Todays News: Edgy or Not, CP+B's Andrew Keller Explains a Lot

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Edgy or Not, CP+B's Andrew Keller Explains a Lot

By Madhumita Venkataramanan
May 3, 2011 |
5:21 pm |
Categories: Advertising, WiredBiz, WiredBiz2011

NEW YORK — With his bright green-and-red sneakers and messy curls, Andrew Keller, CEO of advertising company CP+B, exudes casual. Maybe too casual.

In a conversation with Thomas Goetz at the Wired Business Conference, Keller had a slightly distracted approach to answering questions. The creative head of what mainstream media have called the hottest ad agency, Keller offhandedly challenged even the premise of an early question: “I don?t know if we do edgy.”

But the product campaigns speak for themselves: the re-invention of Domino’s Pizza, the launch of Microsoft Windows 7 that went on to become the fastest-selling operating system, and the catchy Burger King campaign in the anti–fast-food climate of Super Size Me. How does he explain all this?

Here are the bright sparks from the conversation.

Keller says the secret is to “take on culture” and channel it. The Burger King campaign asked people to take control and “have it their way.” This was an opportunity to “stand against culture,” which, said Keller, may be what gave the company its “edgy” reputation. (There’s that word again.)

The Domino’s Pizza “Turnaround” campaign is another bold success story. Trying to understand the unorthodox approach, Goetz asked Keller, “How do you convince a company to say our product sucks, and we know it?”

“The Turnaround,” for those who haven?t seen it, is a brutally honest approach to convincing customers to buy a product. In the advertisement, Domino’s employees sit through focus groups while customers openly berate the pizza.

?People were saying such awful things that the Domino’s employees started to cry,? said Keller. So if they channeled that emotion, ?It could be very powerful.?

The ad then shows the creation of a new-and-improved pizza and follows employees as they approach their customers directly and ask them to test it out.

?It took a lot of confidence ? but from where we sat, it seemed worth it,? said Keller.

For CP+B, it?s all about making the product culturally relevant, rather than merely advertising its value. In other words, it?s about “trying to get culture to endorse the thing,” said Keller.

Using the BMW Mini launch as an example, he said the agency did not want to say the cars were ?small, but roomy.? Instead, to get consumers on their side, it was about ?taking a stand and launching the category of small cars,? he said.

But talk of specific campaigns aside, false modesty or studied ennui seemed to be the theme of the day.

Goetz asked: ?Are people wondering what CP+B is doing here??

Keller shrugged, ?Probably, yeah.?

Top photo: Wired magazine executive editor Thomas Goetz (left) interviews Andrew Keller, CEO of advertising company CP+B.

Full Coverage: Wired Business Conference: Disruptive By Design | 2011