RIMANTAS STANEVICIUS
Rimantas Stanevicius studied psychology and communication science whilst starting out as a copywriter at Leo Burnett, Vilnius – the latter of which – turned out to be a more educational experience than university. He moved to independent agency, also in the Lithuanian capital, Milk. "They did not have a creative director at the time and I happened to be the copywriter with the biggest number of grey hairs on my head."
Image: Rimantas Stanevicius courtesy of Verslo žinios.
At the moment I am working on...
Sending somebody to the exact opposite side of the world. Exact coordinates, degrees, minutes and seconds of latitude and longitude; somewhere where "home" would literally be any direction.
The best piece of creative work around at the moment is...
Not exactly "at the moment", but it’s "Reasons to Believe" - a commercial for Coca-Cola from Santo, Buenos Aires. It’s something I show to normal people (people outside the industry) whenever they rant about advertising fuelling the culture of consumerism and being evil.
Besides rehabilitating the image of the advertising industry, this commercial is very human. It’s also very down to earth. Unlike "Happiness Factory", it does not feed us escapism. It dares to take on the ugly side of the world and addresses all the issues that bother people, dealing with them one by one.
It’s true, simple as hell and it touches and inspires. And it’s relevant both to the brand and the people.
I am inspired by...
When they asked John Cleese where he got his ideas from, he said he’d receive them by mail from Mr Ken Levinshore, who lived in Swindon. And Ken said he’d got them from a lady called Mildred Spawl who lived on the Isle of White. Sadly Mildred refused to say where she’d get her ideas from... Cleese was trying to make a point that we simply do not know where we get our ideas and inspiration from. But I’m pretty sure I do get it from other people, be it John Cleese, the mysterious Mildred Spawl, a cab driver from last night who played his radio a bit too loud or a guy who was talking to his dog at the supermarket.
This year I’ll be attending...
Both in sports and in advertising I hate voyeurism and I only attend festivals we submit our work to. It leaves me only with the locals and Golden Drum this year.
What got my attention at the last festival I attended is...
A new breed of scam ads out there. A dangerous one, because these ads are not exactly ghosts. They can be published things for real clients. But they are targeting the consumers of the ads and not the products featured in those ads. They’re a tribute to new formulas and tricks. They’re fresh for the sake of being fresh. And they have impact only on the festival jury. But then again, maybe it’s just me being jealous.
The piece of digital work I wish I had thought of is...
The WWF ?le format you cannot print. It’s probably one of the least "digital" digital ideas, but it has it all: focus, relevance and impact.
The next big thing in advertising is going to be...
We will stop calling it advertising, for it discredits the bits of human communication that are produced out there. We will stop referring to clients as clients, they will stop acting like clients and we will be working together for the brand and the people of the brand rather than for each other. Agency people will be called agents - agents of change. Of course, I haven’t got the slightest idea of what is going to happen, but I’m just saying that in case the whole quantum physics and self-ful?lling prophecy thing is actually true.
The best time to be a creative was...
To think that the best times of advertising are gone would be truly depressing. I admit that sometimes I catch myself thinking that it must have been way more exciting when all the products were different by something more than a mere tone of voice or when you weren’t interrupted by emails and Facebook noti?cations even when being away from your computer. But then I remember Woody Allen’s "Midnight in Paris" and carry on working.
In a ?lm about my life, I’d like to be played by...
It should be someone a bit chubby, but kind of cute; naive, but not a complete loser; someone who could rhyme and who would have an obsession. Oh bother, it’s Winnie the Pooh...
In my industry, I admire...
Howard Gossage. For assigning his own ideas to Chinese philosophers just to make them sound more credible.
My dream collaboration is...
The creators of the best piece of creative work – the guys from Santo, Buenos Aires. It’s not just the Coca-Cola campaign - I love what they did for Diesel and for Arnet as well.
In up and coming talent, I look for...
For a threat. A threat to me personally and to the status quo.
A piece of criticism I’ve received was...
The other day someone commented on a campaign we did by saying "It’s a horrible, horrible translation" to which I thought "Nuh, It’s the original language that was already sloppy..."
The last piece of music I listened to was...
The last piece was Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in the car (it’s very functional in helping me avoid getting speeding tickets while driving). But before that I went for a run and listened to Ra Ra Riot’s "Dying is Fine".
Video: Coca-Cola "Reasons to Believe" by Santo, Buenos Aires.
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