Adrián Flores: The CCO reminding the world what makes Clemenger BBDO special

It’s nearly six months since Adrián Flores returned to Australia to become chief creative officer of Clemenger BBDO. Yes, returned. He was born in Mexico City, grew up in Australia and has worked in Sydney, New York, London and Berlin. He joined Clemenger from New York brand consultancy, Robot, which he helped rebuild the agency from ground up and achieve a 20x growth in revenue. He has also worked in AKQA, BBDO, CUBOCC, DDB, JWT, Leo Burnett, Publicis, R/GA, Saatchi & Saatchi and VaynerMedia (in alphabetical, not chronological order). He’s worked on big brands and big causes. Won big awards and built a big name for himself. Developed a hilarious relationship with his Clemenger ECD, Ant Phillips. He’s an interesting creative with a back-to-front career – he started off in film.

“I started my career making documentary films and TV series about wars in Papua New Guinea and Afghanistan that we sold to networks like the History Channel and NHK Japan. But then, in a moment of clarity, I realised that advertising involved fewer guns being shoved in your face, along with nicer hotels during shoots,” he notes in his bio.

Recently, he has been filling Clemenger with new creative talent. That got The Stable wondering about his plan. So we asked him. Here’s what Flores said:

The Stable: You had been away from Adland Australia for almost 15 years when you joined Clemenger. What did you notice most about the industry? About the work?

Adrián Flores: In terms of the industry, kinda shocked at how far behind it is in terms of diversity. And that Campaign Brief comments were still a thing. That was very telling about the deeper systemic issues at play. Any grown adults who were still anonymously posting negative things on there should be ashamed of themselves.

The work is like anywhere, some really really good stuff, a whole lotta boring and forgettable stuff. There’s a very strong focus on causes that sticks out when you first arrive back.

The Stable: What did you bring with you from your overseas experience? What was your view of Australian advertising – the work and the industry when you arrived?

Adrián Flores: Gotta admit that I haven’t paid close attention to the Australian industry since I left, so don’t have the fullest picture of things beyond what friends have made, or stuff that really popped off globally.

In terms of what I’ve brought that I have noticed is different – it’d probably be more of a commercial sensibility to the work. In the US, you’re very clearly there to sell. That’s the job. It feels like a lot of stuff here is oddly embarrassed to admit that. Apologetic about the fact there’s a brand involved.

The Stable: What did you feel Clemenger needed when you arrived in April? What have you achieved already. What’s still to be done?

Adrián Flores: I think we just needed to be reminded of what makes us special. There’s a lot of very talented people here. My role is to give the agency a clear sense of purpose and help the people working here reach their full potential. That’s something that’s never finished. So, the plan remains the same, and will never be done, but that’s the job. Chase perfection knowing you’ll never reach it.

The Stable: You’ve recently been on a new creative spending spree. What were you looking for in the talent you hired?

Adrián Flores: I always hire for ambition and taste. You can’t teach someone to give a fuck. If they’re keen and have a good eye, then the rest will take care of itself.

The Stable: What for you are the ingredients of great work? What for you are the ingredients of a great creative department?

Adrián Flores: Great work has talkability about it. Something that stands out and becomes a shorthand for it. Be it a catchphrase or a visual or a song. You need that one part that gets stuck in your brain.

To me a great creative department is a cesspool of competitive weirdos who challenge the status quo and each other in search of ever greater heights.

The Stable: What Clemenger work do you think is its greatest?

Adrián Flores: This is a tough one. It’s a very very, very deep back catalogue filled with absolute bangers. A piece I’ve used as a reference forever is the Carlton Mid, Spending too much time with the wife? print campaign. But then I discovered our ECD Ant Phillips made it, so now I hate it.