Most Creative Marketers: Pete Markey

In sectors as undifferentiated as insurance and banking, Pete Markey has been responsible for bringing in a new and distinctive creative approach in his roles at MoreThan and TSB. Having landed at a far bigger berth, and with one of the most prominent roles in marketing, the amiable Boots chief marketing officer is keeping his creative cards a little closer to his chest, but is enthusiastic about the power of creativity in business transformation.

Boots has been one of those brands whose importance as a healthcare provider has probably risen further up the public consciousness than in previous times because of circumstances: it quite simply became crucial to the health of the nation at a vital time. But the business is far more complicated than pharmacy - it also encompasses beauty and retail, perhaps making its position unique on the high street and also the creative challenge more pronounced than at his previous employers.

Markey comments: “Boots has a number of things that are about getting people to live healthier, happier lives. That core purpose connects through everything - through pharmacy and beauty. It’s a really important connecting thread.” Boots owner Walgreen Boots Alliance reappointed WPP to handle its $600m global account in 2020 - a move that is a vote of confidence in its UK agencies Ogilvy UK and Mindshare, both of which Markey inherited.

But Markey has form in shaking his roster up - during his time at TSB he dropped long-serving incumbents Joint and Vizeum for a combination of McCann London, the7stars and Oliver and adopted a new strategy that saw Joint’s whimsical cartoons swapped for something more comedic, featuring Friends actor David Schwimmer. He has previously adopted the use of celebrity brand spokespeople at the Post Office with The Inbetweeners star Simon Bird in a campaign through the then DLKW.

Markey recently told McCann Leeds' Creative Courage webinar about why it's important to sometimes be prepared to get things wrong in order to get things right: "A few years ago, we were working on our first campaign for MORE TH>N with the excellent VCCP team.

Two routes went into research, the first of which was to bring back Lucky the dog with Rob Brydon, and the other - which I thought was just too left field - was to use a character called MORE TH>N Freeman who sounded like Morgan Freeman and acted as brand spokesperson.

And the idea was as crazy as it sounds. It was creative from the same team that brought us 'Compare the Meerkat' so they knew what they were doing but it just felt so left field and bizarre and different - would we get Morgan’s approval to use his likeness, would the public get it, and would it land our key brand message about MORE TH>N going further than other insurers, as well as the human side of the brand too?

I had expected Lucky to fly in the research so hadn’t given too much thought to the 'Freeman' idea. Lucky bombed in every group, while amazingly, the alternative “out there” route with 'Freeman' absolutely flew.

People loved it and it landed all the key brand messages we needed to land. This was a good time to eat humble pie and champion a more innovative route that ultimately won us multiple awards and record business growth. The strength of the love for this route in research really helped us sell the idea into the leadership team and the wider business too."

“There’s definitely a value in using celebrities when they have values that are similar," Markey tells Creative Salon. "The TSB and David Schwimmer campaign was about making a brand modern, more relevant and that needed more fun and energy - Schwimmer ticked all the boxes. When you’re spending less than the larger banks you need to do something else,” he says.

Certainly Markey has been responsible for overseeing some memorably creative campaigns - he first rose to prominence at MoreThan with its “MoreThan Freeman” pastiche of the actor Morgan Freeman, through SFW.

While quick to point out that he is enjoying his new role, Markey says that TSB was among his most creative roles as his brief went beyond just brand positioning. TSB was a super-creative role - looking at new customer experience and core proposition and brand design. It was far more holistic,” he adds. “But I think you can make great creativity work regardless of the sector, once you communicate something that people care about.”

A vital part of this, of course is the fostering of a successful relationship with your agency partners. Markey says that much of this is down to the dynamic of the partnership. “Where I’ve seen it work less well is when there’s a lack of confidence in the work. When you’ve got a great partnership, and the quality of creative thinking, you can use bold new work. When you have a meeting of minds it works brilliantly. I like coming into businesses where you have change.” Change is, after all, the only constant.

The way I see it:

• How do you define creativity?

  Creativity is about answering an exam question with an insight or piece of work that helps address a clear problem or challenge brilliantly.

• Who is your creative hero or favourite piece of creativity?

  I really like the “Just Eat” campaign from McCann which has run for the past year. It’s simple but effective and the use of Snoop Dog works so well. It’s engaging, highly memorable and tapped really well into a consumer need. Great work.

• What’s been feeding your imagination lately?

  I’ve been learning improvised comedy and since lockdown the lessons have moved onto Zoom every Monday evening so I really enjoy creating new and improvised scenes with a highly fun and creative group of people every week.

• What do you think has been your boldest creative play?

  Most recently, relaunching the TSB brand with a new brand platform “Life Made More” and a new creative route with David Schwimmer as our lead character.

• And how did it pay off and what lessons did you learn?

  It’s helped achieve record brand scores and strong commercial performance so far. A key lesson was around working hard to maintain a strong idea whilst allowing it to evolve and work in a changing environment such as the 2020 lockdown which moved the shoot back 6 months but ensured the work was more relevant than ever when it went live.

• What do you enjoy most about being a marketer?

  I love the combination of art and science and being in a role that gives you the chance to make a positive difference every day.

• What makes a good creative marketer?

  Being able to bring fresh and new ideas into the business that helps positively move the business and the growth agenda forwards. A great creative marketer is one that can do that beyond just great creative, helping to strengthen the customer experience, helping the business to innovate more broadly too.

• What makes a good creative agency partner?

  One that can be the perfect balance of support and challenge, helping marketers deliver their goals but holding them to account to deliver on the brand purpose and ultimately to deliver compelling creative work.

• And what frustrates you?.

  I think it's where as a marketer you don’t get enough challenge to your thinking. For me its key to surround yourself with brilliant people who are able to challenge you (particularly from the agencies you work with) to ensure you get the very best work possible.

• What excites you about the future?

  I am really excited about how the worlds of creative and data are coming together more as new media opportunities provide the chance for true mass personalisation.

• Which of the new generation of marketers or agency creatives has impressed you the most?

  Sara Rose who is our new creative director at WPP on the Boots account is brilliant. We’re already doing great work and I’m excited about what we do next.