Q & A with Jeff Goodby

Aug 25, 2008

Looking back over the past 25 years, what is your proudest accomplishment?

JG: It’s not an account or campaign, as you might think, but rather the most interesting thing is creating this machine, which is our agency, that brings people together, makes them happy, gives them a source of fulfillment.

    Over the years we’ve watched the people here have kids, buy homes and cars. We’ve been through the San Francisco earthquake and the Oakland fire. Our anniversary party in May was surprisingly touching for me, feeling the scope of the thing, the thousands of people who have been through here, the family feeling and the sense of reconciliation.

What is your biggest management secret?

JG: Not to take what we do too seriously. It is okay to be nervous about a piece of business, but we do not allow ourselves
to operate out of fear. There always needs to be elements in our work that are fun and interesting. Our values include civility and respect, always. Other places might see tantrums as part of the process, but not here. I learned not to push too hard, to recognize that lack of arrogance is a powerful weapon. You get better results that way.

Who outside the ad business inspires you?

JG: Andy Warhol and Marshall McLuhan. They inspire me to look at the world based on what people are interested in and attracted to. To keep my vision refreshed. My kids give me that same insight.

Who would play you in the movies?

JG: Someone who is thoughtful, goofy and sentimental. Tom Hanks or Jimmy Stewart.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

JG: I spend an inhuman amount of time on sports statistics, particularly baseball and football. I give too much meaning to what happens in sports. Bill James [baseball writer and statistician] said something like, “Baseball gives definition to life in a disordered world.” That’s me.

Over the years, what was your toughest sell?

JG: It wasn’t any client, it was, and is, the agency staff that is the biggest challenge. These people are smart, funny and cynical, and they are a tough audience when it comes to policy changes and reorganization ideas. As a result, some of our biggest ideas come from the bottom up.

What quality do you most admire in people?

JG: Grace under pressure. The ability to do brilliant work under adverse conditions. It is the opposite of responding to pressure by freaking out and trying to make things happen by lashing out.

You and Rich often say that 1950s adman Howard Gossage is your guru. What would Gossage say about advertising in 2008?

JG: Howard was a media junkie and a prankster who liked 360-degree marketing. He would have loved the Internet and would see it as a supercharged way to pass around word of mouth. He liked giveaways, contests and coupons, which were early forms of interactive ads.

    One of his tricks was to ask consumers to get involved with the pitch. He’d essentially say to them: Here’s our problem. We have a car that makes a noise when it is running. Can you help us sell it? He used that trick all the time, which is so much like today’s use of consumer-generated content.

What is your state of mind these days?

JG: I’m amazed that people pay so much attention to me and care what I say. I feel lucky to have gotten so far.

We’ve asked you a lot of questions. What question would you ask people reading this?

JG: I’d ask them: what draws you to work in advertising? Before, the ad industry attracted frustrated filmmakers and MBAs who wanted to work in a big organization that was also flamboyant. But the reasons are different now. The people that do well in this business are so eclectic and there are so many angles to why they come here.

For more Goodby, Silverstein & Partners coverage:
A Note from Lee Clow
Just regular guys: Silverstein and Goodby
Q & A with Jeff Goodby
Q & A with Rich Silverstein
Meet the Partners
The Client is Always Right
25 Years