‘Brutal simplicity is a painful necessity’: M&C Saatchi’s Justin Graham tackles simplicity on Nine’s Roll the Dice on Creativity
In the latest episode of Roll the Dice on Creativity, a brand new series from Powered by Nine, Mumbrella and the AANA, M&C Saatchi’s Justin Graham shares how difficult simplicity can be to achieve - and why it’s so vital that we do.
From mid-century modern design, to the latest Apple Watch iOS, to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped; simplicity disguises the hard work that goes in to achieve it. To take a quote from Mark Twain: “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter so I wrote you a long one instead”.
These ideas form the basis of the latest episode of Nine’s Roll the Dice on Creativity, in which Justin Graham, group CEO, M&C Saatchi Australia joins host Michele O’Neill to discuss the importance of simplicity within creative work.
Simplicity is incredibly important from a business point of view, because as Graham explains, simple ideas enter the brain quicker and they stay there longer.
“Brutal simplicity of thought is therefore a painful necessity,” said Graham. “In the world of advertising, when you’re trying to show optimism and light, when you go into a pitch and you start talking about pain and brutality, you can see how difficult simplicity can be.”
Graham also outlines why simplicity is so important for agencies to stress when working with clients, because clients will often have a lot of things to say about their business. Part of the strategist’s job is to take the complex and simplify it.
Simplification is also the name of the game for anyone looking to enter Australia’s richest creativity award, State of Originality. The award is Nine’s call to brand owners and their agencies to be in with a chance to take home $1m in free advertising across the Nine group by producing the winning ad in the 2022 State of Origin, Australia’s own Superbowl. In this episode, Graham shares some useful advice for anyone looking to nail down that one special, simple idea.
Roll the Dice on Creativity is a brand new show from Powered by Nine, Mumbrella, and AANA, designed to inspire the marketers and agencies who make some of TV’s biggest advertising moments.
Upcoming guests will include BMF Australia ECD Pia Chaudhuri, NAB executive general manager marketing and CX (CMO) Suzana Ristevski, and Special Group executive creative directors Tom Martin and Julian Schreiber.
To find out more about State of Originality, head to stateoforiginality.com.au.
