IDIDTHAT and Heineken Beverages presents I SAID THAT, the Q&A series featuring South Africa’s top creative talent.

So, what has more than three decades of making work, building agencies and leading creative people taught Pete Case? Quite a lot, as it turns out. We spoke to Pete, CEO & Creative Chairman of Ogilvy South Africa, about why South African creatives travel so well, the ideas that still give him goosebumps, what great marketers get right, protecting humans in the age of AI, surviving an industry full of ‘Nos’, and why you’ll occasionally find one of South Africa’s most powerful advertising leaders in his garage fiddling with a petrol engine.

Pete has been around for pretty much every major shake-up our industry has thrown at us, from the arrival of the internet and digital to social, data and now AI. And he’s not slowing down. Alongside his role as CEO and Creative Chairman of Ogilvy South Africa, he is now leading the rollout of WPP Creative in South Africa, bringing some of the country’s biggest agencies and creative businesses closer together.

Q: Many creatives you have worked with you have been head hunted by international agencies. What do you think makes a South African creative different to others from around the world?

Pete: I’ve been fortunate to sit on Ogilvy’s global creative council for the last 10 years and so I get a real sense of how our country’s work stacks up against the world. I’m pleased to say that the work and ideas are regularly applauded and ranked highly. Ogilvy also has a very active network and so when it’s looking to fill global roles, we often get a call. On top of this, it’s a widely held opinion that South Africans have a really strong work ethic. It’s amazing to see how many ex-Saffers there are in very senior global roles across so many agencies in our industry. The IDIDTHAT annual photo at Cannes is a great reminder for us all of this!

Q: When you look at an idea in its earliest form, what’s the instinct that tells you, “This one’s got something”?

Pete: I generally fall for ideas that either make me feel an intense emotion that I hadn’t expected to feel, or ideas that I can see are adding a new and unique benefit to people’s lives. These moments of discovery are probably the most rewarding part of my role. I usually let out an audible scream of delight when I see these and I love congratulating people for birthing these moments and ideas, that are generally going to make the world a better place.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’ve received during your career that changed how you think about creativity?

Pete: I started my career trying to prove myself to everyone and part of that mission was to never drop a ball when asked. In the process I tried to be great at everything. A smart person luckily saw this and pulled me aside saying “stick to what you think you’re good at and surround yourself with people that do everything else far better than you do”. This started a life long appreciation for collaboration and a search to work with the smartest and most talented people I could find.

Q: You’re overseeing (and restructuring) Ogilvy and WPP business from such a top line position. That’s pressure! What’s been the most fun part of this role that other people rarely see?

Pete: I certainly feel a large responsibility of helping to look after a growing amount of amazing people and their careers, but the flipside is knowing that whenever we create the right environment, they will produce the best work of their lives. Watching people succeed, progress and grow is hugely rewarding. And being able to dive into the details of some of that amazing work alongside the teams is really enjoyable too.

Q: What’s one thing you’d protect at all costs about the creative process, even as AI changes the industry?

Pete: Technology brings many benefits and opportunities to the business of creativity, but I’ll always want to protect the involvement of humans in the process of creating original creative output and ideas.

Q: You’ve worked with some of South Africa’s biggest brands and most well known marketers in advertising. What separates the clients who consistently produce great work from those who aren’t as consistent?

Pete: Partnership and honesty. Many people are able to create single moments of success and great work. But the best work in my view is created consistently over time. And for this to happen, there needs to be true partnership between agency and client. Partnership relies on high degrees of trust, because a large percentage of what makes great work is the insecurity of knowing that you’ve never experienced or seen it before. So it takes a leap of trust for someone to back and buy fresh thinking. Buying best practise thinking on the other hand is simple and requires zero leap of faith.

Q: Best advice you can give to people wanting to run an agency one day?

Pete: First learn your craft and knowledge on someone else’s payroll! Test, fail and learn while it’s not your bond on the line. Second is to try and hire people for their enthusiasm and passion as opposed for their qualifications. I’ve seen passion trump learnt knowledge, time and time again.

Q: What advertising cliché would you happily ban forever?

Pete: That’s a sexy idea 🤮

Q: Looking back at your own body of work, which project still gives you goosebumps, and why?

Pete: I’m still proud of a lot of the early work I was involved in, but much of it doesn’t have creative relevance today. It’s super hard to choose one, so please forgive me for choosing three! I would say the work would include ‘Soccer Songs For Change’ which was the launch of the GBV platform called ‘NoExcuse’, for Carling Black Label. A platform that created huge resonance in the market, has continued to make a difference in SA for over 10 years and grabbed a Grand Prix at Cannes along the way. Goosebumps because I remember clearly what was at stake when we brought a beer brand together with this important national issue, and into a live national televised football stadium, filled with majority male supporters. 

Pete: Then a project called ‘Green Instructions’ for LEGO, which was a protest to highlight the government’s lack of attention towards climate change in Poland. It was a very risky and politically charged piece of work, but gathered very positive attention at a schools level and garnered a Green Pencil at the One Show. 

Pete: More recently ‘Bread of the Nation’ for Castle Lager. A product innovation that created a real life solution to help feed people, with a unique and healthy bread formula, created using the waste product of the beer making process. An idea that took many years to make, but every single person who touched the campaign had goosebumps and couldn’t let go of it, because of its huge relevance and potential impact.

Q: You’re leading the WPP rollout in South Africa. How will you mange to balance collaboration and competition with the WPP agencies in South Africa?

Pete: Each agency will continue to stand proudly on its own, with its own teams, own strategy and own unique skills. However when conflict isn’t an issue, they will be encouraged to work together, to increase the positive impact we can create for a clients’ business. The collaboration beyond creativity and into the wider skills that WPP owns, is where a lot of the magic is already taking place. Through the integration of creativity with WPP Media, plus unlocking the powerful tools and experience that sit inside WPP production and then in parallel using the amazing technology that sits inside WPP Enterprise Solutions.

Q: What effect would WPP Production arm have on our independent production companies in South Africa?

Pete: We will continue to work with the best external partners and makers that our industry has to offer. Our ambition continues to be making the best work we can for our clients. However at the same time, we’re taking a close look at where we can create a production advantage of our own, such as the Virtual set that we’re currently building on our own campus. This doesn’t mean that everything will be shot there and by our own people. We will work with whatever we feel is best at the time. That relates to the selection of the people, technology and companies that we collaborate with.

Q: You’ve spent a lot of your career mentoring creatives and growing leaders. What’s the advice you find yourself repeating over and over?

Pete: Three main themes often resurface. The first is tenacity. I often describe our industry as the industry of ‘Nos’, because more ideas are shot down in flames, than the number of ideas that get greenlit. So you need to be someone that listens, learns, grows and gets back up from those ‘Nos’. I advise people to see this as a necessary part of the job, not an obstacle to avoid. Second is to stop, listen and try think sideways. We’ve all felt like we’ve been in a corner before and that there’s no clear outcome. But I’ve never seen a problem or hurdle inside an agency not solved with a healthy dose of creative sideways thinking. The final one is a personal one for me, that’s based on my beliefs of what makes a good leader. And that’s to learn how to create the space for others to succeed. It’s a vulnerable place for most leaders to create strong leaders below them, that ultimately could take their roles, but it’s what I feel makes a great agency and what will make our wider industry even stronger.

Q: You have so many roles right now Pete. You are leading South Africa’s WPP Creative rollout taking on the role of CEO alongside your current position as CEO and creative chairperson of Ogilvy South Africa. How do you find balance and not burn out?

Pete: I try to have boundaries, but that’s very hard when I also try to be as accessible to people as I can. The key for me is make sure I don’t resent overworking and so I deliberately plan a lot of things outside work. I put a lot of time into the things I love doing, including playing sport, spending time with my family and also making sure I keep my sense of humour! 

Q: What in your mind makes a great ad leader in an ad world that is quickly iterating at the moment?

Pete: Being open to change and curious about its potential probably sounds like a cliché answer, but I think it’s the key ingredient. Change is not a natural state that most humans run towards, because it makes us feel vulnerable. But success today means you have to be open to continuous change. And not just the change that you used to plan for in your annual strategy! When I started out, the internet was being launched, the first Apple Macs were invented, the first cell phones were created, we were still shooting on film and smart phones certainly didn’t exist. Yes, it’s true that change is happening at greater speed today, but it’s definitely not going away and there will be a lot more to come and look forward to.

Q: What habit or mindset do you think separates creatives who have long careers from those who burn brightly and disappear?

Pete: I think you need to be obsessed about the craft of what you do, and you’ve got to be genuinely excited and motivated by seeing and experiencing great creativity created by other people. I appreciate creativity in everything around me from furniture to films, to architecture and fashion. It’s this continual passion for creativity that will keep you motivated over time, and moving with the times.

Q: Who’s doing work in South Africa right now that excites you? 

Pete: I’m generally very optimistic by so much that’s happening in our industry right now. I feel there’s been too much negative PR about the standard of work coming from South Africa, over the last few years. Watching the huge variety of great work at this year’s South African Creative Showcase (for those that didn’t attend this years ACA/IDIDTHAT event, make sure you get to next year’s one) reinforced to me that our industry is in a good shape and something to be super proud about.

Q: What are you binging right now?

Pete: I’m switching off in the evenings to ‘Slow Horses’, ‘Your Friends & Neighbours’, ‘Legends’ and ‘Lucky’. I’m enjoying learning more from reading ‘Techno Feudalism’ by Yanis Varoufakis, ‘Eat to Beat Disease’ by Doctor William Li and ‘A Way of Being’ by Rick Rubin (I’ve always had the habit of reading multiple books at once). And I love spending time fixing, fiddling and tweaking petrol engines in the garage.

Q: Something very few people in this industry know about Pete Case?

Pete: I’ve spent many hours sorting letters in the Post Office and I started my creative career as a Graphic Designer.

Q: If Pete Case were a piece of advertising, what would the tagline be?

Pete: I’m pretty confident at writing taglines for other people, but definitely not for myself!