Jeremy Feldman Interview(s)
Point of View: Creative
In a few words, can you tell us who you are what your job title is?
Creative Director
Did you have a mentor at one point in your life and how did that person help guide you?
The best piece of advice anyone in the advertising business ever gave me: Everyone in advertising wants to give you advice, but no one wants to pay you.
If you were going to choose one project to post on AdForum to represent your creative vision, what would it be?
Years ago I wrote an all type campaign for a mutual fund company called The Berger Funds (it's long gone). It had real attitude and personality, and helped them stand out from the crowd. For another client, NetJets—sort of time shares in private jets—I wrote a campaign that was sophisticated, smart and just slightly snarky. It was perfect for their audience. The ads ran on outside wrappers on magazines like The New Yorker and Fortune.
Is there a band or an artist that you listen to most during the work week to help you relax and spark creativity and if so, who is it?
Mostly, I listen to Jazz from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s—Miles, Coletrane, Monk, Mingus, Coleman Hawkins, and more. I'm also a huge fan of Elvis Costello, especially his work through the mid-to-late 1980s.
What would be the one word you would use to describe your office’s culture?
Chaotic
What can you do creatively when working on branded content that you might not be able to do in the “traditional” ad process?
It's hard to try and forge new ground when working with branded content—you're working within a pretty tight framework.
What would be your least favorite thing about the pitch process?
I read someplace that "agencies run on fear." That's never more evident than during a pitch. Yet, it's the time when you should be making your biggest bets, and taking your biggest chances.
If you had a chance to be President and/ or King for a day and can enact any rule into law, what would it be?
There's an American philosopher named John Rawls who wrote a tome called "The Theory of Justice." In it, he creates a philosophical construct called "mini-max"—the idea is that any of us could be born into a situation in which we have the least in society. So, to be equitable and just, we should provide everyone with the same opportunities. I would instill that principal into everything that government does.
What do you think will be the big change in either technology or culture that will most affect advertising in the next 5 years?
I work in digital advertising, and there's no question that AI-enabled technologies such as VR, speach-enabled bots and digital AI customer experiences will transform what we do.
.