobs. And of course, there's a lot of uncertainty on to some extent, uncomfortable Ness about mixing it up all the time, and moving to new cultures and different countries. And but I think it's an essential part of being a creative and liberating yourself is that thing about getting used to being uncomfortable, I think, is really powerful. And I use that a lot in my work as well. Because when if you're trying to cover new ground, you will at some point have to be in a territory where you don't know where you haven't been before, and you don't know the answer. But if you can turn it around and make it, that's an exciting part of the process, then I think you're onto a winner. And that's when you can truly make something unique that you haven't seen or heard before. So I think that's one of the outcomes of it is not directly inspiration, but I think it's one of those things that it's good to teach yourself or like, yeah, get uncomfortable, get comfortable with the uncomfortable. In terms of inspiration, I have heard a lot of creatives they, they like going to galleries and so on, but like I don't know, it's never really done anything for me. It's not very often I see an art piece or something in a museum I, I use in my work once in a while it happens. But I think what fuels my inspiration or like, my creativity, but it's probably the news I find like the news is is as we know, reality is crazier than imagination. And so I just love like all sorts of like odd news articles, especially weird local news can can be extremely fascinating because it's just so odd. And it can be so mundane and weird. So I've always like I've read lots of news and also all sorts of sources beyond the BBC News. So yeah, I am I try and fuel my brain in that way. Besides that, of course, it's all about reading or all the books and greater theater play can of course, spark something and

Roy Sharples:

what is your creative process in terms of how do you make the invisible visible by dreaming up new ideas, developing them into concepts and then bringing them to actualization?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

It always starts with like research and looking into what is happening in the world right now. That's back to what we spoke about with the news even in the context of the brand and what, what world what kinda like was going on around them? And what is the what is the pitfalls for it, or what's the dangers of the brand and what kind of like challenges are there for, for this brand, or even the industry is always good. So like doing doing the research, and then sometimes just, you just get started and write all the different different insights you can find around the topic and the brief. And then again, it's, it's something I've always done. And I always have my phone with me, obviously, like everyone else. But I, I take a lot of notes, you will probably hear my friends say that quite this quite often where I stopped for like two seconds and have to write something down because I just try to constantly write down if anything sparks or an idea pops up. And that's usually if you've done all the research and like you have it in the back of your mind, I think your brain does a lot of work for you depending a little bit on the brief, obviously, if it's, if it's a car, you read around it, and what the challenges are, what the future is, and so on. And then I think slowly you, your brain starts doing a lot of work for you. So when you see stuff you match it up against and then. So if you have the brief in the back of your mind, you the ideas will start popping up, I have this weird thing that when I am about to go to sleep, that's when all most of my ideas pop up. So that's why I always have my phone next to my bed, obviously. And you'll see me furiously typing in the dark. Because that's when a lot of the ideas pop up. That's fascinating. It it's quite it's quite odd hard works, actually. And I think I think we there's your brain does a lot of unconscious thinking for you. So that's why I usually quite like, even if I don't have time to work on a brief I quite like being told about it and what it is because I I think it gives you a head start and it does you just saw you do some unconscious thinking. So yeah, it's like it's quite nice. And then another thing I also do is like, besides the briefs I'm working on at the moment, I I've just always taken lots of notes of when I just talked to my friends and we're just before chatting, shit or whatnot like, but just a lot of great things just happen in real life. And most of them are just forgotten. So I've always like, I've always liked this thing that Talentino says about his movies and how he writes movies is like he says the only difference between him and his friends is that and why his movie make and they're not is because he writes down what they're talking about. Yeah. But he says like, a lot of it is just like it just comes through conversation and like stupid and silly things. So you know. So yeah, I do a lot of that as well loads of taking notes. And then you might not use it right away. But again, it's stored somewhere in your brain and on your phone and then later, it slides perfectly in with a campaign you're you might be working on

Roy Sharples:

That's an interesting correlation that you made with Tarantino. Because the way that he makes his his movies, they could easily all be staged plays because they're so rich on the conversation, his strength. And his inspiration comes through dialogue comes through conversation. Most people who would take a conversation and put it to like a film would focus on all the obvious it's the obvious things that he focuses on right those fine details that you think wouldn't matter, but they they really do. And then when you put that when you bring that to cinema, it just seems to mushroom and that's became his signature, his trademark what are the key skills needed to survive and thrive as a creative director?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

I might still not have mastered what it takes to survive in the industry. But I can give you my guess. But there is like this ongoing job in the advertising industry and especially in the creative department is that you don't really a bit like like heroin addicts you don't ever see like really old heroin addicts, they kind of they disappear, right? That was quite a morbid comparison. But you don't really see any old admin either in or they disappear or you don't really know where they go. And there must be like, a reason and it is it is of course a it's a little bit of a draining job because it's about stay up to date on a lot of things. Of course, there's some universal, like things that will always travel through time, but a lot of it had to do and a lot of adaption to different media and so on. And I think it can be, it can be a little bit draining, staying up to date and and all that. So I guess one one of the like, when you just literally say what it takes to survive, I guess it is the classic one of adapting and being willing to change and being curious and continuous and continuing to be curious. And that thing about being a forever student trying to like always, don't think you know, at all and like, start at keep, keep wanting to learn and being excited about the next new thing and so on. When you start getting getting cynical and about what's ahead, that's probably a bad sign. So maybe that's a lesson to myself, if I listened back to this, in a couple of years, I've started to be like, sad and angry about the industry and where it's heading and so on is probably because I'm I'm slowly doing the wrong thing. That's my my cue to get off. So yeah, that's probably bee bee bee bee David Bowie about it. Keep reading, reinventing yourself. And I think you'll be okay.

Roy Sharples:

Yes, it's critical to maintain an insatiable curiosity and be a lifelong learner. Not a No at all. But I'll learn at all Bowie superpower was reinvention and to see the future coming by having the uncanny ability to foresee future trends in music and fashion. And he used this knack to tilt popular culture. For example, He could see the unseen by using new internet services. And this was back in the 1990s. That seemed far fetched for artists at that point in time. But what he predicted became the norm. Musicians now make music, perform live and engage with fans online, making it accessible, affordable and convenient to experience music from anywhere at any time.

Rasmus Smith Bech:

Yeah, exactly. So if you're able to do that, I think you want to win. His outfits man, oh, all the time?

Roy Sharples:

What are your lessons learned in terms of the pitfalls to avoid, and the keys to success that you can share with existing and aspiring creative directors?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

I think it's good to define something or have a few. I don't know if rules are the right word, but have a few guiding stars of what you believe in. Like, like, stand for something like what what is what is your truth? What is what is your guiding principles that and it's both for yourself, but it's also so slowly that people you work with, know where you're coming from, and it's easier for them to work into you. And so yeah, it does that make sense in terms of like having some kind of? Yeah, kind of like a guiding star for for the kind of work you want to make. And there's many ways to articulate that, I think and sometimes it can. It can be very different, very personal. And, and I have this thing about, I think I've spoken to it earlier. But in terms of like, when if you want to make something and put something into the world, I don't think you should waste people's time. And I think you should be entertaining or useful on site for make them feel something. So I just that's one of mine, for example. And I really don't believe in lying. I think it's always about the truth. And I think it's just finding an interesting angle to the truth. And again, on top of that, trying to make it if possible, give them something to talk about. Like I that's also it's always been one of mine, like make it easy for them to talk about it. So if there's something happening in in, again, referring back to the news, or like something happening in the world that people care about always on people's mind. Why didn't you play into it? And you're, you're halfway there already and you're onto a winner. So that's some mine and they are like personal. There's probably more people out there with the same mindset but it's good to figure out what you what you want to do and why you're doing it, I think and it becomes easier for yourself. and everyone around you to see where you're going. And with your guidance,

Roy Sharples:

Having clarity on who you are, and who you are not, and appreciating the differences, and having a clear and distinct aesthetic and visual identity as an authentic creative expression of you, your values and tastes.

Rasmus Smith Bech:

Especially at advertising agencies and branding agencies. And so I like, like, what you're selling is basically ideas and creativity. So that is the machine work of the company. But it's also easy, a lot of people forget that there's so many people around the creatives, or who literally comes up with the idea, then that contributes and makes it happened and makes it bigger and better, and so on. And I think is really important to remember all the people in the company and not just like focus on the creatives, and especially when you're creative director, of course you need to it's your it's your direct peers or the the people that were into you are the creatives or the writers by making amazing work takes so many more people and like it's, it's all the way around, right? From producers to come people and like, yeah, this, it just takes so many people to make amazing work. And it's important to remember them along the way. So it's not just, it doesn't feel like it's it's only the creatives opinion that that matter, when you when you create something. So I think I think that's one of the things I've learned. And I take it with me and I think it's important. And another thing is all this will sound silly and like probably a bit ly basic. But it's just really important also to make it fun, learn and have fun while doing it. And I think creativity is such an odd and fragile thing that fear I think is so opposite of life is the worst environment you can create anything in all it fear creates stress in your brain that doesn't liberate your thoughts, that's for sure. So I think it's also everything is about removing fear and trying to have as much fun as possible. And, and one thing I forgot, I've forgotten many times throughout my my career. But I I try and remember as often as possible and is to make it fun for yourself as well and make it fun for everyone else. And like even even I often add fun things in a document that no one else even knows about it, I might put something stupid behind the photo, you can't even see the presentation just because I know it's there, just for my own amusement. But like, it's just to say, make fun for yourself. Yeah, rather than seeing it as a task or job you need to fix for someone else. Make it also for yourself. And I think that it becomes more fun to, to do your job. And it will be more fun for everyone else to look at, and take in and so on. And by the way, when I say needs to be fun, I don't I'm not saying all the outcome. And the work you'll be doing always needs to have a same tone and it needs to be joke and joke and joke. All I'm saying is the process. It could still be a teacher of a film of some, some sort, but it's just the process part of it. It needs to be enjoyable for yourself and everyone else and I yeah, if you're having fun, I think everyone else can feel it. So and it's easy to say it's an outcome, but there's tricks of doing it. And it's good to remind yourself

Roy Sharples:

You triggered the importance of cultural curation, so that people feel empowered, free and safe, to express themselves and to create without fear, so that they approach problem solving openly and innovatively by trying out new ideas and ways of thinking and doing if you were given advice back to Rasmus when he was 18 years old, what would that one thing be?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

I think for a long time in in my career, I I had a strong separation between what I enjoyed in my free time and what I thought was relevant for my job. And it was I found out along the way that the more I can merge things that are actually I'm actually into, like beyond my job, whether that's films will be on art, or these things you consume, the more I bring What I'm truly into into the work, the better it becomes, and it will never become the same and is. And I think that was a really important lesson. I think in the beginning, I think it was because I also, I don't know if I looked down on advertising, but I didn't see it as, as a great thing. And that that that was also along the way of like defining what I thought advertise should be. But the more I found out what it should be, I was less nervous about adding things I thought was amazing into it. I don't know if that makes sense. But like it's improving that fragile thing of something you really believe in. I think it's beautiful into advertising without it being ruined.

Roy Sharples:

Yes, removing the barriers from work and life, where the edges are no longer the boundaries, by feeling free to authentically express yourself creatively, where you channel your passion and energy in a way that's unfiltered, to then expedite the best creative outputs. The internet and social media has had an omnipresent impact on people to the point where it has become the fabric of our lives. And numerous industries and professions have been disrupted as a result. Take news and journalism as one example. It has seen a rapid move to media, by the masses by having countless contributions from non journalists. And one regularly reads through the social reviews and commentary, rather than the story itself. Which begs the question, who's in control? Who actually is the journalist? What's your vision for the future of creative direction as a profession, and the role of creativity?

Rasmus Smith Bech:

I think it's a tricky question of like the future of create creativity and, and especially creative direction in advertising. S advertising, as we know is under pressure from Skip buttons and people paying not to see it. But I think I think it goes back to being relevant and interesting, and giving people something back for their time, rather than polluting the world. Try and add to it. Whether that's tools or information or, or entertainment. I think I think that's the way forward is just remembering that you are communicating to humans and we often forget how we will react to whatever we are making ourselves

Roy Sharples:

Make the emotional and human connection, first and foremost. Just how soon is the future? One thing's for sure, the future is unwritten, and everything is possible. Do you want to learn more about how to create Without Frontiers by unleashing your creative power? Then consider getting

CREATIVITY WITHOUT FRONTIERS:

How to make the invisible visible by lighting the way into the future. It's available in print, digital and audio on all relevant book platforms. You have been listening to the Unknown Origins podcast. Please follow subscribe, rate and review us. For more information go to unknownorigins.com. Thank you for listening.