As creative partner at London-based agency Mr President, Laura Jordan-Bambach has been on the cutting edge of all things digital in advertising during her 20 year career. A jury president at this year’s Loeries, Jordan-Bambach will be speaking at the DStv Seminar of Creativity about what excites her creatively and being braver with yourself and your business.
By Adam Wakefield
As one of the speakers at the DStv Seminar of Creativity at Loeries Creative Week, are you looking forward to coming down to Durban for the Seminar? What will you be speaking about?
Absolutely, I can’t wait. I’m incredibly excited about the inspiring and innovative work I’ll see, that I can share with London. I’m speaking about what excites me creatively, my work and my approach to ideas, and how to inspire a braver attitude within yourself and your business.
You’ve built Mr President in just three years, with awards from The Drum and the IAB UK. What is the creative vision that drives yourself and Mr President? And how important is it for an agency to have a creative vision, a specific vision through which they view the world that influences their work, in the execution of their day-to-day activities?
A vision is incredibly important. We only hire incredibly entrepreneurial people at Mr President, but a shared vision is what takes our work from good to great, and eases collaboration. We have a very strong vision “Question Bravely, Answer Boldly” which every person can articulate, and informs everything from the way we work with clients to the final work.
As a leader, what do you believe are the best means to get the creative best out of the team that works under you?
Treating them like the talented, grown-up humans that they are. Respect, trust, and brutal honesty about the work. And a great generosity between us all. We work together, and respect each other’s ambitions - whether that’s work-related or personal.
How do you stay mentally fresh and at your creative best?
There’s nothing more inspiring than talking with new people for fresh perspectives. I listen to a lot of music and try to push my comfort zone as much as possible. Also, I have a very vivid dream world that I’ve cultivated over 30 years - keeping loads of notes and diaries since I was 11. It’s incredible how much I dream a loose idea to a brief that I can then take hold of and use. And I spend a lot of time with my son, there’s no creative spirit better.
What challenges do women continue to face in getting into and excelling in creative industries? What glass ceilings still remain that need to be shattered?
You only have to look at what’s happened recently at Saatchi & Saatchi to see that there’s a long way to go. There is clear proof that a more supportive, less domineering and more enabling CD engenders better work, but it’s still seen as a weakness. We need to support women through the industry and help them build their voice - they’ve often been told from day one that their opinion isn’t as valid/interesting/edgy/cool etc. Maybe not intentionally, which makes those feelings of self-doubt even harder to shake.
We are chipping away at an ancient rock that may never fully accept there’s even a problem, and only invalidates our cause further. We talk about creatives rising through meritocracy but not how that’s constructed, rewarded, or judged. True representation of cultures in our industry at senior creative level, across all aspects of diversity, is key to keeping the industry alive in the face of automation, key to keeping the beauty of humans' many stories and points of view alive. And it’s much more fun.
It’s one of the reasons I’m so proud to be part of the Loeries and the DStv Seminar of Creativity.