10PEOPLE-amir kassei.pdf

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September-October 2013adobomagazine

PEOPLE AMIR KASSAEI80



September-October 2013 adobomagazine

PEOPLEAMIR KASSAEI 81

FOR ALL THE INHERENT international

intricacies and technological transformations

that affect modern advertising on a daily

basis, keeping an agency’s plates spinning can

be a full time job. Amir Kassaei knows this

and, his position as DDB Worldwide chief

creative officer notwithstanding, it would

be hard to argue that cultural diversity and

adaptability are things he wasn’t hardwired

with from the outset.

Born in Iran, Kassaei was raised in Austria

and educated in France before choosing to

settle in Germany, honing his skills at agenciessuch as TBWA, Barci & Partner and Springer

& Jacoby, working every position from

accounts, strategic planning to copywriter

and art director, before taking on the role

of executive creative director on the global

Mercedes-Benz and smart accounts.

In 2003, Kassaei joined DDB Germany as

associate partner and chief creative officer. As

the youngest-ever DDB CCO in Europe at the

time, Kassaei quickly distinguished himself,

bolstered by a portfolio that, over the years,

has come to encompass some of the world’s

top brands, including Allianz, Apple, Adidas,

Bosch, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike, Reebok

and Volkswagen. In 2011, Kassaei ascended to

the position of DDB Worldwide chief creative

officer, a role that sees him regularly dividing

his time between New York and Shanghai, in

addition to the global awards circuit, where

he has become a familiar presence on juries –

including Cannes, LIA and Spikes – as well as

the winners’ podium, with over 2200 awards

to his credit.

adobo spoke with Kassaei shortly after

having completed his judging duties at this

year’s Cannes International Festival of Creativity.

ADOBO How does what you do draw from

the different cultural backgrounds you were

exposed to growing up?

KASSAEI I think every human being is a

result of their experiences, so I was lucky to

have this multi-cultural background. It helps

to look at the world in a completely different

way and also understanding different points

of view from people and respecting different

cultures. As we are transforming to a more

From New York to Shanghaiand everywhere in between,the world is his officeWords MIKHAIL LECAROS

Interview ANGEL GUERRERO

MAN OF THE WORLD



September-October 2013adobomagazine

PEOPLE AMIR KASSAEI82

global world, you have to think in universal

insights, so it helps me a lot. It helps me to help

in all positions in advertising and marketing to

understand the full perspective.

ADOBO How does it feel to be responsible for

creativity across an entire network?

KASSAEIMy job is, I’m the service guy of

the network. What I did when I started, I

said, ‘We should have a common vision about

how we want to transform this company and

we should set the bar in terms of the creative

product.’ My job is to help them by building

an infrastructure and the tools to unleash the

potential in every office because they have

amazing people.

The nice th ing about DDB is we’re not

a very “centralistic” system, we are a very

federal system. So there are DDB agenciesall over the world and if you look them,

they’re different in their countries but they

have one common vision; we are the only

company in our industry which is acting

at the intersection of creativity, humanity

and technology because the foundation

was around the idea that if you are at this

intersection, you can change the world for

the better.

We feel we have a special responsibility to

society and throughout our industry. We have

to be the role model in the way we are acting,

in terms of ethical principles but also in terms

of how we are leading in terms of innovation.

But everyone is doing it in a different way so

that’s the great thing about DDB.

ADOBO How do you define innovation?

Common consensus seems to have that

pegged as being purely technological in

nature.

KASSAEI I think they have to come up

with a dif ferent definition for innovation for

festivals; I believe it’s the wrong message

because innovation in all industrial meanings

is if you’re coming with a game changing

solution for the client. Technology is part of it

but it’s not the main thing. So only focusing on

technology is the wrong sign.

ADOBO Be that as it may, we hear a lot these

days about the integration and digital beingthe way of the future. Of course, just as many

say, the future is already here.

KASSAEITo me that’s bullshit, typical

bullshit from the advertising industry.

Because if we look at the stuff that is awarded

at Cannes, you see that 99% of all the people

in our industry from the advertising side,

but also from the marketing side, are still

treating technology and digital in the wrong

way. They’re confusing it as a new medium,

which is not the case for me. To me, it’s the

infrastructure; it’s a tool and the people are

01 02

“Winning awardsonly proves one thing,

that you’re good in

winning awards,that’s not the main purpose of the job.”



September-October 2013 adobomagazine

PEOPLEAMIR KASSAEI 83

01 Campaign: ‘For boys who were always men’Client: Volkswagen Golf GTI

02 Campaign: ‘Beasts Two’Client: IKEA

03 Campaign: ‘Dandruff Trai ls - Escapade’Client: Schwarzkopf Anti-Dandruff-Shampoo

02

“We’re not in theadvertising business,we are in the businessof making thingsrelevant.”

not unleashing the potential of technology the

way that they should.

And I’m not sure if technology is the future.

I believe the future of our business is if we’re

able to transform ourselves from being the

deliverer of an advertising idea to (that of)

a business solution. That’s the future of our

industry. And technology wil l play a crucial

role as a tool, but that’s it. Technology is not

the future, technology is not everything –

we’re not technology companies.

ADOBO With on-demand services, social

media and crowd-sourcing being what they

are, are the days of advertising and traditional

media numbered?

KASSAEI I don’t think so. I think advertising

will always exist. I think it evolves as it will

always evolve. And I don’t see that traditionalmedia wil l disappear. But again, I think there’s

more to our business than only advertising

and awareness – we’re not in the advertising

business, we are in the business of making

things relevant. Making things relevant means

that you have to have the full perspect ive. So I

don’t believe that traditional advertising will

die because there are products and services

where you need traditional advertising to

support them and it will always exist.

ADOBO At Cannes, you taught a master

class. When you’re teaching young creatives,

what’s the most important thing you want to

impart to them?

KASSAEI The most important lesson is

that your goal is not about winning awards.

Winning awards only proves one thing, that

you’re good in winning awards, that’s not the

main purpose of the job. The main purpose

of the job is to use your talent and add value to

the business. And i f you do that in a great way,

one day you will get the recognition. And that

they should stick to themselves and be truthful

to themselves and be passionate about what

they’re doing. And making mistakes, get it

wrong and never asking for permission. That

was the stuff that I told them. It’s an amazing

time to be a young creative, I believe, because

we are at the intersection of the old world

and a new world. They have the big chance to

shape this new world and that’s amazing.

ADOBO What’s your take on mainstream

recognition that the industry now enjoys?

Shows like Cannes get bigger and bigger every

year, and it’s not just the agencies, clients are

just as likely to get excited about the awards as

those actually taking part in them.

KASSAEI in terms of Cannes, it’s a great

success story and it’s getting bigger, bigger and

bigger but at the same time they should be very

careful that the currency is not getting weaker

because of too many categories or too many

Lions. They should be careful about it. If they

want to be the world stage, they should also

focus on the quality of it.

ADOBO Is quality what inspires you to do the

work that you do?

KASSAEI I get my inspiration from real life.

I’m not confusing the advertising world with

the real world. You should be in the path of

the real world and real life to understand

what life means and get your inspiration

outside of advertising – that’s what I’m trying.

I think that’s very important because at the

end of the day, that’s our job. Our job isn’t

to fulf ill ourselves or please ourselves; it’s

about approaching other people and adding

value to their lives and you can only do it if you

understand them.

10PEOPLE-amir kassei.pdf

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