Ad Chat - Gareth Kay

This week, we talk with Gareth Kay, Director of Brand Strategy at Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. Gareth serves on the board of the VCU Brandcenter, and is a co-founder of the non-profit ‘Planning For Good’, a virtual entity that harnesses the collective intelligence and amazing minds of planners around the world to help address the business and communication challenges of non-profits. He sits on the Google Creative Leadership Council where he is the only 'non-creative'. Let's get to know him, shall we?

1. What's your favorite funny story about yourself?
My first boss was Nick Beggs. The bass player from kajagoogoo.

2. What piece of art (movie, book, music, painting, etc) has influenced you most? How or why?
Everything Bad Is Good For You by Steven Johnson. It's about how culture is getting more interesting not dumber.

3. Who was your favorite mentor and why?
Gary Duckworth. So generous with his time, thinking and trust for a young, very rough around the edges planner.

4. What's one thing that excites you about the future of advertising?
The fact that there isn't an answer. It's time for an era of experimentation.

5. If you could meet with anyone in history (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
Nikolai Tesla. A genius who didn't get the credit he deserved.

6. What’s your favorite website/blog, and why?
www.noahbrier.com- Always smart and provocative

7. What's your trick to break out of a creative block?
Do something else, go for a walk or perhaps, best still, talk to someone. The answers tend to come when you don't think about them to hard.

8. Who is your advertising hero and why?
Howard Luck Gossage. About 50 years ahead of his time.

9. What piece of advice do you wish someone had told you when you were starting out?
There are no right answers or right way of doing the job.

10. What piece of advice would you give someone starting out?
Be interesting, not just right.

Keep up with Gareth on his blog at garethkay.com.

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Gareth Kay of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners
Tim Brunelle of Hello Viking
Rob Schwartz of TBWA\Chiat\Day

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