An occasional column with Simon Hadfield, Executive Partner at DMCG Global, an executive search and recruitment business. This time, he chats with Rose Herceg President ANZ at WPP, Co-Founder at Koffee Fix and previously Founder of Pophouse.
You’ve been in the hot seat at WPP now for 18 months. What surprises you the most in this gig?
How fast things can get away from you when you’re not focused on the only two things that matter. The work. The clients.
My understanding is that the WPP strategy had been to simplify. Has it worked and is it now complete?
We’re a far simpler business today. Each agency has a clear story and reason for being. We have many examples where several agencies work together in a village model. The clients that have these models tend to be our longest tenured clients. Our happiest clients. The network CEOs and I meet monthly. It’s more cohesive and far more connected. We talk about the issue that matter, more regularly. We’re focused on great work and on serving our clients. Minimising or removing anything that wastes time or energy. I’m a fan of exceptional people who get the job done and are always kind. I think a lot of our clients are too.
Any work you’ve seen recently that you admire?
I judged at Cannes this year. I got to see a lot of fantastic work.
Morning After by Ogilvy Honduras. This campaign quite literally changed the legislation for the Morning After Pill to make it legal. 1 in 4 women under the age of 18 fall pregnant. That’s a remarkable role that Ogilvy has played in that country. I’ve always loved the work that whiteGREY does for Volvo. And the work it does in reviving The Rocks precinct in Sydney. The VMLY&R home grown FitChix campaign. Our client Honest Egg Co. wanted to challenge the egg industry to become free range. Strapping a Fitbit to a chicken to count its steps (this gets printed on an egg) is inspired. I love what AKQA have done with Nike for their 50-year anniversary. Wunderman Thompson with Is That Heinz? Stopping fake tomato sauce being poured into a Heinz bottle. The NZ Census campaign - Harry Styles happened to be in NZ on Census night, so they got him on stage, in concert to do a shout out to fill out your Census form – how great is that? I still love the Whiskas - #CatsInBoxes work by EssenceMediacom where you can but your cat food online and it have it delivered by Amazon and the box itself became the toy the cat could play with, you unpack it, and it turns in to a castle, office, or rollercoaster! I’m the last person who’ll ever get a cat or a dog, but that’s great work.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Find some joy even on impossible days. It’s always there – even a little bit.
Who else in the industry would you like to be (or admire)?
Cath O’Connor. Ooh Media. Cath was my client when I started my first business and I think she is one of the best leaders in business today. She wears her power lightly. The other thing she does is to live that Greek Proverb, ‘hold the fish loosely or it will flop right out of your hand’. It never looks like she hangs on too tightly.
Josephine Sukkar who is the Co-Owner of Buildcorp, self-made, I admire her. Jill Davies (a strategist and consultant) who is fantastic at what she does. Jill works at the top end of town and is really elegant at handling big rooms. Anna Bligh. Grace under fire during those Queensland floods. Even more impressive in person.
If you hadn’t ended up in communications, what industry might you have pursued?
Race car driving. Formula 1. If I were short.
Outside of business and apart from the above, what keeps you out of trouble?
If I had my way, I’d watch movies all day in cinemas. I love going to the movies. Art House, Commercial…all of it. If there were a job remembering famous movie lines all day, I’d apply.
I also like to watch people shopping, it sounds stalky, but I like observing people and their behaviour, particularly for a lot of our client’s categories. You have to get out and about. I love to watch and observe.
What have you learnt in the last 5 years?
You don’t need to fill silence. If you sit still, people will start talking.
What are you listening to right now?
Depends on my mood. I’m listening to Lizzo’s “Exactly How I Feel” (over and over) at the moment. I have a soundtrack in my head every day when the moment calls for it. I’m all over the place with music. Keith Urban, Aerosmith, Beast, Carrie Underwood, Faith No More, Lauryn Hill. I’m listening to a lot of classical music. Calms me.
What are you watching?
I’m watching Manifest, Peaky Blinders (again), The West Wing (for like the 5th time). I loved the Beckham documentary.
Where is your next holiday?
I visited Croatia this year, which is my home country. I’d love to go there every year.
Tell me about Koffee Fix. How and why did it come about?
I’ve always kept a hand in small business. A friend of mine (Michaela Chanmugam) and I were kicking an idea around of a facial spritz containing coffee. We made some for ourselves and started using it. We loved it so we figured we’d make some more. For me, nothing beats the smell of coffee. For Micky too. It gives us a wake up, especially in the afternoon. It feels lovely on skin. Coffee (as it turns out) is a pretty good antioxidant. It’s a bit of fun. Micky has built a site and is the driving force. A great, smart lady who is wonderful to work with. We’ll see where it goes. Small business keeps you honest and keeps your skills sharp. There’s always a dash of credibility that comes with doing it rather than talking about doing it.
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