Dan Kelleher | Chief Creative Officer, Deutsch NY

What are the most innovative trends happening in advertising now?

2019 is the year where narrative video and interactive finally got engaged. Netflix’s Emmy-winning Bandersnatch was groundbreaking in its ability to bring a Choose Your Own Adventure-style story to a mass audience with such a high level of craft and user experience. This new style of user guided storytelling is now arriving on Tinder of all places through Swipe Night, an apocalyptic Choose Your Own Adventure-style series. What I find most interesting about each is the opportunity both platforms have to use passive user data to supercharge their recommendation engines. Netflix might recommend more horror movies to the folks that have no problems sending the protagonist to his doom while Tinder will be able to match potential couples together based on similar choices they make in the story. Interactive storytelling, done right, has incredible potential to get consumers to lean-forward into your brand. DAN_KELLEHER_01

 How do key cultural moments shape your creative decisions?

Cultural moments can be great opportunities if it’s something that is authentic to the brand and aligns with their products and values. In other words, don’t force it. The Daytona 500 was a cultural moment where we helped Busch celebrate being involved with Nascar for 40 years and becoming the official beer of Nascar again. We wanted to be sure to add to the fan’s experience instead of just being another meaningless official sponsor logo. The idea was to take one of Kevin Harvick’s #4 Busch race cars, rip it apart, and use the sheet metal to make 40 one-of-a-kind collector cans of Busch Beer that we would reward fans with during the race. We were true to our brand and to our consumer, and we amplified the game day experience by giving 40 lucky fans the opportunity to forever hold a race car in their hands.

What are some tips for a young creative to stay innovative and bring fresh ideas to the table?

Be an explorer. Not just within advertising, but within life. At Deutsch, every employee is represented by their own miniature astronaut on the wall to symbolize that we’re all creative explorers. Our ideas don’t come from staring at screens, they come from our experiences, our passions, and our relationships. So put down your phone, pick your head up and get out there and be an explorer–the right side of your brain will thank you for it.