5 Minutes with… Alex Wood
As the chief creative officer at Golin London, an agency that’s always prioritised earned media, Alex Wood has never really worked in what you might describe as an advertising agency. But he’s been a creative throughout his career.
Starting out at a news photo agency, running photoshoots and the creative side of those projects, Alex saw firsthand how content went from creation into culture. Then he moved into PR agencies, working for the whole range, from Resonate to Freuds. In these roles he found a solid grounding in fusing the creative side of development and craft with storytelling, copywriting, and designing ideas to achieve cultural impact.
At Ogilvy, he led creative for the PR and social side of the business, working every day in a traditional creative agency environment, with everything from above-the-line to direct and other disciplines. A masterclass, he says, in “giving ideas scale, bringing craft values to the work, and building teams to pursue creative excellence.”
But since 2016 Alex has been at Golin London, leading creative first as an executive creative director and as CCO since the start of 2024 – a year which saw the agency showered with accolades for ‘The Misheard Version’ for Specsavers, in which the sight and hearing specialists teamed up with Rick Astley to launch a re-recording of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ with some amusingly tweaked lyrics. At the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, it won a Grand Prix and a Gold in the Radio & Audio category, and the Grand Prix in PR.
LBB’s Alex Reeves sat down with the Golin London CCO.
LBB> You’re a creative leader in the PR world – were there any clues when you were a kid that you might end up doing something related to this?
Alex> I mean, I didn’t even know this kind of job existed when I was a kid, let alone that it was something I could pursue. Even when I started out 20-something years ago, I didn’t know. But I always loved ideas, stories, and mischief – seeing those things play out with other people. Looking back, I’ve never really thought about it, to be honest, but there seem to be some enduring themes there.
LBB> Do you consider yourself in advertising? Your job is similar to someone in an ad agency in some respects, but you’ve always been on the PR side, right?
Alex> Yeah, I kind of see myself in the business of attention – how to create it in a world where it’s getting harder to capture people’s focus, let alone get them to lean in and engage with what you’re doing, whether it’s for a brand, a cause, or something else.
It’s a really interesting time because earned, as a discipline, was traditionally at the bottom of the all-agency agenda – just above AOB, really. Over time, that’s changed. It’s become clear that earned ideas are highly effective at cutting through, even without the safety net of paid media or a huge media plan.
Fast forward to now, and you can integrate those ideas into a media plan. You can have an earned-led idea leading the mix and see how all the pieces work together. When earned and paid come together in harmony, you get to something really interesting where you've put those attention-grabbing ideas that disrupt within culture on steroids.
LBB> With the success in awards recently for earned-media specialists and PR agencies, it feels like it’s becoming more integral to the general marketing picture and community. Do you feel like that’s true, that you’re less siloed now?
Alex> Oh, totally. There’s definitely a shift. We’re seeing clients embrace the idea of putting earned creative at the centre of the marketing mix and seeing what that brings. It keeps delivering really strong creative effectiveness, so they’re doubling down on it. For example, with clients like ASICS and Specsavers, that’s certainly the case. More and more are joining that way of thinking.
LBB> Let’s stick with that and talk about your success with Specsavers at award shows last year. What does that represent for you as an agency?
Alex> I think it confirms that we’ve been doing the right things on the journey we’ve been on. That journey is symptomatic, perhaps, of the whole PR industry – how earned agencies have worked to elevate ideas to the level of established creative players, to compete on the same playing field and win.
It’s also about the organisational changes you need to make to support that – the investments, the decisions, the standards you set to craft excellence and adopt a certain way of thinking. All of these are part of a journey that’s taken many years.
For us, the Cannes Lions win was hugely significant as an agency. But what was lovely was being able to represent the industry. It felt special to represent PR in taking back that category for the first time since its inception.
The PR Grand Prix and the wins there, along with the Audio and Radio Grand Prix, were testament to the fact that ideas from PR agencies can translate into other areas and compete effectively. That’s a really liberating thing. Earned Ideas have always had this core opportunity at their heart: that the idea can come from anywhere, in any channel, and anything can be an idea.
When you see us playing in audio and disrupting traditional mediums with earned-led thinking, it gets really interesting. It feels like proof that the recipe is flexible.
LBB> What was the key moment in ‘The Misheard Version’ becoming an idea that had legs and could move forward?
Alex> The fundamental thing was the decision to go against the norms of the category, which were based on serious, problem-focused, scary communication. The key moment for that campaign was coming at it from a human perspective and asking, “Would you want to listen to this stuff? Or would it just make you tune out?”
The research we did confirmed that the traditional approach wasn’t working. It was fascinating to see how an entire category had trapped itself in this ineffective way of doing things. By thinking about how people actually operate and what they might want to engage with, we realised the tone needed to change. We had to bring something of interest and entertainment – perhaps before we earned the right to communicate with people. That shift in perspective was the foundation of everything that followed.
Specsavers’ brand, in terms of tone and its kind of human heart, was a real aid. But they are, as their name suggests, kind of trapped in sight. A large part of the challenge was figuring out how to take this sight-focused brand and reposition them as a hearing expert. It was about taking the best parts of their heritage but also creating something new – a whole new property around mishearing and a big idea that could serve for the long term.
LBB> What have been some of the other recent highlights, and what really made them stand out for you?
Alex> I think the journey with ASICS has been particularly notable. We’ve been working in very close partnership with the team to redefine how an exercise brand talks in culture – beyond just standing for something, which every brand does now. It’s about how a brand can stand against things for the common good.
That’s what we’ve been working on with them for a number of years now, and the hit rate on the ideas we’re putting out is great. The level of the work is really strong, and it’s connecting with people. Ultimately, it’s showing them that exercise doesn’t need to be intimidating, performance-driven, or elitist. It can be something very personal and about your own mental health. You don’t need to be a pro or have a six-pack to feel those benefits.
Campaigns like ‘Dramatic Transformation’, ‘Little Reminders’, and ‘15-Minute Weight Loss’ all come from that same place – about how a brand brings its proposition to life. In ASICS’ case, that proposition is “a sound mind in a sound body,” but expressed in a way that connects with culture.
It did feel like half the conversation was missing – everything was about the body and performance. But what about just how you feel, the simple mental benefits? I think in doing the work, we’ve had a good reception because it feels like it struck a nerve that was waiting to be touched.
LBB> Were there any projects or particular clients early in your career that helped crystallise things you’d later go on to do more of?
Alex> I think working with [directory enquiries provider] 118 118 when they launched was a really interesting experience because they were a brand centred on disruption and mischief – how you repeatedly get attention in culture in a playful and entertaining way. They really taught me how you play with some of the rules in culture and how you can bring entertainment by being a bit subversive.
We had a great client at the time who was very trusting of creative, and that formed a great partnership, which led to a lot of award-winning work and showed what was possible. I think that’s a huge thing when you’re coming up – just seeing what’s possible and believing you can take that to different environments.
With the misheard version, we took entertainment and mischief into a pretty dry, serious healthcare topic, and it played out in a really effective way.
LBB> Are there any lessons you wish you’d learned earlier in your career that have come to you more recently?
Alex> Early in my career, I was under the illusion that developing big ideas required a huge planning process with a vast cast of people. But with experience, you realise it’s often the opposite. Unwieldy processes can be a comfort blanket that leads to creative mediocrity. Some of the most powerful work comes from seemingly small, weird thoughts where only a few people initially see the potential. The right creative process creates the space for those ideas to emerge and scale.
LBB> What has the step up been like from ECD to CCO? Is it quite a material change, or just a bigger version of the same?
Alex> I think, fundamentally, I’m all about the work and trying to continually push that forward. For me, the title doesn’t matter so much. Working at CCO level is great because it gives you more ability to influence how agencies are built and shaped in service of the level of work we’re pursuing.
LBB> In which case, what does being “about the work” look like for you day to day? What are the things you like to put as much attention on as you can?
Alex> I think that’s the point about being a CCO. My team would probably say I’m very much in amongst it with them. I love collaborating with other people to make stuff happen and bring ideas from thought to life. My core job is to create the conditions for that to happen – to back the team, push them to explore their own ideas, and guide things where they need to go.
I love being in the work. Any creative who loves what they do wants to create, right? You have a view on things, and you want to bring that to life.
We’re really fortunate to be in a profession where we can do something quite artistic in a professional environment. As long as you know what it is. Creativity without effectiveness is kind of just art – not to say art can’t be effective, but we’re here to do a job. It’s great when you form partnerships with clients and teams where there’s openness and excitement to push things, to make work that’s really interesting and compelling. That’s what it’s all about, really.
Earned ideas have always had to be effective – not to say other disciplines haven’t, but with earned creativity, if you don’t get it right, you’re completely ignored. There’s no paid budget to fall back on, so you just disappear.
The way we think about ideas is very much about creativity in service of creative effectiveness, without losing the soul of those ideas – the fun, the humour, the entertainment. I think those are integral elements to delivering creative effectiveness in the world we live in now.
I think the industry has come a long way in measuring impact, and at Golin, that’s something we take very seriously – crystallising the value we bring and why clients need to continue investing in creative ideas. It leads to greater commercial returns, and that creates a really healthy cycle, which we’re seeing increase more and more.
In the ad world, testing – especially at the concept stage – has often been lamented by creatives for killing ideas. I totally get that. But, in an interesting way, measurement at the back end, proving the effectiveness of bold and weird creative ideas, can almost act as a counter to that. Hopefully, it creates conditions for more creative bravery.
LBB> When you’re talking about earned, so much of your creativity is out there in culture, even more so than paid advertising. It has to be part of the culture, not just tacked on. Are there any things happening in culture right now that really excite you?
Alex> I think the DIY ethos across subcultures is really compelling. If you take it back to the formation of iconic music genres like jungle and drum and bass, it was about a group of people who wanted to do something different. They formed an amazing genre and community, building something from the ground up.
For me, that’s emblematic of so many other examples, like influencer culture – not the dark sides of it, but things where brands are breaking through, like Liquid Death. They’ve just thrown the rule book out the window and said, “We’re doing our own thing.” I love that. They’re just doing their thing and seeing the returns.
I think the confidence to be disliked for who you are is admirable. You can’t please all the people all the time. So many brands try to do that and end up standing for everything and nothing. It always seemed like a shame and a missed opportunity.
LBB> Finally, is there a rant or a particular subject that you’d like to get on your soapbox about?
Alex> The increasing brand shift from dry “surface purpose” back to humour and entertainment in campaigns.
I’m not convinced people in the real world have ever cared that their brand of toilet cleaner is committed to (insert vague cause here) for a one-month campaign. And why would they? You need to earn the right to their attention and bring something interesting – beyond beige virtue signalling.
The tonal shift we’re seeing towards more disruptive levity and mischief feels overdue. That’s not to say you can’t have an authentic purpose in the work, but it can be done in much more compelling ways.
