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Creative Catch-Up: FCB International's James Mok

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In 2012, Draftfcb handed James Mok, group executive creative director for Australia and New Zealand, additional creative responsibilities for the Asia region. In his regional role, Mok assesses the agency’s work in Asia Pacific.Here's how his experience in the creative world has been so far.How’d you stumble into this industry? Sheer laziness. As I trawled the various career options at the latter stages of my high school years, I discovered the Diploma of Graphic Design at Auckland Tech – a course that involved zero exams throughout its two years. With drawing being the only thing I had shown any real ability in during an unspectacular time at school, the course was a gift. From there, discovering the intoxicating madness of advertising was only a matter of time.How do you get inspired when you aren’t?Self-preservation is a great motivator. Call me superstitious but I figure that when you stop appreciating things they usually disappear. No matter how challenging our business can get, it’s still one of the best ways to make a living. Just look at all the extraordinary ideas being created every day. Think about all the incredibly talented people we can work with to make our ideas better. And we get paid to do it. If that doesn’t inspire you, you should get out of the business.What’s the most frustrating thing about being a creative?People who don’t love what they do.Proudest moment in your career? Starting my own agency, Generator, with three partners from Saatchi NZ. Usually in this business, building brands means spending someone else’s money. It’s much more of a challenge to create your own brand from scratch and make it commercially successful.A mistake in your career you won’t forget?When we sold Generator to the Bates group, as a management team, I believe we screwed up. When you’re leading an agency I believe you owe it to your people to make good decisions so that when you move on, you leave the agency in better shape.Mentor you look up to most?Roy Meares was my ECD at Saatchi & Saatchi and a legend in the NZ industry. He was the creative soul of the agency – he took so much joy from being a creative. He said if the client rejects your genius idea; go back with a better one. I love that.Advertising’s not an easy business. What’s the meanest thing you’ve heard someone say to anyone in the industry?Bill Hicks: “By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself.” It’s such a grounding thing to hear and makes me want to try and do the best work I can. Not just for my client’s sake, or for profit’s sake, but for the sake of everything I have a hand in creating. We live in a commercial world but can we do things that contribute back to society? Can we help brands be good for humanity?What about the harshest thing anyone has said to you in your career?A client once said when giving feedback on a concept, “There’s no other way of saying this – you’ve got an ugly baby.” But that’s not mean – that’s genius. Less genius are the malicious anonymous comments and personal attacks that are prevalent in our industry blogs. Disagree by all means, but be intelligent about it. Let’s lift the game, not lower it.And the harshest thing you yourself have said to anyone at work? And do you regret it?Sadly too many things to list here. Leading people and passing judgment over their work is one of the hardest things to consistently do well. ECDs have to find the perfect balance between praising the good while sharply articulating the weak. We have to manage egos and encourage people to dig deeper. All while being a flawed human being ourselves.What’s the dream brand you’d like to work on and why?A dream brand is really a dream client. Working with genuinely smart, insightful clients who have the courage to make bold calls, helps you grow your own knowledge and push you to do your best work. And invariably they get the work they deserve.Weirdest thing you’ve ever done in your career?When you’re briefed on a beer brand that’s all about earning success, what do you do? You earn the beer by jumping off the highest building in New Zealand. In 75kp/h wind. Insane.What makes the difference between an average creative and a mind-blowing one?Hunger. Malcolm Gladwell nailed it with his Ten Thousand Hours theory in his book, Outliers.How you wind down over the weekends?The perfect antidote to all the complexities and demands of the advertising business is the utter simplicity of spending time with my children, Arlo (3) and Saskia (2). And who gets more out of our time together? I think we all know that answer.

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