Nils Leonard: Don’t Confuse S**t Ads For The Death Of Creativity
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
This episode features Nils Leonard, co-founder and Creative Director of Uncommon Creative Studio, discussing the urgent need to revitalize creativity in marketing and advertising. Leonard shares insights from his two-year experience setting up Uncommon's New York studio, comparing the energy and hustle of American business culture to what he sees as the UK's crisis of confidence. (43:48) The conversation explores Uncommon's groundbreaking work across out-of-home campaigns, film projects, and brand experiences, while addressing the fundamental question: who killed creativity and how do we bring it back?
• Main themes include the death of creativity in advertising, the power of provocative simplicity in campaigns, and the need for British brands to rediscover their terrifying brilliance rather than settling for professional politeness
Speakers
Nils Leonard
Co-founder and Creative Director of Uncommon Creative Studio, one of the industry's most provocative and successful creative agencies. Leonard previously worked at major agencies before founding Uncommon, which now operates studios in London, Stockholm, and New York. He recently spent two years establishing Uncommon's American operations and serves on the D&AD advisory board, advocating for creativity's revival in the industry.
Jon Evans
Host of the Uncensored CMO podcast and founder of his own marketing consultancy. Evans focuses on having unfiltered conversations with marketing leaders and creative professionals to explore the real challenges facing the industry.
Key Takeaways
Creatives Must Stop Killing Their Own Industry
Leonard argues that creativity isn't being killed by AI, technology, or in-housing – it's being killed by creatives themselves. (52:00) Every time professionals spend more time writing LinkedIn thought pieces than making actual work, or listening to "out of work planners" tell them AI will kill their jobs, they contribute to creativity's death. The solution is simple: "Shut up and make." This means focusing relentlessly on creating remarkable work rather than debating the industry's demise on social media.
Adopt the American Hustle Mindset
After two years in New York, Leonard observed a fundamental difference in professional attitudes. (43:48) Americans have "relentless momentum" – they don't worry about passengers and critics, they just execute ideas with bulldozing determination. Unlike Britain's tendency toward professional outrage and navel-gazing, Americans try, pivot when things don't work, and shrug off failures. This thick-skinned approach to business, combined with genuine respect for hustle and grind, creates an environment where ambitious projects actually get completed.
Create Objects and Experiences, Not Just Advertisements
Uncommon's most successful work involves creating "narrative objects" – physical things, spaces, or experiences that tell brand stories better than traditional advertising. (07:27) Examples include The Ordinary's Periodic Fable (a physical periodic table exposing beauty industry buzzwords) and the Secret Ingredient installation (a pile of $10.5 million in cash representing celebrity skincare endorsement costs). These objects become the story themselves, generating far more reach than conventional ads because they're inherently shareable and newsworthy.
Simplicity Must Be Inflammatorily Arrogant
True simplicity in advertising isn't just clean design – it's being "inflammatorily simple" in a way that's almost insulting to competitors. (14:06) Leonard's team asks: "How can we be simple in a way that's remarkable, almost arrogant?" The BA Reflections campaign exemplifies this – hiding the logo in plain sight and giving audiences work to do, trusting that 99.99% of brands couldn't attempt such subtlety. This approach creates work that stands out precisely because it refuses to follow category conventions about messaging and branding.
Turn Pain Points Into Magical Moments
The most powerful creative opportunities exist in the most painful parts of customer experiences. (40:03) British Airways' safety video transformed the universally dreaded pre-flight experience into entertainment that passengers actively seek out and share. Similarly, Uncommon's approach with various brands involves identifying category pain points and creating remarkable experiences that invert expectations. This strategy works because the bar is set so low that any genuine surprise creates disproportionate impact and memorability.
Statistics & Facts
- $10.5 million – The average amount celebrities are paid for skincare endorsements, which Uncommon physically displayed in a New York corner store for The Ordinary's Secret Ingredient campaign. (09:43)
- 40% of people spotted the BA logo in the Reflections campaign within two seconds, rising to 80% within seven to eight seconds according to System One testing. (19:39)
- 130 million views – The reach achieved by Uncommon's "Rat Boot" stunt for New York Fashion Week, demonstrating New York as a "tinderbox for conversation" compared to other markets. (10:16)
