Author Damon Stapleton

Opinion
I hired the guy who brought a clown as a support person to a redundancy meeting. Here’s why.
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You may of heard of the story that went viral in New Zealand and further abroad about an Auckland man who works in advertising and brought a clown as a support person with him to the redundancy meeting. DDB regional chief creative officer for Australia and New Zealand Damon Stapleton recently hired this man, and shares how the story struck him as an example of how creativity can change the rules of any situation and get your power back.

Opinion
The premature death of persuasion
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With the advent of automated buying, there’s a growing consensus that marketing communications need to be short and snappy. But after walking in on four young creatives huddled around a laptop, DDB chief creative officer Damon Stapleton learnt that longer form storytelling is far from dead.

Opinion
The great comfort of bad Super Bowl ads
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Damon Stapleton reckons just 15 percent of the 100 or so Super Bowl ads could be classified as any good. And, given the pressure on agencies and clients to produce great work, that’s not such a good hit rate. But he believes the idea that being weird is a far greater sin than being average is one of the major reasons.

Opinion
The romance and unhappiness of advertising
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Damon Stapleton notes that unhappiness levels in the industry seem higher than usual, and he thinks this might have something to do with the lack of courage among agencies these days. So where did that courage go, and how can it be brought back?