For this week’s getting to know feature, we spoke to Allan Blair, Head of strategy at VaynerMedia. With 20 years of experience working across the marketing and communications sector in PR, brand communications and digital, Allan has more than a few kernels of wisdom to share.
Cutting his teeth client side before moving over to the agency world, he has led strategy at some of London's leading agencies including at DDB, Tribal Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson and Engine Creative.
He’s also been behind award-winning campaigns for brand partners including Volkswagen, adidas, Guinness, Marmite, E.ON and Jägermeister, with awards including D&AD, Live, Creative Circle, One Show and The Drum Content Awards. He is also a member of the BIMA Human Insights Council.
But those are just the cliff notes. To really get to know such a creative individual you have to dig a little deeper and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing today.
Tell us a bit about your role! Is there a “typical” day?
One of the many things I love about my job is that there is nothing “typical” about it. Every day brings me something new and that’s what makes it so exciting.
I might be wrestling with client’s ongoing business challenges, mentoring and coaching young members of staff, meeting potential new clients and pitching to them or facing a completely unique situation I’ve never encountered before. It’s always busy, occasionally stressful but always rewarding.
What was the biggest challenge in getting to your current position?
When I started in the industry, 25 years ago, I wasn’t like other planners. I came from Glasgow (and had the accent to match), grew up on a housing estate, didn’t have a parent that worked in the industry (my parents didn’t even work in an office), and most importantly hadn’t been to Oxford or Cambridge.
At my first agency over 75% of the strategy department were Oxbridge educated, and almost 50% had attended the same college at Oxford. I stood out like a sore thumb and was regularly reminded of this… when I was either rolled-out as an example of how “diverse” the agency was or through a variety of everyday micro-aggressions such as being told I was a “man of the people”.
The stage wasn’t set for me to succeed, and I wasn’t being encouraged, or expected to either. I quickly realised that if I just tried to be like everyone else then I would always be seen as a lesser version of them. So, this encouraged me to embrace my difference, be truly authentic and do things on my terms.
I made an effort to learn the skills and craft of strategy but combined them with my lived experience of growing up in a working-class environment with a personal passion for digital and popular culture. I was lucky that my growth in the industry mirrored the growth of digital and social media, as the rest of the industry ignored or denied it’s impact, I was one of the few to embrace it and explore how we could use it.
This focus has helped my career accelerate and grow, but I have found over the years not every agency has the same outlook. Too many are keen to seem digital-first and future-focused whilst steadfastly clinging to the ways of working and product of the past.
What is your personal background and what role did it play in your career?
It’s made me realise that even though my working-class background may have held me back initially the fact I’m a white man means my hard work and success was much more readily acknowledged and accepted than those from marginalised groups.
It’s made me want to be part of the solution and not just be one of those people that gains success and pulls the ladder up behind them. That’s why I’ve always been keen to use my leadership position to drive change… from sponsoring apprenticeship programmes which bring talent from non-typical backgrounds into the industry, to mentoring young people and helping drive D&I programmes that empower marginalised groups to create change.
What is your biggest career-related win? What is your biggest loss?
1. Seeing my team win. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the people that work with me grow, develop and reach new career highs. I get so excited when a former report gets in contact to tell me about a promotion or fantastic new role. I feel genuinely delighted for them.
2. Selling work that isn’t “advertising’. Some of the favourite projects I have been involved with haven’t been what you would typically call an ad. They have been turning a car into a musical instrument for VW, making a music video for Adidas and creating a kid’s cape that absorbs air pollution for E.ON. Work that is more unique, distinctive and gets attention in new ways. It’s these kinds of projects that really light a fire in me.
Which individuals and/or agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
There are so many agencies out there making amazing work, and every day I seem to discover a new one. I love seeing creativity in all its forms. However, what really inspires me are people who succeed by not compromising who they are, or how they treat people.
My former colleague and CEO Ete Davis is one of these people. He has a real commitment to modernising the industry and the work we make, but he is a genuinely nice person with huge amounts of positivity and genuine desire for those around him to succeed. A true leader.
One of the main reasons I joined VaynerMedia was Gary Vee’s very vocal commitment to leading with empathy. Treating people with respect, understanding what drives them and enabling them to succeed. It came through so clearly in everyone I met during the interview process and is something we live and breathe in the agency.
If you could go back to your teenage years, would you have done things differently? Do you have any regrets?
Tonnes of regrets… mostly haircuts and clothes related. I was a teenager in the 90s after all.
If you weren’t in your current industry, what would you be doing?
I’m not sure. I don’t have a burning desire to do something different and, in all honesty, I’m not really cut out to do anything else. I tried a few other things before I came to advertising and marketing, and I was genuinely awful at all of them.
I love music in all forms and have been collecting records since I was 12, so probably working in a record shop. I’m 100% sure I’d be one of those people sneering as you came to the counter and judged your “terrible” music taste.
What’s your one big dream for the future of the industry?
That it’s a nicer, kinder environment that embraces all kinds of people from all different backgrounds.
We are supposed to be experts at capturing attention and influencing behaviour, yet the industry is still a scarily homogenous place. We need to find different ways of bringing people in, embracing their experience and allowing them to thrive.
What are your top tips for aspiring creative professionals?
Be authentic and be resilient.
Bring your whole self to work. Your life experiences, passions and beliefs give you a unique view of the world and are what make you distinct and brilliant. If you just try and copy those around you, you will just be a pale imitation of them.
Resilience is the most underrated value in our industry. Which is strange as we all know that the creative process is a minefield of rejections, feedback and re-starts. Being able to regroup and go again with a positive mindset is vital for success.
What are your top tips for other creative leaders?
Let your people flourish for who they are. Trying to “fix” people or change their skillset is often a futile exercise. Don’t try and change them, help them find their superpower and allow them to indulge it a grow.
When you think about your team, what is the thing that matters to you the most?
That they feel like they are adding value.
I want my team to feel happy, fulfilled, part of the process and always learning. For me the key to this is that they know their work is valued and additive to the product the agency creates.
When people feel they are making a difference to what we do then good culture and collaboration flows seamlessly.
Do you have any websites, books or resources you would recommend?
The answers aren’t in books. They are in the real world; social media and the other places people are living their lives. Observe, listen and ask questions… it’s much richer and more valuable than any text.
