Turning Intelligence Into Magic

Sir John Hegarty, author of our brand new book Hegarty on Advertising, describes himself as a man of pictures and firmly believes that “words are a barrier to communication”. Mel Exon of BBH Labs (Bartle Bogle Hegarty’s ‘global innovation unit’) decided to put John’s ethos to the test by conducting an interview without words…

“Do not go gentle into that good night, but rage against the dying of the light” – Dylan Thomas

Sir John’s book, Hegarty on Advertising, goes on sale on Monday.

He would be first person to say this is no ‘how-to’ manual, but rather his own story: packed with no holds barred opinion, behind the scenes anecdotes and strongly held principles to work by. There’s no crystal ball gazing, instead a distillation of what he’s learned in 45 years in the business. As such we found it a dose in humility for the here and now: a grip on history that, as ever, sets the future in context.

Despite his protestation this isn’t a manual, several ideas and themes emerge that have a hell of a lot to teach the rest of us: what makes a successful start-up, the humanization of the workplace, how to approach technology and stay abreast of innovation, the role of difference and ‘creative destruction’, the impact of globalization, why ideas matter and more.

We asked him to shed a little more light on some of these themes. In doing so, we thought we’d see if we could put one of his most firmly held views to the test; his belief that “words are a barrier to communication”. We have no idea if this is going to work, but here goes – our first interview response without words.

What do you mean by “creative destruction”?

“Creativity isn’t an occupation, it’s a pre-occupation”…
can you explain what you mean by this?


If you started an agency today, what would it be like?

Is there a single piece of work you think defines you?

Where do you look for inspiration?

You say the way creative thinking gets deployed “will always be a continually moving target.. to nail your colours to any particular medium or technology will sow the seeds of your destruction”. So how should we engage with technology?

And, finally, you say you can’t name all the people you’d like to thank, but if there had to be one (okay, perhaps a couple), who would it be?

Hegarty on Advertising is published this week and contains over four decades’ worth of wisdom from the man behind hugely influential campaigns for brands such as Levi Strauss, Audi, Boddingtons and Unilever. See www.hegartyonadvertising.com for more information.