Iain Tait on joining wieden + kennedy

Interview in Boards magazine with Iain Tait on his decision to join Wieden + Kennedy.

Here it is:

As founder of top London digital shop Poke, Iain Tait has been involved with some of the best web work to emerge in the space for clients including Oasis (Rubberduckzilla), Orange (Unlimited) and Nokia (Room 10101). In early February he announced he would be leaving to join Wieden+Kennedy, Portland as digital executive creative director in late March. Boards caught up with Tait to discuss the move. 

Why the move and why Wieden?

I gave a talk at a PSFK conference in London three years ago called “Ten Reasons Why Digital Is Better Than Advertising”. I went back to it recently and thought, shit, someone’s going to dig out that presentation and it’s going to come out and haunt me. In looking at it again, the things that really stood out were: entrepreneurialism within digital, and the structures that are in place. In an advertising agency, the structure is there to produce advertising. In a digital agency it’s there to produce things. The talk was about passion, being surrounded by people who really give a shit about the new digital world we’re immersed in. All of the things in that talk could apply to Wieden. Dan Wieden talked internally about wanting to be one of the best digital agencies in the world. On the awards judging circuit I’ve met people from the various Wieden offices. If you put them together you’d already have one of the best digital agencies in the world.

What changes do you plan to instigate?

There’s already a bunch of stuff underway, like putting technologists in the mix and making those cultures work together. The really promising thing is that they’re up for trying absolutely anything. I don’t know if you know about the Portland Incubator Experiment (PIE) in Portland and Platform in London? [They’re initiatives where] Wieden is like an incubator: they’ll give [small technology firms] space and resources at minimal or very low cost. In exchange they get them involved in projects, problem solving and doing workshops. I think that’s something that’s going to pay dividends if they do it right. Again, they’re taking risks.

Wieden has been perceived as great in traditional but lacking in digital…

I think they would agree with you. It’s interesting, I think they’ve also done some great work. Dan admits they’ve been a bit slow coming out of the blocks in digital. Having said that, I think Nike Chalkbot is an amazing campaign. Some of the stuff around Coraline with the movie launch – I was massively jealous of the blogger outreach. The real challenge is moving from digital as an add-on to a campaign to being right at the core of it. I’ve spoken to them about making digital the glue that binds everything, rather than another channel or part of the media plan.

The great advertising Wieden has done has been hugely culturally resonant. It’s taking the craft and the thinking that’s made all that brilliant advertising in the traditional world and making it digital. Empowering that work and making it work harder.