AdForum Exclusive: An Interview with Max Pfennighaus, ECD at VSA

AdForumamp160New York City is renowned for being a difficult but inspiring place to make a living amp8211 especially if you39re commuting from New Jersey How has the City influenced you as a creative person amp8211 both as the Executive Creative Director at VSA and as an artist on a personal level How have those influences become manifested in your thinking and your creative workMaxamp160Working in New York City is like working inside the Internetamp8212there39s a little or a lot of absolutely everything I chose to live in Jersey because the chaos and complexity of the city would have driven me crazy from Fear of Missing Out I would have been constantly waking up in the middle of the night terrified that there was a 72nd Annual Gourmet Crossfit Poutine Festival happening somewhere that I was missingThrough the years the process of both elimination and contemplation has caused the FOMO to fade Today I39m more focused on what I like to do and what I want to accomplish personally and professionally I enjoy NYC now because it39s an insanely beautifully immersive lesson in the value of focus I try to always stop and smell the roses But when there are a bazillion roses I need to work to pick the right ones the most meaningful ones whether for myself or for my clientsAdForumamp160Storytelling is a critical part of advertising and branding How do you approach brands that have a familiar and even renowned place in our cultural narrative and identify unique and compelling ways to convey the brand39s story to a new generation of consumersMaxamp160I39m a big fan of starting with the Method acting approach the training technique for actors to achieve better characterizations of the characters they play to finding the heart of a brand When I dive in and live the life of an organization no matter how old or established they are there are always surprises and new stories to tellWhen I was at NPR I spent time with journalists and master storytellers and they taught me that every subject no matter how established has an unexplored fresh angle For example you think yet another wildfire story is a snoozefest Thinkamp160again Or a story about police officers investigating a call about a squirrel in the atticamp8212Obscure and boring Actually an opportunity for a brilliant hilariousamp160meditationamp160about the wonder and magic of first days on the jobThe key for me is listening to as many people from as many corners of an organization as I possibly can The more I get people talkingamp8212whether it is an executive marketer doorman or librarianamp8212the more common threads emergeOne of the most iconic poignant examples of the deep legacy of The New York Times brand is hidden in a third floor basement near Port Authority It39s an amazing photo archiveamp8212a historical treasure trove Times reporters lovingly call quotThe Morguequot In its heyday the photo archive used to have a staff of dozens and now there39s one Jeff Roth Experiencing The Morgue firsthand made me realize the mindboggling heritage of The New York Times as the definitive chronicle for humanity and that it39s tended to by deeply talented dedicated peopleAt VSA I see the same opportunity for some of our clients here There are many heritage and design thinking stories waiting to bubble over and be shared that are inspiring examples of brands evolving It39s an embarrassment of riches We just need to pick the best rosesOnce I have stories it39s then about putting them in front of people in ways they want to experience them I put on my UX hat and do some usercentric fieldwork looking at the audience39s behavior and finding respectful and thoughtful ways to engage them with stories People want to connect with and be introduced to brands that resonate with them If you spend time up front find the right people to talk to then the relationship is easy to buildAdForumamp160Let39s talk about Timber Lord your Twitter comic composed entirely on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Right now theTimberLord has 7 Twitter followers including AdForum Can you explain to our readers why they should follow Timber Lord What can we expect from this nascent projectMaxamp160Ha theTimberLord has 15 followers nowIn all transparency I just started it last week I have had stops and starts with webcomics mostly because of the difficulty in finding time to really focus with the kids running around at home During my commute last week I was drawing using the stylus that came with my phone and I thought quotWell I have two hours of alone time messing around with phone every day let39s make the most of themquotWithout giving too much away mostly because I don39t know where things are headed myself Timber Lord is a story about the thin line people walk between hope and despair particularly when the world is falling apart If I do it right it39ll also be a bit of a commentary on the role mythology and religion plays in making sense of the world So in short it39s a real pick me upAdForumamp160What about the creative culture at VSA attracted you How do those qualities and sensibilities fit with your talents and vision and what do you see as your main challenge in your role as Executive Creative DirectorMaxamp160I haven39t encountered many places that approach work the way VSA does VSA has a blend of talent that can take the work endtoendamp8212from the clouds down to the pavementamp8212using a thoughtful collaborative egoless process driven by design thinking It39s a way I39ve always wanted to be able to workamp8212it39s like they read my diaryJumping from a life as an advertising creative to a product designer at NPR where we practiced a deep Agile and Lean UXdriven system was a pivotal moment for my creative process I realized how much more was possible when a truly multidisciplinary team could be brought to bear on a design problem I love that VSA has fully embraced the Agile approach It39s a very flat structure which only works when the caliber and maturity of the talent is high When that type of structure is combined with a strong set of guiding principles for hiring and nurturing talent like you see at orgs likeamp160Valveamp160or Pixar great things are possibleamp160The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160 amp160amp160amp160

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AdForum Exclusive: An Interview with Max Pfennighaus, ECD at VSA

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