Creative Talk With Bruce Murray

Starting out as an agency suit, you made the move to digital – are you glad you did?

Best move of my life (no disrespect to lovers of suiting).  Digital is such a constantly evolving environment to work in, it keeps me on my toes!

What are the highlights of your role?

The team I get to work with here!  They are brilliant.  We get the opportunity to work on great ideas that force us to constantly evaluate how we do things.  The challenge of finding ways to put good tech ideas into everyday life is always evolving, and this continually forces us to look at what we do and how we deliver, every time.

Do you enjoy the campaign work, or much prefer the more meatier dev projects?

Ha – that’s a tough one.  Part of the fun of agency digital is the constant project flow and project variety, which helps keep everything really interesting.  Any tech loves being able to sink their teeth into larger projects.  We do pick up larger projects for Y&R Digital and our team loves being able to challenge themselves with these, so it’s good to have variety.

Are you having to educate your clients on a daily basis or are they quite tech savvy?

Everyone is becoming more tech savvy every day.  Business as usual, the work is fairly straight forward but there are always briefs coming in that require us to find new ways to push the boundaries even further than what we did before, particularly around new technology.  On these types of projects, I will do a fair bit on education work to try and showcase the benefits of the technology, as well as some of the possibilities.

What about your internal team – we hear a lot of producers complaining about suits lacking serious digital knowledge?

I actually think that it is a little unfair to expect all suits to have serious digital knowledge.  Most of the suits I have worked with have a good understanding of digital – especially now, as it is more commonplace.  They tend to involve digital early on in the brief to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Apple or Android man?

Apple and android (and, just quietly, I have a Blackberry playbook hidden under the mattress).  I’m not a fan I being stuck in one camp.  There are some things Apple do really well and other options you can only use Android for.  Staying bendy is my preference.

What is your favourite digital experience by far?

Does SXSW count?  That by far has been the biggest digital experience up to this point.  As far as work goes though – one of the best was a digital idea for Absolut Unique involving a Facebook app, a Samsung tablet and a projection from Chapel Bar onto the wall of Tin Soldier.  Check out the video below:

http://youtu.be/BYVsJVh9DLg

Do you think experiential still has legs?

Totally.  From my side of things, I’m a believer of digital in life.  Being able to see/touch/feel play is a massive part in building brand awareness and advocacy.  A nice example of a fun experiential installation was the 3D Oreo printer at SXSW.  There were lines up to 2 hours long just to participate in the experience.

Where would you recommend for online digital inspiration?

TNW, Previously.co, ArsTechnica, Fastcocreate and scores of others – I just need more time to read!