Over the last few years, creative duo David Fraser and Dantie van der Merwe have used live mammoths to sell tinfoil, made men die in the pasta sauce aisle, and upset a few foreign liquor makers. Since graduating from AWARD Creative Leadership, they have been promoted to CDs on ALDI. Read the interview below.
TCC: How long have you been in the industry and in your current role?
D&D: Let’s just say we started when stock books were still a thing. We’re currently creative directors at BMF in Sydney.
TCC: What is the best thing about your job and being in the industry?
D&D: Every week is a bit different. One day you’re researching how a new nappy keeps poop in. The next, you’re on a set helping stack 10,000 cans of pasta sauce. Always learning something new keeps life interesting. The people are also great. We’ve met so many weirdos over the years.
TCC: What made you want to get into the industry?
David: A friend told me I could get paid for putting words in ads. Sold.
Dantie: I didn’t know much about the industry. My folks introduced me to it because they knew I’d die in a normal job.
TCC: What made you want to do the AWARD Creative Leadership course?
D&D: Warren Brown suggested it. Probably because he thought we needed some discipline. And managerial roles are quite different to creative roles. So, we saw this as a rare opportunity to learn from, and chat to, agency leaders who have that beautiful thing called hindsight. Three days out the office staying in a swish hotel had nothing to do with it.
TCC: How would you describe it in a nutshell?
D&D: A crash course to help creatives be more effective as they move up the ranks, featuring a well curated lineup of older, wiser minds from across the industry who share their screw-ups and successes in an open, easygoing environment.
TCC: What have been your career highlights since then?
D&D: Becoming CDs on ALDI. Not getting fired as CDs on ALDI.
TCC: What do you wish you knew at the beginning of your career that you know now?
D&D: To not fear making mistakes, and rather make heaps of them earlier.