Interview with Justin Wanliss

24 July 2015 - 10:20 By Staff Reporter

Justin Wanliss is the creative director at Switch WHAT do you do?I used to stare at a blank piece of paper and pray for an idea. Now I stare at my teams who are staring at the blank piece of paper, praying for an idea, and I pray that their praying is paying off.Most creative moment you've ever had?Asking my wife to marry me.Excluding porn, what's the best way to get eyes glued to a screen?Everyone knows the answer to that is puppies or babies. Or even better, puppies AND babies. Unless you're on a mobile screen; then it's cats juggling puppies and babies.Best campaign you've experienced lately?Heineken's The Odyssey was a great piece of work as a typical stand-alone commercial. But they took it a step further and really expanded the idea in the digital realm. The casting sessions are well worth the watch. And FCB Chicago's campaign for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, called The Unforgotten. I highly recommend you look it up.Work you're most proud of?The Exclusive Books Loo ad. The idea was simple: a loo in a bathroom surrounded by books. If you look closely you see it has shelf descriptors for different sections. It is finished with the Exclusive Books Fanatics logo and the line: ''The club for people who love to read."What does digital bring to traditional advertising?It's taught me how to expand an idea. Everything, whether it's a YouTube campaign, Facebook content, a broadcast 30-inch TV commercial, print or radio, it all has to start with one thing: an idea. We should be taking the best bits of digital, and using it as a new way of expressing an idea and bringing it to life...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.