[Behind the selfie] with... Kenneth Garvie

When I pointed out we can see both his hands are in his pockets, Garvie laughed it off, saying this is a magician selfie. Now you know.

1. Where do you live, work and play?

Garvie: I live in Maroeladal, nice and close to my work in Bryanston, as I'm not one for traffic in the mornings. As to where I play, well with the birth of my son this year most of my free time is spent at home, I do sneak out every now and again to a mate's house, but that's about it. Oh, and I play golf as much as possible, but it's hard work, I tell you!

2. What's your claim to fame?

Garvie: In this industry you are only as good as your last campaign, thankfully for me that is Skittles, but the pressure is on for the next year. Industry-wise I guess I am known for making the impossible possible. That's probably the main reason companies like me and the creatives love me!

3. Describe your career so far.

Garvie: In the older days I took a very hard stance to learn instead of earn. That was painful as I watched all my friends move on very quickly. In the end my strategy paid off, everyone who hired me respected the knowledge I had and it cemented my feet firmly at the higher end of the management teams. Of course, I still have loads to learn and I am always seeking better ways of working.

4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.

Garvie: Of course my family will top this list, but other things that make me different is probably my love for the Rottweiler, I am blessed to have two of the most spectacular males in the country at the moment. I show them in and around South Africa and dare I say have more awards with them than I do in my working life.

5. What do you love about your industry?

Garvie: I love the fact that something that was relevant yesterday is not necessarily the case today, the goal posts are always changing. Should you have a good technical knowledge base you can expand on your marketing thoughts, that's crucial.

6. What are a few pain points your industry can improve on?

Garvie: To be really blunt, there are far too many people and companies pretending to be digital. This gives the whole industry a bad name.

7. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.

Garvie: Yip there is no such thing, some days start at 9am and others are only ending at 9am. There really isn't a typical day. Most of my time is spent working hand in hand with my team on whatever we are busy with, our clients are diverse enough to always keep us on our toes to come up with new and improved ways of expanding their digital footprints.

8. What are the tools of your trade?

Garvie: Data, lots and lots of data on as many devices as possible. Keeping in touch and informed is the key to earning the trust of your colleagues and clients.

9. Who is getting it right in your industry?

Garvie: Really hard to say because digital is so diverse in nature, yes you get the super creative work, but who is to say that it is better than software written that is saving a company boat loads of money? There are companies pushing out quantity over quality because that is their objective. Impossible to say without leaving anyone out. Creatively, Ogilvy Cape Town in a no-brainer but I really do feel DDB digital in 2014 seriously made people take notice of the quality of work produced.

10. What are you working on right now?

Garvie: We are busy with three different pitches, an e-commerce website for a clothing brand and an online pop-up shop. All of our day to day running of accounts is running rather smoothly, too.

11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.

Garvie: "Big data", and let me tell you I have seen it first-hand, working in Amsterdam. It really is great but I'm afraid that advertising is far behind when it comes to big data. The banks here are probably the best users of data. For me, engagement is what people should be looking to use in every presentation. True engagement can only come from a great idea, and that's what we are all about in the end.

12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?

Garvie: In the shower in the morning. When I go to bed I am always thinking of what we can try or improve on, when I wake up this is still bothering me, so by the time I shower in the morning I usually have something in my mind that will "work" or we can at least give a go.

13. What's your secret talent/party trick?

Garvie: I can make six drinks disappear by the time you have had one.

14. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?

Garvie: See image. [Ed: And see caption!]

15. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?

Garvie: Thousands of pictures of family and Rottweilers, lots of applications in beta phase.

16. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?

Garvie: Take your time, find the right agency, don't just take the first job you get. For the next 10 years if you ever find yourself being the smartest person in the room, move and make it fast, because you are not learning while someone else is.

17. Plug your contact details, punt yourself - list all the places people can find you online...

Garvie:
082 557 3386
Email
Facebook
Instagram

Click here for more from Garvie, on How DDB ticks all the right boxes across the African advertising industry.

*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.