TheFWA - Scott Dungate and Stuart Harkness

Stuart: Hire a cleaner. Then you can’t suddenly get a compulsive urge to vacuum rather than write something instead. Plus it gives you someone to bounce ideas off of in between dusting.

Scott: If you can, live close to work so you can walk or cycle in. It's much better than starting the day in gridlock or wedged under someone's arm pit on public transport.

Please give us a brief bio of yourselves.

Stuart: Failed footballer turned advertising creative, doubling as part time yeti.

Scott: From convict heritage. Australian. Have worked in Bangkok, Singapore, and Shanghai. Currently at Wieden + Kennedy London. Creative.

What do you do for inspiration?

Stuart: Salivate over stuff I wish I’d done myself.

Scott: Travel. Take notes.

Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

Stuart:

Who Ate All The Pies

Kemp Folds

Welcome To Optimism

Scott:

vimeo

nike+

instagram (ok, not a site but I spend a bit of time on it).

What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

Stuart: Workwise I’m relatively happiest with 3 Nike projects. Write The Future, St Wayne and the recent My Time Is Now integrated campaign.

Scott: Surviving this last campaign.

Stuart: Lightweight.

How do you relax or unwind?

Stuart: Cinema. Cycling. Seaside. And scribbling random shit down incessantly.

Scott: At the moment I go running. Previously it was kayaking, but the canals of London are a bit stop start with all the shopping trolleys everywhere.

If you weren't working on the internet what would you be doing?

Stuart: Having a stab at directing.

Scott: Film. Horticulture. Or making T-shirts. Probably the latter.

What's your favourite part of your job? What's the hardest part of your job? What do you do when you get stuck?

Stuart: Coming up with ideas. Coming up with ideas. Try and come up with ideas.

Scott: I think 80% of it is generally a struggle, filled with self-doubt, self-loathing, sleepless nights, and hard graft. It's the 10% of the time, when all the elements come together just right, that makes it worthwhile. The other 10% I spend waiting in line at the coffee shop, hoping to spark some inspiration. I'm on 3-4 cups a day.

What's the longest you've ever stayed up working on a project?

Stuart: 72 hours. Give or take some incoherent dribbling.

Scott: I’ll say 74 hours just to be competitive.

Stuart: F#ck you Scotty.

If there are any pivotal experiences/decisions you could point to that helped shape your career, what would they be?

Stuart: The copywriting course at West Herts College (Watford). The tutor, Tony Cullingham, is a legend.

Scott: Moving from city to city. I think it can help keep you fresh, interested and not lazy.

What software could you not live without?

Scott: Chess with Friends.

Who is your target audience?

Stuart: If you have a body, you’re an athlete. So everyone I guess.

Scott: For the Nike ‘MY TIME IS NOW’ project, the target audience was what we call FOT’s. Football Obsessed Teens. They're hungry for anything football.

Are there any websites that have shone through as being pioneering in the last 5 years or so?

Scott: Bear 71. I’m quite fond of national parks, and I love the mixture of story telling and technology in this. It’s brilliant.

Has winning FWA awards helped you in any way?

Stuart: Awards are nice. But not the Holy Grail. People sharing your stuff online is more of a kick.

When dealing with major clients, how difficult is it to meet the needs of such wide target audiences?

Stuart: Do great work and most people will relate to it.

Have you written any books, if not do you plan to?

Stuart: I have an array of half-baked screenplays and novels on my hard drive. Which I will no doubt not finish in the very near future.

Scott: A children's book perhaps. Something with pictures.

Are there things you do OUTSIDE of work to ensure that you are in the right mindset to be creative and/or successful in whatever you are doing?

Stuart: Hire a cleaner. Then you can’t suddenly get a compulsive urge to vacuum rather than write something instead. Plus it gives you someone to bounce ideas off of in between dusting.

Scott: If you can, live close to work so you can walk or cycle in. It's much better than starting the day in gridlock or wedged under someone's arm pit on public transport.

What was the last digital effort you saw (or were a part of) that used social media in a way that really made sense. Why?

Stuart: My Time Is Now is based on young footballers hunger to break through on the pitch. We fed this appetite online too, enabling the audience to discover hidden content (tunnels) in the AV to elevate their game. Which meant the idea kind of fuelled itself in terms of sharing etc, while creating a nice symmetry.

Scott: Each 'tunnel' found became a bragging right for football obsessed teens on their social networks. Each post drove traffic back to Nike Football’s YouTube page. Their hunger drove the experience.

Have you been a part of a campaign that was rooted in digital and THEN reached over into other consumer touchpoints? Did this happen organically or was it a part of the plan from the beginning?

Stuart: We work holistically. So it comes with the territory. The trick is having a solid idea that stretches across many disciplines, from digital to AV, events, retail and beyond.

Scott: Increasingly we are briefed to think about platforms that can support interactive and digital first, and then more traditional mediums later. In the rare case we are briefed 'just to make a TV ad', it’s usually done in quite an apologetic way, ‘sorry, we just need TV first…' but then follows a quick clarification, 'but don’t worry, we want other ideas later’. It’s a far more interesting time to be in advertising these days.

The web is getting out of the web. Do you find that thinking in digital solutions alone hinders you? Do you feel the urge to solve the problem using all mediums necessary?

Stuart: There is a wealth of channels at your disposal, which is great in terms of enriched storytelling and engagement. Using online to enable offline activation is something we continually explore.

Scott: Sprawling but integrated ideas. That's where stuff really gets fun.

What was the toughest thing you ever did with Flash? How long did you spend on it? Is it still online?

Stuart: Building an iFrame, loaded with heavy content that didn’t crash when hit simultaneously by millions of users was a challenge for My Time Is Now. Hats off to StinkDigital who executed with aplomb.

Scott: Yes, big thanks to StinkDigital. Bravo.

What are your views on design/graphic school. Do you think someone can get into the field without educational experience in a school environment?

Stuart: I’m a big advocate for study as it armed me with a mind-set as much as practical skills.

Scott: University and design school is what you make of it. There are a lot of people out there with design degrees flipping burgers. On the flip side, there a lot of people in the industry who just stumbled in it. I learnt loads when I studied design, but I haven’t had anyone ask to see my Bachelor of Arts. I think Mum has it somewhere.

If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring FWA award submitter, what advice would you give them?

Stuart: Work hard. Have fun. Repeat.

Scott: Date in the office. You'll see more of them, and they'll be more understanding when you need to work late. Stu and I are doing it.

Stuart: But not with each other.

What would be your ultimate vehicle to travel in?

Stuart: England’s 1966 World Cup winning team bus.

Scott: A Supermarine Spitfire.

What country excites you the most in terms of innovation?

Stuart: The next few years in Brazil will prove interesting.

Scott: I think China still has plenty of energy.

What is the most expensive thing you have bought in the last week?

Stuart: A plane ticket.