About Greg
Where I come from…
It’s fair to say I spun wildly through my early career as a peripatetic pizza delivery boy, retail sales assistant, writer, stagehand, waiter, magazine designer, award-winning boutique agency founder and at least half of the team irresponsible for bFM’s Friday Night Allen, before centrifugal force finally flung me far from my native New Zealand – firstly to Tokyo for six months of attic-refilling sabbatical; then on to Singapore, where I Creatively Directed Wunderman for a good five years before joining ace independent digital shop Profero in 2005 – winning awards and pitches and making friends along the way, and serving my fellow creatives at gatherings in Cannes, London and Shanghai, and on Asia-wide conference panels and awards juries (including a stint as Jury Chairman at DMAsia).
I’m confident that the progression from local SWAT-team-style boutique agency through Wunderman’s data-based ideation into Profero’s openly creative and wilfully borderless environment has helped me develop into a full-service digital-thinking senior creative. And returning to New Zealand in late 2007 was another step forward – bringing me back closer to my family and to the extreme Can-Do attitude of this amazing place. I now feel truly at home with the creative style and family feel of Publicis Mojo (allegedly “New Zealand’s Most Awarded Agency”), where I work with an astoundingly Can-Do team to create anything that moves.
Outside of work, I live in a cute kiwi villa with a sunny outlook, along with one cute wife, two cute kids and an undefined number of toys (some of which even belong to the kids). My favourite music is still Buffalo Daughter, my favourite food is nattoumaki, and my favourite beer is cold.
…and how I approach my work
Enough about me, already – here’s a question for you: At what stage is your customer above the line? When are they below the line?
For a number of years, I’ve been pushing us to take this industry well beyond the line – with absolutely relevant, wildly creative ideas based on genuine data-driven insights. Radical ideas that change behaviour and get results – regardless of where those ideas sit on our mythical line. I’m not talking tactical ideas, like an idea for a TV commercial; I’m talking about big, innovative, integrated ideas that aren’t easily commoditised – that is, ideas that not only sell, but ideas that can be sold.
If you want to generate that kind of idea, you require a team with direction and drive. A team that knows where it’s going – and why. And that’s where I can help. As an aggressively creative, decisively strategic Creative Director, it’s my job to lead teams towards developing radical, relevant, beyond-the-line ideas. Preferably in a company that respects and cultivates extraordinary creative thinking. A company full of people who want to win more awards, for more effective work, for more demanding clients.