"Humans are humans wherever they are" - Darren Bailes

After 14 years as executive creative director of VCCP London, Darren Bailes was made VCCP Group's first global chief creative officer (CCO) in 2022.

This gave him responsibility for overseeing the creative output of its eight offices, located in London, Madrid, Prague, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney. It also made him one of only a handful of Brits running the creative departments of agencies with a global footprint.

Having made VCCP London into a creative and new business powerhouse, he has sought to sprinkle this magic dust around the world.

Bailes discusses how his British roots inform his work, how he corralls a diverse global team of creatives and the work he is most proud of from the network.

What are the advantages of a background in British creativity when it comes to working with creative colleagues and clients in other markets?

I don't know if it's ‘British Creativity’ that brings an advantage - more just 'creativity'. There are smart creatives and smart clients everywhere. I suppose my advantage comes from experience. I've been doing this a while… I can see issues early, and more often than not I know where the gold is - be it in an insight, or a piece of consumer behaviour I can turn into something creative. Yes, I guess British creativity has a reputation, but in the heat of a presentation or developing work no one yields to the guy who plays the 'British' card. And why should they?

What are the main challenges of working creatively in markets and cultures that aren’t your own?

Humans are humans wherever they are - that helps a lot. But I can't pretend I know the ins and outs of life in the states. So I make sure I'm working with teams who live that culture and can educate me. And I love that. The 'Bodega' is a great example. I heard it a lot in meetings. I'm like wtf is a Bodega and why are we always talking about them/it? It's nothing more than an off-licence, but it's where you buy your booze when you head out for the night. Maybe you all knew this… maybe, I was the only one who didn't. Shit!

How does the talent pool vary in the different markets you work in? Are there different types of creative skillsets and/or perspectives in different markets?

In the US there seem to be more individuals - art directors and copywriters working alone and brought together when the task suits. American writers just nail relaxed intelligent dialogue like no one on earth. They have mastered English better than us.

Our executive creative director in Madrid is the master of the awards film. Having different skills like that around the VCCP gang keeps us connected and tapping into each other when we need advice.

Are clients looking for different things from their creative partners in different markets or are the creative ‘asks’ universal?

Every client has something to launch or to sell. So the start point is always the same. But when the tasks are global, or at least multi-country, you have to widen the lens. You can't be too British, or too European, or too anything that closes off an important market. I love puzzles like navigating a brief to find something sticky and rich that won't be restricted by language and borders.

For you, personally, what are the most fulfilling things about operating creatively in different markets and on the global stage?

For a long time, I wasn't interested in the outside world. Global meant big networks and average work. But that was a dumb attitude - it's actually a great opportunity. Every country and every client deserves to have the best ideas and the best work. It can be done. It's hard work. And the conference calls end up being at crappy times of the day and night. But when you get the successes from a late-night client call, I go to bed buzzing, and we keep growing.

Tell us about some of the work you’re proudest of that those of us in the UK might not be familiar with.

White Claw is a phenomenon in the US. It's a hard seltzer… alcoholic. It's drunk by young adults who reject the old beer-drinking traditions of previous generations. White Claw is taking a chunk out of big beer. We recently just launched a new platform 'Grab Life by the Claw' which is going around the world.

In developing the work, we interviewed drinkers who told us about their White Claw days… so different to beer. They don't sit in bars until last orders. They might drink their White Claw in four or five locations in an afternoon… picking people up on the way, and meeting new people. Such a positive experience. We turned this 'journey' of assembling friendship groups into the work. We used the research interviews, worked with a great US creative team, and hopefully some help from me, I think we are onto something great.