5 Minutes with… Josh Braithwaite
Josh Braithwaite believes the future belongs to those who build it, and as managing director, creative, at GALE, Stagwell’s self proclaimed ‘Business Agency’, he has a clear vision for what that will look like.
Having joined in April this year, the Australian native brings creative leadership experience from 72andSunny LA, Mother and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he was most recently North American CCO.
Now helping lead GALE’s creative teams across North America, Josh says he plans to continue challenging the very notion of what ‘an idea’ is, and to stay ahead of the industry’s constant evolutions through open mindedness, “a healthy disregard for mediocrity”, and the joyful opportunities within the job’s difficulty.
LBB’s Ben Conway caught up with Josh to discuss all of this and more.
LBB> Growing up in a mining town in Australia, what were your first creative influences? And how did marketing enter your life?
Josh> I’m inspired by creative people who stand the test of time, who constantly evolve but keep the same spirit and soul. I was attracted initially to musical artists like David Bowie and Madonna. They created entire worlds, personas and artifacts for us to get lost in. Then, just when you think you have them figured out… Snap! They’d do something completely different. But at the same time, [it was] something that felt very true to their core. It’s relatively easy to create a one-off; it’s much harder to be iconic. The same could be said about brand building.
LBB> You say that these influences and your background taught you a lot about the importance of change - can you elaborate on that? How have you tried to consistently evolve with the times?
Josh> We don’t like change. No one does. It’s uncomfortable - scary even. But the world is changing around us at an exponential rate. If we don’t embrace it, we end up irrelevant and disconnected, which sucks. What I try to remember is that what made you or your business successful probably won’t make you successful again in the future. Now that’s a hard thing to continually implement, especially when the world around you is telling you otherwise - from increases in scale, title, revenue, etc.
So, what’s the lesson here? I think it’s one of open-mindedness and looking for the opportunity in everything. Good businesses do that. Good brands do that. And good people do that, too.
LBB> What are the current changes having the biggest impact on the industry? How are you going to address these at GALE?
Josh> The tectonic plates of our industry are shifting dramatically. What’s created brilliant agencies and needle-moving work in the past isn’t bearing the same fruit it once was. There are dozens of reasons why that is; audiences are harder to find, agency economic models are inverted, talent is drained, the industry is obsessed with ROAS [return on ad spend] marketing, digital platforms are taking over globally, new technologies are cutting into agency profit margin, and more.
It’s about embracing all these things in the best way we can, then thinking to yourself, ‘Where’s the opportunity in all of this?’. At GALE, it’s about connecting business consultants with world-class creative thinking to help our clients grow. For me personally, it’s about connecting all the different modalities we have here to produce more innovative, needle-moving work.
LBB> You joined as MD of creative earlier this year - what have been some of your early goals? How are you hoping to shape GALE’s creative output?
Josh> For me, it’s about continuing to challenge what can be called ‘an idea’. I’m an innovator at heart, so I’m attracted to solutions that are hard to put in a box. When we do that, we know we’re pushing boundaries - leaving a path for others to follow. When we reflect on the work each quarter, I’m taken aback by the solutions we put up on the board for our clients. They range from introducing traditional global advertising campaigns to creating reality TV shows to building research institutes to creating metaverses inside gaming worlds.
Last week, I was having a conversation about how we could build architect-designed, prefabricated homes for a client. When we’re focused on the business outcome, ‘ideas’ can look like anything.
LBB> You’ve worked around the world, and at some of the biggest American agencies - from 72andSunny LA to Mother and CP+B - what are some of the consistent keys to creative success that you’ve seen across these different experiences?
Josh> To be honest, they’re all very different. But I believe creating a world-class creative culture consists of three core principles:
- Be ambitious as hell.
- Have a healthy disregard for mediocrity.
- It’s meant to be hard, so find joy in the process.
LBB> You’ve worked with the likes of Google, adidas and Instagram - how will these experiences assist you in working with Diageo and other big names at GALE?
Josh> I think all large, multi-national, blue-chip brands can learn a hell of a lot from each other. Most go through many of the same challenges, just at different stages of the business’ lifecycle. So, I see myself as a bit of a connector of learnings. Sharing my experiences with my clients, their internal teams, even connecting them with people throughout my network so they can mutually learn something from each other.
LBB> GALE prides itself on being a ‘Business Agency’. What excites you about leading a creative team with a focus on business insights?
Josh> It may sound counterintuitive but being a creative person at a Business Agency is the ultimate jiu jitsu move. How? The better you can get at proving how your idea can move the needle for a business, the more trust you’ll receive, the bigger the playing field becomes, and the bigger creative swings you’ll be able to take. Now, I know I just merged a martial arts analogy with a baseball one. But you get my drift.
LBB> What are some of your longer term goals at GALE? After four months or so, do you have a few top-line plans that you can share with us?
Josh> There’s so much cynicism in our industry. I think that’s in large part due to the fear we are carrying internally, and our resistance to all the change that’s happening around us. But the most exciting thing about GALE is that we have a clear vision of what the future of the industry looks like. And we’re building it, not just talking about it.
I’d hope that, in the long term, we’ve left a successful blueprint for others to follow. One that shows how we can provide more value as an industry, make more impactful work and, most importantly, be more fulfilled creative people. It’s not all doom and gloom out there. I believe that the future belongs to those that build it. So let’s get building, shall we?
